| | ARTISTS' NEWSLETTER News and Opportunities for Artists of Fairfield County, CT AUGUST 5, 2017
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| | The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County is a nonprofit service organization that supports its members through unified marketing, capacity building, professional development, and advocacy services. This newsletter is sent to all who request it - but we ask that, if you are not a member, you explore membership benefits and consider joining this community of more than 500 individuals and organizations. You can sign up here. |
| Quote of the Week
"It is inspiring to support those who both believe in and demonstrate the power of the arts to change communities for the better."
Jason Schupbach, NEA's departed director of design and creative placemaking |
| | | | CULTURAL ALLIANCE LAUNCHES ARTISTS TALK The Cultural Alliance announces its new ARTISTS TALK series of video-recorded talks by artist members in select group and juried shows. The videos will create an archive of our members discussing their work on our YouTube channel - an asset for our artists and a showcase for the richness of the visual arts in our County. You can subscribe here. |
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| | | ARTISTS TALK VIDEOS NOW AVAILABLE |
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CRIS DAM
Cris Dam is now a Westport-based painter and muralist. He was born in Alaska, raised in Spain and Connecticut, was educated in New York City, has lived and worked in Germany and continues to work internationally. When he 10 years old, he began honing his skills in academic painting classes in Granada, Spain. Within a matter of years—and he thinks this is a result of his peripatetic childhood—he began to "challenge the perspectives in nature’s inherent visual vocabulary" and was sought out by collaborators and educators alike. In 1998, Cris cofounded Dam, Stuhltrager Gallery (DSG) with Leah Stuhltrager in Williamsburg, NY. The gallery became an important incubator of emerging talent and for groundbreaking exhibitions incorporating technology or using mediums in innovative ways. It also helped propel Williamsburg into becoming the international art mecca that it is today. In 2008, Cris made the move to Connecticut to raise a family, but still works internationally. A DSG Berlin annex was started in 2010 to serve as a venue to host noncommercial projects and an international residency program and in 2012, Dam Stuhltrager Berlin transformed into The WYE, a 20,000-square-foot space in the former Central Post Office of Berlin. Cris’s imagery combines diverse landscapes and universal patterns found everywhere in nature to connect cultures. Taking root in organic abstraction, he combines exotic imagery with Pop colors and modern lines, and his use of color-blending creates infinite depth out of simple silhouettes. Cris sits on the board of The WYE, supporting culture while focusing on his career as a painter. He's currently in the Danger Gallery's 1x1 show. See his website and Facebook page.
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BEN QUESNEL
Ben Quesnel is a Stamford-based artist and art educator, teaching in the public school system since 2011. A graduate of SCSU, he earned his MFA from The School of Visual Arts (winning the Paula Rhodes Award for the quality and originality of their thesis conception). Ben uses a combination of found materials, video, and sound to explore the range of perspectives and interpretations that attach to objects, confirming their “non-definitive” character. As he puts it, “In the current state of globalization and Internet connectivity, we are not limited to constrained areas of experience and knowledge; rather, we have access to the world at large.” Ben explores the idea of disorientation by transforming objects into unusual forms and transporting them into unfamiliar territories. He believes disorientation embraces the idea of multiple understandings, encouraging new ideas to form while challenging those that already persist. Ben exhibits widely across the larger New York metropolitan area, including at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Newark Museum, Present Company, The Hollows and more. He shows frequently with Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery and Danger Gallery. This year he has exhibited in the Circadian Rhythm in Dark Matter group show at the Alvarez Gallery, is currently in the 1x1 performance/art show at the Danger Gallery and will have work in the Governors Island Art Fair in September. See Ben's website, Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter feeds. |
