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Projector Feature Article Archive:

September 22, 2011: Lisa gold Talks Options
October 6, 2011: Henry Thaggert on 30 Americans
October 20, 2011: Angela Adams: Perspectives on Public Art
November 3, 2011: Furthermore Takes Printing to the Next Level
November 17, 2011: Connecting in the Digital Age: Inter-Net
December 1, 2011: People of the Book: Don Russell & Provisions
December 15, 2011: WPA Member Gert Barkovic Gives Back
December 29, 2011: Jean-Michel Ross's Free Pass
January 12, 2012: The Right Fit: Caitlin Strokosch on Artist Residencies
January 26, 2012: BrickHaus Art Space: Bootstrapping in Baltimore

January 26, 2012

BrickHaus Art Space: Bootstrapping in Baltimore
by Liz Georges

Like many feats of daring and folly, BrickHaus Art Space was initially conceived during the late night hours on a college campus. WPA Member Artist Ben Graham-Putter and fellow MICA graduate Adam Farkas often found themselves working in MICA’s woodshop late at night back in their college days. “I started thinking, you know, when I get out of school, what am I going to use to make my art? I’d been using this really high-quality, fully equipped woodshop, a similar metal shop and a ceramics studio. What am I going to do without all of this equipment?” Ben explains. “So I made a decision while talking to another friend of mine, that this was something that I, or a group a people, would have to make – a place, where all of this stuff was accessible, in the same building.”

Both Ben and Adam graduated -- Adam completed his degree in 2009, and Ben followed a year later. The reality of life as a couple of recent art school grads in a struggling economy took hold. “I was kind of floating around for a little while. For a few months I worked as a commercial painter, and then through some experience doing aerial theater I found a job at Red Dirt Studios,” Ben says.

Ben reconnected with his friend Adam through his work in aerial theater, and ultimately, brought Adam in to Red Dirt. “I was bouncing around from job to job. I think I had just lost my job at Trader Joe’s when Ben took me down to Red Dirt to help him with a project,” Adam explains.

Back in a workshop together again, Ben and Adam started talking about Ben’s idea of a group space that allowed artists to have access to equipment and studios. “I think part of the impetus to start our own studio for me came from the fact that I had a woodshop in my bedroom, and I stored lumber under my bed. I was very determined to keep making art,” Adam says.

“Just a woodshop wouldn’t have been enough, because I use ceramics and metal. To get all of this equipment together for myself and try to find a space that I could afford all this stuff to go in, would have been impossible,” Ben says. “It started off more about myself and my art. But then as the thinking evolved, it became more about actually helping other people get affordable studio space, and helping other people get into shows, and helping other people get access to the equipment that they need. And it’s become less about my artwork and more about creating a community around the facility.”

BrickHaus finally became a reality in 2011. An old brick warehouse constructed in 1910, the building had enough space to carve out a high-ceilinged woodshop on the top floor, a metal shop in the basement, a number of studios of various sizes on the first and second floors, a gallery and meeting space in the front, and soon, a recording studio. The freight elevator, designed with enough load capacity to lift an automobile, made the space a dream come true. “I found it on Craigslist,” says Ben.

As with most dreams, (and things found on Craigslist) getting what they wanted was only the beginning. The real work has been in making the space usable and keeping it running. And that means making money. “We’ve mainly been bootstrapping the whole thing,” says Ben. “Working just enough to pay the extra bills. Part of it is that we spent a long time really negotiating a good lease that allowed us some flexibility while we were doing the construction to build our organization in the space. But a lot of it has been making sure that we have people in those studios who are paying their rent, which allows us to pay our rent and then all the construction costs. We’re just making as much as we can so that we can buy materials. We’ve been buying things as much on the cheap as possible. Lots of the things that we have are from Craigslist.”

“I think one of the most redeeming qualities of artists is that we will always find a way,” Adam adds. “And that’s true of all the people that have helped us. There are positives and negatives to being in a bad economy. One of the positive things is that we have a lot of people who are idle and want to share their time. A lot of our friends who don’t have jobs have said, hey, I’m tired of sitting around in the house, I want to be doing something productive, can I come help?”

Indeed, people who want in on the project are not in short supply. There is no shortage of artists looking for studio space and a place to show their work. It has been finding the right people that has proven to be the challenge. “It’s finding that balance for us, making it possible for people who want to be involved to be involved by dividing the space up, and finding just the right balance between how big the studios are and how much they cost. Something that is very important to us is the type of people we have in the space and the mindset they have. There are no doors on any of the studios,” Adam says.

