Artists & Communities Archive
2001 Projects (Artist as Catalyst)
Appel Farm Arts and
Music Center, Elmer, NJ
Ava Blitz, Wynnewood, PA
Mid-career artist Ava Blitz created
a major outdoor sculpture at Appel Farms Art & Music Center. Designed
to celebrate the opening of a new Fine Arts Building during
the summer of 2001, the project was intended
to introduce the community to expanded programming possibilities
at the Center. Local students, artists, educators and landscape
professionals participated in the creation of this environmentally-themed
work, titled "Beauty
and the Beast".
Arden Theatre Company, Philadelphia, PA
Michael Hollinger, Philadelphia, PA
The month-long residency
provided Philadelphia playwright Michael Hollinger with
time to finish and refine his new Galapagos play. The
play is based on the turmoil surrounding the Galapagos Islands,
and examines personal and biological evolution. During the
final week of the residency,
the Arden held a workshop of the Galapagos play under the
direction of Producing Artistic Director Terrence J. Nolen
that culminated in a free
public reading.
Art Sanctuary, Philadelphia, PA
Robin Holder, Brooklyn, NY
Printmaker Robin Holder set up a studio at the
Church of the Advocate, home to Art Sanctuary in north Philadelphia.
There
she worked with local grandparents who have the responsibility
of acting as parents to their grandchildren. Through workshops,
discussions and art-making, the participants explored the
many issues affecting the lives this overlooked community.
Asian
Arts Initiative, Philadelphia, PA
Gary San Angel, Philadelphia, PA
Performance artist Gary San Angel deepened his work with the GenerAsian
Next teen theater company by developing a leadership-training
component. The teens learned workshop facilitation and collaboration
skills that
will enable them in turn to engage Asian American youth in
creative self-expression through theatre, ensuring continuation
and expansion of the work initiated
by the artist and host organization in previous years.
Center
for Exploratory and Perceptual Art, Buffalo, NY
Susie and Betsy Brandt, Philadelphia, PA
CEPA Gallery hosted artists Susie and Betsy Brandt in a six week
residency, producing a collaborative visual art installation
focused on the commodification
of, and consumer driven environment surrounding natural landmarks,
and the subverted history and interpretation of Niagara Falls.
Center
for Learning at the Garden State Discovery, Cherry
Hill, NJ
Queen Nur, Willingboro, NJ
Passing It On was designed
to develop storytelling skills with teenage parents. The
oral tradition accentuated literacy, cultural
and communication skills. Using the fun environment of the
Museum, mothers and children found their voices by sharing
family and personal stories.
Center for Modern Dance Education,
Inc., Hackensack, NJ
Rachael Shao-Lan Blum, Fairlawn, NJ
A six-week residency with emerging choreographer Rachael Shao-Lan
Blum, which included the creation of an original multi-medium dance work.
The
mixed ability performers explored perceptions and experiences
of disability and ability in women's lives. The piece was performed by a
mix of professional
dancers, dance students and community members with disabilities.
COSACOSA art at large, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
Pedro Ospina, Briarcliff, NY
During a three month residency at a Children's Medical Center,
artist Pedro Ospina worked with patients and area residents
in creating an installation
that examined the relationship between the hospital and its
neighborhood. Hundreds of decorative amulets called 'milagros',
were created by participants
to complete the piece.
Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware
County, Media, PA
Paula Sepinuck, Media, PA
The host organization facilitated a three-month project for Paula
Sepinuck, artistic director of TOVA, a community-base theater
company dedicated to projects that speak to social change. During her residency,
Ms. Sepinuck
created a Theater of Witness piece with victims, abusers and
social workers, focusing on the issues of domestic violence.
Elizabeth
Glass
Workshop/ Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh,
PA
Robin Stanaway, Lebanon, PA
Pittsburgh Glass Center, an open
and comprehensive center for teaching, creating and promoting
glass art, hosted Robin Stanaway for a 14 week
residency at the brand new center. Stanaway worked on the Elevated
Plate Series, works consisting of sculptures and installation from
hand blown glass and welded wire frame steel structures. The
completed work was installed at the center and inaugurated
this important addition
to the region's arts resources.