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| | RENE SOTO
Rene Soto grew up in Guatemala and his first career was as a physical education instructor. His passion for the arts emerged early on, but he would only find a way to express himself after his arrival in the United States in 2011. Here he developed a visual language that enabled him to reflect on the life he left behind, and to express feelings that, he says, could not be expressed in any other way than in his paintings. Rene began teaching art at King School in Stamford, working with students on the World Window (2014) project, and at Studio Arte in Norwalk, CT, (2015). Rene also started working with international artists, from the Embrace Art Volunteer Team: Angel Meries from Venezuela, Colombian artist Favio Meza, Marta Beltrano, from Argentina, among others. Rene was awarded the Guillermo Barreto Scholarship for two consecutive years (2014 & 2015) to attend classes at the Greenwich Art Society. He created the citywide project Guatemala Everywhere, in Stamford, that opened the door for many artists from Guatemala to exhibit their art throughout the city. Rene has exhibited at Stamford’s Neighbor’s Link, (now Building One Community), Stamford's Palace Theatre, The Loft Artists Association, The Greenwich Art Society, and the Greenwich Arts Council's Art to the Avenue (2015). Last year, Rene's work was part of the XIV Art Show of Hispanic Artists in New Jersey (2016), and in New York, the Art Show at the Queens Museum (2016). Rene volunteers and has donated his paintings to local non-profits such as Stamford Senior Center, The Ronald McDonald House, Caring with Grace, Domestic Violence Center of Stamford and others. His love for teaching continues through “Kids Draw Free” an art activity for children and families, created by Alex Virvo. See his most recent art show at Durango Insurance in Norwalk CT, July 2017. See Rene's website, Facebook page and Twitter feed.
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| ❦ – See a List by Town of Artist Members: here ❦ – See a List by Town of all Organization and Creative Business Members: here |
| | | | | ROUND-UP OF MEMBERS' NEWS |
| | | | | Chris Dam, Holly Danger, Mark DeRosa, Marcella Kovac, Ben Quesnel, Liz Squillace, and Jahmane West, are live-painting Sat. Aug. 5, 6-9pm in One by One, an interactive and experimental, art party and mural show at Holly Danger's Danger Gallery (652 Glenbrook Rd., Stamford). Each artist will be painting one-foot-square canvases, seamlessly connected to create a 100-foot-long mural. You can buy a canvas for $100 in advance here.
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| | | | | | Marjorie Poe, Norm Siegel, and Al Coyote Weiner are featured in a three-person show, Bending Reality, at Fairfield Library's Bruce S. Kershner Gallery, opening Sat. Aug. 5. Alice Katz and Vin Verillo curated the show: A trompe l'oeil painter, now working in 3-D anaglyphics, an abstract expressionist, and an accomplished painter in the Chinese tradition, all come together in this reality-bending show. Opening reception is Aug. 12, 4:30-6:30pm, with an Artists Talk at 5:30pm. The show runs through October 1.
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| | | | Paul Berger has one of his original color landscape photographs at The Stamford Art Association's Far Away Places exhibit. Working with his medium-format film camera, Paul captured Medano Twilight (2017, 22" x28," click for larger image) at Great Sands National Park in Colorado this past April. The exhibit is at its Franklin Street gallery through Aug. 24.
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| | Bevi Bullwinkel reports that she won second prize for mixed media in the Rowayton Arts Center's Marine and Coastal show that closed July 31, for Transience 14 (2017, cold wax and oil pigment stick, and the size 20 x 16", detail at right, click for complete image). This is part of my "Transience" series in cold wax and oil pigment stick, exploring the interplay of water with other natural elements for the marine theme at RAC this past month.
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| | Miggs Burroughs has had his exhibition, Signs of Compassion at the Westport Library extended for another month, with a closing reception to celebrate the exhibit, and the end of Miggs' term as the Library's Artist in Residence, to be held on August 21, 6-7:30pm. The exhibit will run until August 31.