“There have been people who have wanted locked doors,” Ben chimes in. “There have been people who have wanted live-in space, and things like that, and we have had to say no to those people. But I think that it’s very important to us to curate in people who will be right for the project. Our dedication to finding those people has placed us occasionally in some slightly trying financial situations. It’s been really rewarding because the people we do find who are right for the project really help to further the community that we set out to create.”

That community Ben and Adam are creating is committed both to the independence of the artist, and to the idea that often one can only get by with a little help from his friends. Adam explains, “I think that the community that has been building at BrickHaus is a bunch of people with their own independent studios that make their own independent work, but everyone helps if someone needs it. When we put up our first show, all of our resident artists were helping build out the space, helping paint.”

Ben envisions a community where collaboration is possible, but where sharing of resources is the norm. “We’re going to be starting a weekly seminar where all the resident artists get together every week and talk about art -- an informal sharing ideas, calls for entry, any shows that are happening that people should see. And anytime anybody needs a sort of a second opinion on something or a second pair of eyes, or even a fifth or sixth pair of eyes on the project that they’re working on, this will be a really great avenue to get that sort of feedback.”

“We’re very intentionally looking for a variety of people and media and a mix of more experienced folks and less experienced folks,” Ben continues. “Some of the people with less experience might have a little bit more energy because they are really new to things and really excited. Some of the people who have a lot more experience have been through some of the mistakes that people make early on in their career and they can help guide people through it, but might benefit from all that excitement going on in the space.”

“Also from a technical standpoint,” adds Adam, “the materials that are available now are completely different from what they were in the 60’s and 70’s, and even the 80’s and 90’s. And I think the younger artists have a lot to share with the older artists in terms of different processes and materials. And the older artists have a lot to share with the younger artists in terms of different methods of construction and plain old experience. So the more diverse the crowd, the more options you have when you’re looking for answers.”

That emphasis on sharing and working together became suddenly necessary as the winter set in late last year. A misunderstanding about whether there had ever been gas lines run to the building left BrickHaus suddenly in the lurch. “What was going to be a $75 installation of a meter is going to be turned into a several thousand dollar installation of a new gas line,” Ben explains. The money wasn’t readily available, and an online fundraising campaign only produced a fraction of the funds needed to solve the problem. “So at the moment we’re installing wood stoves as frantically as possible while still doing it right, and that’s been helping. We’re plastic-ing windows and doing what we can.” Ben is optimistic, and confident that the BrickHaus artists won’t go a second year without heat.

What Ben and Adam have learned from experience is that the only way to achieve feats of daring and folly is to simply not take no for an answer. “There will always be people that tell you no, and you absolutely cannot listen,” says Adam. “Every single thing we’ve done, we’ve been told by at least five people that it’s not possible. A big thing we’ve definitely learned and are getting good at is knowing when to ignore people and when to really listen very closely.”

At bottom, Ben and Adam’s confidence is a product not just of their faith in themselves, but in the community they are building. “The people are more important than the money. Because as long as you have people on your side, they’ll all help you find a way to get the money that you need,” says Ben.

BrickHaus Art Space is located at 2602 Greenmount Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland. BrickHaus’s latest exhibition, “Concrete Poetry,” a solo exhibition by Sean Lundgren, opens Friday, January 27th, from 6-11pm.

January 12, 2012

The Right Fit: Caitlin Strokosch on Artist Residencies
by Liz Georges

Given that her work for nearly a decade has been about promoting artist residencies of all kinds, and championing residencies both in the art world and on Capitol Hill, it seems odd to discover that Caitlin Strokosch, Executive Director of the Alliance of Artist Communities, can actually come up with reasons why an artist shouldn’t do a residency.

“I’m not a strong supporter of the idea that you do a residency just because it’s going to look good on your resume,” she says candidly, “not that an artist shouldn’t care about that, but that it shouldn’t be the motivation for pursuing a residency, or a particular residency program because of its name recognition. I feel like it’s a really important gift that an artist is given when they receive a residency, and taking advantage of that opportunity should be the motivation -- that you’re going there to explore your creative practice, to produce work, and to really dig in, in a way that you might not otherwise have a chance to do.”

