Artists & Communities Archive
1998 Projects (Artist as Catalyst)
28 projects in Mid
Atlantic's region of nine states and jurisdictions were awarded
grants for artists and critics residencies, supported by a
grant from the National
Endowment for the Arts. Residencies took place between March
1, 1998 and February 28, 1999.
Abington Art Center, Jenkintown,
PA
Mara Adamitz Scrupe, Bremo Bluff, VA
A six-week residency project where
the artist built an outdoor, solar-powered sculpture entitled Rococco
Wood as part of an exhibition relating to environmental issues.
She was assisted by students from the Eastern Center for
Arts and Technology, Willow Grove, PA, the Montgomery
County Youth Center’s
Alternative School in Norristown and Tyler School of Art
of Temple University, Elkins
Park, PA. The students’ participation ranged from Internet research
into solar power to writing poetry and hands-on work wiring
and installing the site-specific sculpture.
American Music Theater Festival, Philadelphia, PA
Thulani Davis, Brooklyn, NY
AMTF welcomed the author and
playwright for a residency that will result
in the staging of a new music theatre work based on Davis’ novel 1959.
In her story, the author describes the coming-of-age of a
12-year-old African American girl set against the early civil
rights activism in the
year of the book’s title. In addition to writing the stage adaptation
of the novel, the artist lead a series of writing workshops
and live performances by community participants from Philadelphia
middle schools, Southern Home
Services for Children and the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.
Davis’ previous
staged works include the operas X: The Life and Times of Malcolm
X, and AMISTAD.
Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, Bloomsburg, PA
Guy Klucevsek, Staten Island, NY
Karen Bamonte, Philadelphia, PA
A music and movement
for The Coal Project, a
new theater production documenting the historical drama
associated with Pennsylvania’s century-old anthracite mining industry.
The work drew from the oral histories of former miners and
their families, many
of whom have lived and worked the surrounding coal fields
for generations. Other primary resources, such as the various
Anthracite Museums, both
official and amateur that abound in this region of Pennsylvania
provided research material for the final production.
Center
for Exploratory and Perceptual Art (CEPA) Gallery, Buffalo,
NY
Dinh Q. Lê, Brooklyn, NY
CEPA hosted the photographer at its downtown
location to create a new installation of his unique photographic
works, in a exhibition titled Uncommon Traits: Re/Locating Asia.
Vietnamese artist Lê also had access to the ePIC (experimental
Print Imaging Center) lab at nearby SUNY Buffalo to produce
a new edition of works on paper
utilizing the latest in digital technology. The artist,
assisted by local volunteer mentors, conducted hands-on
workshops with students in Buffalo
Public School #45, the district’s largest elementary school.
Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE
Patricia C. Phillips, New Paltz, NY
CEPA organized
a residency for freelance art critic Patricia C. Phillips.
Phillips visited more than 20 artists in their studios for
individual consultations, as well as conducting an open critique night
for local artists. Phillips’ essay on the art she encountered
during her stay was published in DCCA’s newsletter and local and
regional media. Phillips’ work has been appeared in Artforum,
Art In America, Art Journal, Flash Art, and other national
publications. The visiting critic
program at DCCA addresses the lack of in-depth critical reviewing
in Delaware and the surrounding region.
Fabric Workshop and
Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Fred Wilson, New York, NY
The Fabric Workshop
provided technical and artistic
support at its unique fiber-art facility for artist Fred
Wilson to work in a new medium. Master printers and expert
construction technicians assisted
the artist, known
for his award-winning "re-installations" of
museum collections from an African-American perspective,
in designing and developing a new textile work.
George Mason
University, Fairfax VA
Ken Aptekar, New York, NY
George Mason
hosted visual artist Ken Aptekar for a residency that
included participation by seniors from
the Jewish Community Center, Annandale, VA, and children
and parents from South Lakes High School, as well as students
from GMU. Aptekar led the
groups in a cultural examination of famous works of art
from
museum collections in Washington DC, notably from the
Hirschhorn Museum. An artists’ book
was produced, at nearby Pyramid Atlantic print workshop,
illustrating the results of the residency activities.
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, NY
Maria Elena Gonzalez, Brooklyn, NY
Hallwalls provided the setting
for a new gallery installation by sculptor Maria Elena Gonzalez.
The residency and exhibition were co-sponsored by El Museo
Francisco Oller y Diego Rivera. Gonzalez will also have access to
facilities at ePIC (experimental Print Imaging Center) at
SUNY Buffalo, where she produced
images for inclusion in the gallery installation. The artist
participated in Hallwalls art-in-education program at School
45, and interacted with
Buffalo’s large Cuban community during her stay.
Hubbard Hall Projects
Inc., Cambridge, NY
Yoshiko Chuma, New York, NY
Hubbard Hall, a rural community arts center
in Washington County, organized a community residency
for acclaimed choreographer and dancer Yoshiko Chuma.