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| | Alicia Cobb's body painting was featured in the choreo-film, Elephant, produced entirely by women of color against street harassment, and released July 31. Inspired by a poem written and performed by Elisabet Velasquez, it was choreographed and danced by Keomi Tarver (at right) and directed by Connie Chavez. Click on image for video. |
| | Heidi Lewis Coleman is showing her mixed media Assemblage pieces, DAPHNAIE and NEBULA, in Spectrum Art Gallery's Abstract Nature, running through September 10th. The exhibit features artists who use nature for inspiration, and when viewers look closely - the colors, shapes and forms of the nature that inspired the pieces can be discerned. Spectrum Gallery is located at 61 Main Street, Centerbrook, Connecticut.
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| | Carol Nipomnich Dixon has three quite different and original pieces that were selected for the Stamford Art Association's Far Away Places, through Aug. 24.: 1. Japanese Gardens (2017, embroidered collage, 13” square, at right), incorporating photographs of sites in Japan and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden with Japanese origami papers and stitchery; 2. Rijks- museum Atrium Reflection (2016, color photograph, 14” x 11” framed); and 3. Strawberry Moon (2016, color photograph, 14x11” framed) taken from her back deck. Carol also has Beach Notes (embroidered collage, 13" square) in the Art Society of Old Greenwich juried Summer Symphony at the Flinn Gallery in Greenwich Library.
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| | Heide Follin won First Place Award for painting at the Rowayton Arts Center’s Brushwork Exhibition, juried by Nancy McTague-Stock. Heide's piece was titled Brushwork (2016, acrylic ink and paint on yupo paper, framed white wood, 25” x 31," detail at right) – an experimental work using different types and sizes of brushes for unique effects, with an open, lyrical, Asian quality, influenced by her recent travels.
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| | Ruben Marroquin just finished another woven piece for Los Angeles designer Kelly Wearstler in West Hollywood. See the piece reproduced on her website promoting her furniture. His pieces have various dimensions and are made from linen, cotton, bamboo and metallic yarns over metal and wooden rods. Wearstler is now commissioning art that can be reproduced as a table would - setting a challenge for an artist who typically arrives at his compositions through an improvisatory process.
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| | | Carole McClintock has been in the newspapers recently. First, Mike Lauterborn wrote a great piece about her work in the Westport Minuteman July 6. Then, after Carole had had a good two days painting at Anthropologie in Westport for the Westport Arts Festival July 15-16, she lost a painting, and Dan Wood in his blog 06608 raised the alarm: in Have You Seen Carole McClintock’s Koi? he reports on her leaving behind an unfinished, wet painting at Bedford Square. Only after returning from vacation did she realize she did not have the painting. Any sightings? |
| | | | Amy Oestreicher is working on her second TEDx talk (see a 3-minute teaser here) at Virginia Commonwealth University about patterns. She is also performing excerpts from FIBERS, her multimedia solo play created from oral histories collected from relatives who survived the Holocaust
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| | | | Chris Perry is participating with Carole Kunstadt, artist and guest curator of Boundless: Altered Books in Contemporary Art, at Hill-Stead Museum in a panel discussion about transforming found books into works of art, Aug. 6, 3-4pm. Chris will also demonstrate his altered book construction methods for the audience. The exhibit runs until Sept. 6. Closer to home, Chris is in a show with Alice Walsh at the Mark Twain Library, Volume: two through Sept. 8. "Exploring the malleability of the form, and through a process of deconstruction, the artists aim to give new meaning to these ubiquitous and everyday objects." See Patch article. Even further afield, Chris has work in Unbound VII at ArtisTree Gallery, South Pomfret, VT, through Aug. 26.
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| | Marjorie Poe is one of the artists in the Bending Reality show at Fairfield Library's Bruce S. Kershner Gallery, opening Sat. Aug. 5. At right is her Love (2017, oil on aluminum, 24x24", click for larger image). Marjorie says her mission for the show is not only to share the beauty of Chinese painting but in her Birds and Flowers series, using her skill in Chinese painting and new mediums such as oil on aluminum, to demonstrate her theme of East meets West. Hear Marjorie talk about her work at the Artists Talk Sat. Aug. 12, 5:30pm.