Strokosch’s concern stems from not just high-mindedness about the place of residencies in the art world, but from more pragmatic concerns regarding the right fit between the artist and the residency. “Part of my concern when I hear artists talking about having something that they can put on their resume is that it can take the place of looking for residencies that are going to be a good match for them, in terms of aesthetic, the style and personality of the place, and the opportunities that artists may find in that particular community. All those sorts of things that make a residency a good match really don’t have anything to do with how famous the place is, and there are so many great residency programs that you’ve never heard of” she says.

In talking about residencies, how to select them, and how to apply for them, this idea of “fit” – that artists should be as selective about which residencies to apply to as residency programs are about which artists are selected – emerges as central in Strokosch’s thinking, not just for artists but also for the residencies themselves. “If given the chance in an application, it’s really important that you show why you’re interested in that particular residency. I think a lot of artists miss an opportunity when they make a very generic statement about wanting time and space to work on a project that could just as easily be copied and pasted from a dozen different residency applications. And the residency directors want to know why the artist is interested in this particular place, whether it’s wanting to be in a certain geographic area, whether it’s a residency program that is focused on the arts and sciences and how that fits in with that person’s creative practice, whatever the reason is – because that’s an indication that this is going to be a good match for the artist and for the residency program. It’s a chance for you to let some of your own personality and interests come through in an artist statement or project proposal. The strength of the artist’s work will always be the most important part of the application, but talking about why this particular residency is compelling can be really critical for getting selected once you get through the work sample review part of the process.”

What does an artist look at in determining whether a residency is the right fit? “It’s kind of like picking a college. You look at the campus, you see who else is there, you read their value statements, you see what they have to offer and you kind of get a feel for what’s right for you,” Strokosch says. As for specifics, once you’ve identified residencies that offer support for your discipline or specific facilities and equipment you need, Strokosch recommends thinking about the reality of the experience itself. “How social is it? Do you want to meet people from different art forms? Are you interested in being in an urban area? How rural the actual site is can be really important. There are a lot of places where it’s hard to even imagine how solitary and remote they actually are. I heard from a New York-based artist who really wanted to get away and be in nature. And then when she went to a very rural residency, she couldn’t believe how loud the birds were and she couldn’t get any work done! I think we all romanticize different kinds of places, but it’s important to be realistic about how well suited we are for some environments over others.”

Apparently, Strokosch learned this lesson from experience in her own career as a musician. “I was in-residence at Ucross years ago, which is in northeastern Wyoming on a 22,000 acre cattle ranch. I didn’t have a car, so just think about what that really means. Not only can I not walk to a coffee shop if I get stuck or frustrated and just need to get out of my studio, but other than dinner with the other artists, there’s nowhere to go and nothing else to do. It was an incredible experience and actually the perfect place for me, but not every artist thrives in that kind of remote setting.”

“It’s important, too, that artists understand what other expectations there are,” Strokosch continues. “No artist should be surprised if they learn that they are asked to give a slide talk or give a reading or teach a workshop or visit a school. For some residencies, it’s very low-key. For example, at Jentel -- another residency program in Wyoming -- they ask their visual artists and writers to give an informal presentation in downtown Sheridan at one point during their 3-week long residency. It’s very casual and low-pressure, but not every artist is interested in doing that, so even a really low key expectation can make it or break it for a lot of artists. It shouldn’t be something you’re dragging your feet through or that you aren’t prepared for, and it’s important that the residency be really clear about what’s expected.”

In fact, increased community engagement is one of the trends over the past ten years that Strokosch cites when discussing how the residency community has changed. “There are still lots of places that are based on the private retreat kind of model. But many more places now encourage the artist to engage the community in some way – from developing public art to participating in open studios and festivals to tending bar at events to just encouraging the artists to spend time out and about. The shift in the field has been really interesting because when it first started happening there was a lot of resistance from some residency directors, particularly because some of the motivation was coming from funders who didn’t value the private, ‘no strings attached’ approach from residency programs. But there are so many different residency models these days and I think we’re in a really healthy place right now because many artists have responded to this shift saying, ‘I want to engage the community, I want to meet new people in different cities, or, I have a creative practice that involves the public.’ For artists who want to just hunker down in the studio, there are so many wonderful opportunities for that still. And for artists who want to engage more with the public, there are places for that as well.”