Fairmount Park Art Association,
Philadelphia, PA
Lonnie Graham, West Chester, PA
Photographer and community artist Lonnie Graham undertook
an intergenerational oral history and photography project
with older adults and youth in north Philadelphia. Part
of the FPAA's New-Land-Marks program,
this project was centered on the Project H.O.M.E's St. Elizabeth
Focus Area. A community archive resulted, housed on the
site of a former neighborhood
church destroyed by fire.
Gloucester County Cultural and
Heritage Commission, Woodbury, NJ
Tina Davidson, Philadelphia, PA
This four-month residency celebrated Gloucester County's commitment
to preserving its heritage and the importance of land conservation.
The artist
led a children's summer program where the participants created
instruments and learned to compose music in an environmental
setting. Davidson composed
a major new choral work for Children's and adult choirs using
text created by the local children and residents.
Gloucester
County Cultural and Heritage Commission, Woodbury,
NJ
Marie Cochran, Glassboro, NJ
Marie Cochran created an installation with neighborhood teens at
the historic Richardson Avenue School on Swedesboro, NJ. Cochran's
work examined
the role of education in civil rights advances and struggles.
Hoboken
Historical Museum, Inc., Hoboken, NJ
Nicholas Birmelin, Brooklyn, NY
When Hoboken Was Hoboken was
a three month collaboration between the Hoboken Historical
Museum, ethnically diverse local musicians
and longtime residents, and visiting composer and percussionist
Nicholas Birmelin, which explored issues of cultural visibility,
identity, inclusion,
and collaboration. Sound, memory, music and collected images
were all included in the final work.
Institute for Arts and
Humanities Education, New Brunswick, NJ
Bill Bowers, New York, NY
Mime/dramatic theater artist Bill Bowers developed a solo and group
performance piece with 30 teenage participants in conjunction
with the Summer Arts
Institute, that toured the tri-state area with accompanying
workshops and community dialogue forums.
Jersey City Museum,
Jersey City, NJ
Manuel Acevedo, Newark, NJ
The Albizu Project was an examination of the legacy of Puerto Rican
Nationalist Pedro Albizu Campos. Following six months of research, and the
creation
of new mixed media works, artist Manuel Acevedo was supported
in his first solo museum exhibition.
Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA
Gerrit Henry, New York, NY
Critic Gerrit Henry (Art in America, Art News) visited artists'
studios, wrote essays about work seen, and conducted public lectures and
group
discussions in this visiting critic project hosted by Main
Line Art Center.
Pittsburgh Dance Alloy, Pittsburgh, PA
Eun Me Ahn, New York, NY
Dance Alloy hosted New York- based choreographer, Eun Me Ahn, who
had unlimited access to the Alloy's dance studios and dedicated participation
of the Alloy's dancers. The public premiere of Ahn's new work
was presented
at the Byham Theatre during the Alloy's fall season. The artist's
choreographic vision and movement style challenged the company and provided
a marked
departure in Alloy's repertoire.
Printmaking Council of New
Jersey, Somerville, NJ
Maureen Cummins, Brooklyn, NY
The artist had access to facilities, equipment and time to complete
the press production of an artists' book edition. The artist
also conducted a bookmaking workshop for community participants and a public
lecture
on her work.
Pyramid Atlantic, Riverdale, MD
Emma Varley, Bryn Mawr, PA
Pyramid Atlantic hosted Emma Varley as she worked to establish
ways to expand the illusionary nature of her large scale works,
as well as advance
its production capability, which is labor intensive for one
person. Varley has been deeply involved with custom papers and
print explorations and
needed technical assistance to fine tune her processes. Her
community programs included mentoring high school students and
college interns in
Maryland.
Relache, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
Guy Klucevsek, Staten Island, NY and Meredith Rainey, Philadelphia,
PA
Relache, Inc. and the Relache Ensemble undertook a residency workshop
involving the Relache Ensemble, choreographer and dancer Meredith
Rainey, and composer, avant-garde accordionist Guy Klucevsek.
The residency had
three primary objectives: to practice and refine the group's
improvisational skills; to explore the potential for dance and
music to support each other
reciprocally in an improvisational context; and to create
new choreographic works and new music composition.