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| | Norm Siegel paints trompe l’oeil subjects, photo realistic portraits (and all things aviation and astronomy), although he recently been exploring interactive 3-D anaglyph painting. In Bending Reality at the Kershner Gallery, opening Sat. Aug. 5, you’ll see both the anaglyphs and the troupe l’oeil, including Fit To Be Tied (2017, oil on canvas, ties, 24”x18) with real ties continuing the trompe l'oeil painting (something, Norm says, the buyer didn’t realize until he had it in his house. Norm will be speaking as part of the Artists Talk at the Kershner Gallery Sat. Aug. 12, 5:30pm.
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| | Al Coyote Weiner has 15 paintings in the Kershner's Bending Reality show at the Fairfield Public Library, opening Sat. Aug. 5. At right is his Happy Lungs (2017, acrylic on canvas, 18" x 24," click for larger image). The artist says this painting happened very spontaneously one day in the studio. As a child, he had severe asthma, and as an adult, he's had lung cancer and COPD, so Happy Lungs expresses his strong desire to have no more lung or breathing problems. Come hear Al speak in the Artists Talk Sat. Aug. 12, 5:30pm.
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| | Compiled List of Artist Member Openings & Events
Click button to right to download events to your ICAL or Google Calendar |
| | Sat. Aug. 5: INTERVAL, 22 Haviland Street. Opening reception, 5-8pm (Erin Dolan, Duvian Montoya and Jahmane). Sat. Aug. 5: One by One, Danger Gallery. Performance and reception, 6-9pm (Cris Dam, Holly Danger, Marcella Kovac, Ben Quesnel, Liz Squillace, and Jahmane).
Sat. Aug. 5: BRAG at Framemakers, Framemakers Gallery. Opening reception, 2-4pm (Susan Fehlinger, Judy Noel, Kaz Oda, and Donna Osterby-Brien).
Sat. Aug. 5: Bending Reality, Fairfield Library's Bruce S. Kershner Gallery. Opens. (Marjorie Poe, Norm Siegel, and Al Coyote Weiner).
Tues. Aug. 8: Donna Osterby-Brien, Open Door Tea, 3552 Main St., Stratford. Artist Reception, 4-7pm.
Tues. Aug. 8: Walk & Talk, Art of the NorthEast. 6-8pm (Michael Kozlowski and Rick Shaefer)
Sat. Aug. 12: Donna Osterby-Brien, Open Door Tea, 3552 Main St., Stratford. Artist Reception, 4-5pm.
Sat. Aug. 12: Bending Reality, Fairfield Library's Bruce S. Kershner Gallery. Opening Reception, 4:30-6:30pm. Artists Talk, 5:30pm. (Marjorie Poe, Norm Siegel, and Al Coyote Weiner).
Mon. Aug. 21: Miggs Burroughs, Signs of Compassion, Westport Library. Closing Reception, 6pm-7:30pm.
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| | Now that you have read our NEWS... |
| Check FCBuzz.org for listings of all EVENTS by our members! |
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RUN FOR OFFICE! ARTIST CAMPAIGN SCHOOL
Fractured Atlas, the national artist and arts support network, is, along with some important partners, organizing an ARTIST CAMPAIGN SCHOOL. This started when in a survey of its membership FA discovered that 19% of those answering the question “Have you considered running for elected office?” said “YES” In response, FA decided to organize a school. Some of the biggest and brightest campaign veterans, former candidates and other inspirational speakers who have been in the trenches of civic activism for decades will be involved. As they put it: “If you’re not at the table, you are on the menu! For too long, artists have suffered the consequences of growing neighborhood gentrification, large amounts of student debt, and a labor system that devalues your work. It’s time for artists to position themselves to be part of the conversation on the kinds of communities we want to live in and the beliefs we want to fight for every day.” The goal of Artist Campaign School is to promote systemic national policy change by codifying the tenets that foster creativity, and encourage it into tangible legislation. Beginning in Fall 2017, Artist Campaign School will recruit, train, and support 100–150 artists in running for elected office at the federal, state, and local levels. Specifically, participants will learn: Targeting voters; Message development; Media training; Fundraising; Campaign online presence; Scheduling/Advance Staffing; How to launch your campaign. Artist Campaign School is open to artists and arts administrators from across the political spectrum, regardless of the profile of the office you seek—we believe that some of the most important decisions that affect our community are being made at the local level.