Chuma and her company, The School of Hard Knocks, had free run
of the newly restored historic
opera house
to create and rehearse a new repertory work, Footprints of War,
a collaboration with composer Alvin Curran and guest dancers
Japan and Europe. Chuma conducted dance audience development
activities through
informal performances during the residency in private
homes, shops, and barns in the community. Master classes
were held with the Dance
Center
of Cambridge, which recently merged with HHP.
Joyce Theater
Foundation, New York, NY
Suzanne Carbonneau, Fairfax, VA
Joyce Theater hosted a residency by noted
dance critic and performance studies scholar Suzanne Carbonneau.
In a series of post-performance forums directed to general
audiences, journalism students from Columbia University,
and members of the dance
community, Carbonneau facilitated discussions aimed at
bridging the gap between artists and audiences for contemporary
dance forms. The forums
were free of charge, and included other guest panelists.
Longwood Arts Project, a program of Bronx Council on the Arts, Bronx,
NY
Andrew Sonpon, Philadelphia, PA.
Longwood
provided studio space, housing, and a mentoring opportunity
for emerging painter Andrew Sonpon. In a
four-month residency in
the art world capital during 1998, Sonpon, a young African-American
artist benefited from uninterrupted work time, private studio
space, and a unique
relationship with an established artist who will act as advisor
and mentor to the resident. An exhibition and climaxed the
residency.
Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
Thelma Golden, New York, NY
Ingrid Schaffner
MAP, an independent exhibition space for
contemporary art, continued its long-running critics residency
program in 1998. Two prominent New York art curators and
critics, Thelma Golden
of the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Ingrid Schaffner,
an independent curator of international standing, visited
Baltimore area artists in their
studios and conduct public seminars at MAP. The two critics
also mentored a group of aspiring local art writers, as
well as writing articles for
national publication about the artists they saw during their
residencies. The chosen artists were featured in a special
exhibition at MAP in 1999.
Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Tan Lin, Charlottesville, VA
MICA welcomed Chinese American
poet Tan Lin, for a six-week residency.
Printmaking students in MICA’s new letterpress facility collaborated
with Lin to produce a book of new poems and images inspired
by the city of Baltimore
(the City That Reads), and its ethnic communities. Two versions
of the book were produced: an editioned volume of 125 archival-quality
pieces;
and a mass-produced pamphlet that were distributed throughout
the city free of charge. In addition, postcards bearing
single poems or images
were printed and "posted" in public spaces, such as restaurants,
neighborhood stores, bus stops etc. Poetry readings, an exhibition
of text and images, and a panel discussion rounded out the
activities for
this residency, one of three writer/artist collaborations
planned by MICA for the fall and winter of 1998.
Nai-Ni Chen
Dance Company, Fort Lee, NJ
Woo Suk (Harry) Lee, Arlington, VA
Nai-Ni Chen Dance Compay continued
a creative relationship with composer and musician Woo Suk (Harry) Lee,
begun
in 1997 through a grant from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation’s pilot
program of Artist as Catalyst, which was conducted at
several NJ organizations. In this extended project, choreographer
Nai-Ni Chen, who
is Chinese-American,
and Harry Lee, a Korean percussionist fluent in the traditional
Chang-Go drumming style, created a new work, White Water/Black
Mountain,
for the company.
Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, part of Snug Harbor Cultural
Center, Staten Island, NY,
Sam Christian Holmes, Baltimore, MD
Newhouse Center
played host to Sam
for a six-week project in the fall of 1998. A sculptor known
for his large-scale figurative silhouettes cut from sheets
of iron and steel, Holmes created
a set of entrance gates for a residential neighborhood on
Staten Island. Through the use of community workshops and
active participation by the
residents of the ethnically diverse neighborhood surrounding
the Cultural Center, and of an inter-generational group from
nearby Richmond Terrace
Apartments, Holmes developed designs and collected materials
for the gate construction. Based on memories and images of
childhood, the final work,
titled The Gate as Container holds photographs, stories, craft
and personal items provided by the community and built into
the steel and glass surfaces of the gateway.
Noyes Museum of Art, Oceanville, NJ
Francisco Alvarado-Juarez, New York, NY
Noyes was the setting for a
three-month creative residency for painter and installation
artist Francisco Alvarado-Juarez. Scheduled for the busy summer
months when public attendance
at the museum is at its highest, Alvarado-Juarez’s project took
place in and around the museum’s spacious galleries. The subject
of the work was the natural environment of the South Jersey
shoreline, a recurring theme in the museum’s programs. Each week
during the residency the artist conducted creative workshops
with local artists,
high school and college students, area environmentalists
and naturalists, and museum visitors. The participants added
materials to the developing
installation, creating a collaborative time-based new work.
Guest speakers, educational materials and a continuing public
exhibition of the work,
through September 1998, completed the residency activities.
Pittsburgh Dance Alloy, Pittsburgh, PA
Sean Curran, New York, NY
PDA provided studio space and creative
time for emerging choreographer Sean Curran
in a five-week residency in the summer of 1998. Curran,
an award-winning Irish step dancer
who went on to perform with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane and
Company for several years, enjoyed the resources of Dance
Alloy’s new facility as well
as the opportunity to experiment on new works with the resident
company of dancers. The new work appears in Dance Alloy’s repertory.