Rutgers University
Library, Newark, NJ
Adrien Royce, Maplewood, NJ
The John Cotton Dana Library in Newark,
NJ hosted video production artist Adrien Joyce in a summer
program with a group of learners and tutors associated
with the Newark Literacy Campaign. Participants each produced
a personal "video
dairy", allowing their own voices to be heard in the community. Public
screenings finished out the project in the fall.
Schuylkill
Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia, PA
Jane Ingram Allen, Hamilton, NY
The resident artist worked with several groups of community participants
to create two outdoor environmental installations. The pieces
were made with natural materials including hand-made paper and
seeds, creating works
that literally grew and decayed with the passage of the seasons.
Workshops on papermaking and recycling accompanied the residency.
Society
for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA
Martina Johnson-Allen, Laverock, PA
Artist+Kids is an annual summer program of SCC.
In 2002, Martina Johnson-Allen, a multi media artist and
educator
worked with
15 at-risk students, aged 11-13, from Pittsburgh's East
Liberty's Rizenstein Middle School. Hands-on workshops,
studio and museum
visits and an exhibition of the teens works were included.
St.
Paul's Community Development Corporation, Paterson, NJ
Michael Cochrane, Paterson, NJ
The St. Paul's Jazz Initiative is a project of St. Paul's Community
Development Corporation in Paterson, New Jersey. The goal of
the initiative is to
create a forum for the advancement of Jazz in the Paterson
area. Jazz pianist and composer Cochrane composed eight new
pieces and recorded them
on a new CD, produced by the Jazz Initiative. Public jam sessions
and a concert brought the artist into the heart of this community.
Sun
Crumbs, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA
Patricia Johnson, Elk Creek, VA
Virginia poet, Patricia Johnson served as a writer in residence
through June in Pittsburgh, PA. While in residence, she offered workshops
to adults
and adolescent children, presented a reading of her works
and wrote and rehearsed new poetry.
Sunrise Museum, Inc., Charleston, WV
Cavin Jones, Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia muralist Cavin Jones led several mural painting workshops
in collaboration with local artists and community members,
resulting in an exhibition of several small murals at the Sunrise
Museum.
Textile Museum, Washington, DC
Hitoshi Ujiie, Langhorne, PA
During The Cutting Edge: Artists and Textile Technology,
the Textile Museum hosted artist Hitoshi Ujiie. Working in
the museum galleries during public hours, he developed his
digital-printing technique
using images from the collections to create new works, and
shared his creative process with the community.
Tyler School
of Art, Elkins Park, PA
Renee Stout, Washington, DC
Washington, DC artist Renee Stout
created a major new installation work and performance exploring
the history and culture of the "Botanica" or
herbalist store that has been important to African and Caribbean
communities for centuries.
Virginia Beach Symphony Orchestra,
Virginia Beach, VA
Andrew Bleckner, Philadelphia, PA
The VA Beach Symphony Orchestra hosted Andrew Bleckner in a project
which involved the creation of a dramatic-balletic musical work
based on a children's
story. Through workshops and activities, this residency resulted
in the creation of a collaborative interdisciplinary work of
art, by both artist
and youth participants. This was the composer's first opportunity
to compose for children and for a full-size orchestra.
Visual
Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY
Judy Gelles, Philadelphia, PA
VSW provided support for the artist to design and produce an artist's
book dealing with her family history through a twenty-year
photographic project which started in 1982.
Wheaton Village/Creative Glass
Center of America, Millville,
NJ
Robin Rice, Philadelphia, PA
A return visit by critic and writer Robin Rice to the Creative
Glass Center of America resulted in the completion of an anthology
of essays on the subject of contemporary glass art. Rice interviewed
the Center's
fellowship artists-in-residence and participated in the biennial
Glass Weekend, where works by 150 glass artists from more than
20 galleries nationwide were exhibited.
Woodstock Guild of Craftsmen, Inc.,
Woodstock, NY
Walter Thompson, Weehawken, NJ
The Woodstock Guild of Craftsmen hosted composer/conductor, Walter
Thompson, in a two month residency teaching Sound Painting-
Thompson's multi-disciplinary sign language system for conducting and composing
in improvisation.
One
month was spent in elementary schools and working with mentally
challenged adults. The second month was spent at the Byrdcliffe
Arts Colony with
the Walter Thompson Orchestra, developing a new Sound Painting
work.
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