Applications accepted through September 15, 2017. Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis and those selected will be notified in mid-September 2017. Sign up, or nominate others, here. |
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DOCUMENTARY FILM SUSTAINABILITY REPORT + WEBINARS
A groundbreaking report, State of the Field, on the sustainability of documentary filmmaking was just issued by the National Endowment for the Arts and the International Documentary Association - based on a Documentary Sustainability Summit held in February 2017, featuring 80 filmmakers, producers, distributors, film festival representatives, funders, and other stakeholders in the documentary community, as well as government representatives. The intent of the report is to provide an overview of key findings and actions that will strengthen the documentary ecosystem. Case studies are featured throughout the report as examples that contribute to building sustainable infrastructure for the documentary community. Key themes and action items that emerged from the summit:
Key Findings: Cross-Sector Connectivity Is Central to Sustainability; Peer Networks Need Strengthening; Public Sector Needs More Engagement; A Sustainable Future Is Dependent on Research; Everyone Is a Stakeholder. Action Items recommended for all stakeholders include: 1. Strengthen the field through knowledge exchange, technical assistance, cross-sector collaboration, and professional networks. 2. Research, data, and metrics are critical to the sustainability and success of the ecosystem. 3. Public sector needs continual engagement from stakeholders to accelerate its role as funder, convener, and strategist and also examine the impact of various policies on the sector. Related upcoming webinars: 1. Aug. 10 - Report Overview: State of the Documentary Field; 2. Sept. 5 - Building Resiliency: Emerging Forms & Collaborative Networks; 3. Sept. 21 - Supporting Independent Productions: Film Rebate & Tax Incentive Programs ; 4. Oct. 12 - Strengthening Communities: Regional Programs & Public Broadcast Initiatives. |
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| | | CALLS FOR ENTRIES -Deadlines |
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CARRIAGE BARN ARTS CENTER ANNUAL MEMBERS SHOW AUGUST 18
Now in its 40th year, the New Canaan Society for the Arts' Annual Member Show at the Carriage Barn Arts Center, Sept. 10 through Oct. 7, celebrates the range, interests, and talents of the Society's artist members working across all subjects, styles, and media in art. Current or new members may enter up to three pieces not previously exhibited at the Carriage Barn, one will be selected for inclusion in the show. Entry fee: $20 for up to three entries. To enter, membership must be current for the duration of the show through October 7, 2017. Membership ($65 for individuals) is open to anyone with an interest in the artistic activities of the New Canaan Society for the Arts. For complete prospectus, click here. For entry form, click here. Deadline: August 18.
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MARITIME GARAGE GALLERY MEMORIES OF OUR TOWN AUGUST 18
The City of Norwalk Parking Authority’s Maritime Garage Gallery is inviting submissions from artists, 18 and over, for a new exhibit running Sept. 26, 2017 – Jan. 5, 2018. Titled Memories Of Our Town, the exhibit will feature art that represents the unique memories of the place we call home: places, people, sounds, smells, events, that are personally significant. Maritime Garage Gallery is seeking work that captures the impression of those memories in works of art. Clever interpretations and uses of medium are welcome. Up to 5 pieces; most mediums accepted, except sculpture. A non-refundable submission fee of $35 payable online For application details and for entry form, click here. E-mail questions here. The Maritime Garage Gallery is part of the Parking Authority’s Art in Parking Places initiative, an effort to support art in public spaces, making Norwalk a more vibrant destination. The gallery is free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm. For more information, call 203-831-9063. |
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