Pyramid Atlantic, Riverdale, MD
Roberly Bell, Batavia, NY
Pyramid Atlantic, a non-profit print and papermaking
facility specializing in innovative contemporary artists’ books, provided
technical support for installation artist Roberly Bell
in producing a multiple print work titled (re)Collections.
Comprising one hundred hand-made paper houses, each bearing
its own unique story
about women’s work, the final installation was developed with
participation by children from nearby school districts.
These included: Bladensburg
and Northwestern High Schools; Beacon Heights and University
Park schools; School Without Walls; Latin American Youth
Center; and the Corcoran (School
of Art) Open Mentoring Program. Local historical societies,
such as the Greenbelt historical Society, and Historic Riverdale
Mansion, and the
Prince George’s County Tri-Centennial Committee provided research
and contextual information for the artist.
Rutgers Center for Innovative Print & Paper, New Brunswick,
NJ, part of the Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the
Arts
Stella Waitzkin, and Peter Paone, New York, NY
Rutgers supported both artists
in month-long residencies to produce new works. The RCIPP
provides state of the art
print and paper facilities and master technicians to help
resident artists break new ground and create ambitious projects
during their stay. In this
case, both artists created book works, and both participated
as panelists in the annual New Jersey Book Arts Symposium.
Works created by the artists
were displayed in a special exhibition early in 1999. Copies
of the works were also acquired by area museums, libraries
and archives.
Urban Environmental Center, Wilmington, DE
Bernard J. Felch, Landenberg, PA
UEC, a non-profit organization
dedicated to renewal and appreciation of urban landscapes
and architecture, coordinated a four-month residency project
with sculptor Bernard J. Felch an artist who specializes
in brick-carving. Felch, aided by volunteer staff from UEC
and collaborating organizations Christina
Cultural Arts Center, Delaware Valley’s premier community arts
school, and the University of Delaware, worked with a large
group of adolescent
and adult community participants to increase understanding
of the urban environment and its history and cultural significance.
A centerpiece of
the residency was the creation of a relief sculpture on
the facade of the Urban Environmental Center. Wet-brick
carving was taught two evenings
a week throughout the residency.
Williamsburg Historical Foundation, Williamsburg, WV
Dona Ann McAdams, New York, NY
Williamsburg Historical Foundation, a volunteer community
organization in rural southern West Virginia, hosted photographer
Dona Ann McAdams in a residency with two
components- a portrait
project and a community darkroom project. During her extended
stay in the tiny community (pop.1100), McAdams created a
portfolio of intimate
photographic portraits and oral histories from among the
elder community members of this farming region. In addition
she helped to establish a
community access darkroom and conducted open workshops on
photography and printing skills, in particular methods of
copying and archiving historically
significant materials such as old family photographs and
documents. These skills will serve the future mission of
the Historical Foundation.
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar, VA
Neil Bogan, Brooklyn, NY
VCCA, an artists’ community
facility in southwest Virginia, accommodated artist Neil
Bogan during a residency in the summer of
1998. Bogan, an artist who specializes
in public projects concerned with private memory and public
history, led community participants from Amherst County
Schools, Sweet Brair College,
and the First Baptist Church of Coolwell, in a project designed
to examine the history of the surrounding county. Focusing
in particular on the changing
use of the land on which VCCA and neighboring Sweet Briar
College now stand, the project mapped the shifting boundaries
and social relationships
of the land through its several incarnations-Native territory,
slave plantation, farm, college, arts colony. A variety
of mixed media materials were produced
during the process, such as unique books, plaques, photographs,
drawings, and public installations.
Women's Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY
Jeanne Jaffe, Philadelphia, PA
Women's Studio hosted sculptor Jeanne
Jaffe in a three-month residency. WSW is an artist-run facility featuring
6500 square feet
of space dedicated to printmaking, photography,
papermaking and book arts. Jaffe’s trademark cast paper sculpture
formed the basis of this residency, as the artist developed
her vocabulary into outdoor sculptures cast in resin and
concrete at WSW’s new
ceramics studio. The sculptures were then installed on ArtFarm,
WSW’s
expanded location, a collaboration with SUNY New Paltz,
whose students participated in the workshop activities during
the residency.
Woodstock Guild of Craftsmen, Woodstock, NY
Walter Thompson, Weehawken, NJ
Woodstock Guild, an arts colony
comprising the Byrdcliffe Theatre, the Kleinert/James Art
Center, the Craft Shop, administrative offices and rustic cabin accommodations
for visiting artists,
hosted experimental composer Walter Thompson during the
spring and early summer of 1998. In a ten-week residency
with the Onteora School District’s 300 fourth and fifth graders,
Thompson introduced students and music faculty to his unique
improvisational composing technique, which the artist calls "Sound
Painting".
Local musicians and actors were also recruited to participate
in rehearsals and in presenting
pieces developed by the students and the resident. Rehearsals,
workshops and performances were open to the public on a
daily basis.
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