Another important series of trends Strokosch cites surround the issue of fitting a residency into a hectic modern life. “There are a lot of studio-only residencies, particularly in urban areas, that don’t require an artist to go away but still offer local artists a kind of community and facilities and sometimes professional development opportunities, so that local artists can be served in those ways without having to leave home. And there are more and more of those coming online all the time,” Strokosch says.

The most prevalent trend Strokosch notes, however, is shorter-term residencies. “It’s not uncommon for programs that used to average 6 to 8 weeks in duration to now have artists asking for just 2- or 3-week-long residencies. People are just trying to make it fit into vacation time, or whatever time they can squeeze in between other things. It’s the reality for many artists, and there can be really wonderful transformative experiences in a very short time. There are people who have done one-week residencies who still get more done than they would have working for months at home,” she says.

The shorter terms also open up the world of residencies to a broader audience. “I think it’s especially important that there are shorter residencies particularly for artists who have families, so that they don’t get left out of the residency world during the time that their kids are growing up. We’re just beginning to see more flexibility in the residency field to accommodate that, since there are lots of parents who can only consider being away from their families for a week or two at a time. ”

Scheduling a year’s worth of artists is difficult for the residency programs, too. “There’s still a really long lead time from when you apply to when you get in, and that makes it difficult for artists to plan ahead in that way, to know where they’re going to be a year from now or six months from now, or what their job is going to look like. Being flexible on both sides – artists and residency programs – can really be key to making all these things work.”

Aside from the good news that you may be able to have a life and have a residency, Strokosch also has another interesting message for mid-career and established artists. “Only about 10 percent of residencies are specifically for emerging artists. A lot of residency programs actually try to curate a mix of career stages to be in residence at the same time so that there’s an energy around that and an exchange that happens across different professional levels,” she says. “I hear from a lot of mid-career and more established artists that after doing what they’ve been doing for a long time, they need to really refresh their work, or move forward in a very different direction by trying a new discipline or working with materials they haven’t worked with before. Because residencies are kind of safe space for experimentation, artist can find residencies to be a real turning point where they can shift their careers in a new way.”

Although the Alliance of Artists Communities’ primary function is supporting the organizations that offer artist residencies, connecting artists to residencies is an important part of its work as well. “There are several hundred residency programs listed on our website and with a new launch in the coming weeks, there are going to be even more. The online database is free and it allows you to search by discipline, by special equipment and facilities, by location, all kinds of different things. And we’re also starting to document a lot of tips for artists – like applying for residencies, finding funding for residencies -- a lot of that stuff that we have done anecdotally through workshops will be freely available on our website for all artists.”

And what are residencies looking for from artists? “The main thing for every residency program that I’ve ever talked to, and this has been hundreds of them, is that the work samples are the most important thing,” Strokosch says. “So even if a place asks for a resume, an artist statement, statement of intent, recommendation letters, any of that stuff, the most important thing is the work. I think it’s really important to stress this because there’s this perpetual myth that it’s all about who you know or where you’ve shown or who your publisher or your agent is, and that’s how you get into a residency. But it’s really not. It’s really about the quality of the work. I don’t know that we’ll ever fully lay that myth to rest, but I’m working on it.”

Caitlin Strokosch, along with Sarah Workneh, Executive Director of Skowhegan, and artists Victoria Fu and Chrisitan Benefiel, will be participating in a panel discussion hosted by WPA, “Artist Residencies and Retreats: Making it Work for You,” on Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 6:30-8pm at Abramson Family Recital Hall at American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW. To RSVP, email Membership Director Liz Georges at lgeorges@wpadc.org.

Jean-Michel Ross’s Free Pass
By Liz Georges

One of the most common visions conjured up by the phrase “residency” in the art world is that of an artist working in a bucolic setting, the peace and quiet and the distance from the cares of the outside world producing a magically slower pace, allowing the artist time to really reflect on his or her work.

Of course, if you are Jean-Michel Ross, doing your curatorial residency at the International Studio and Curatorial Program in Brooklyn, you’re only halfway through your three-month residency and you’ve already started two businesses (so much for that “slower pace” thing). In fact, when Jean-Michel visits Washington, DC to participate in Washington Project for the Arts’ InfoEx program on January 5th, the thing he’s looking forward to most is the chance to take a break from the pace of his hectic residency.

“For me what was really exciting about going to Washington, was not only to have portfolio reviews and meet people in another city, but it was also about taking the time to prepare for the talk, and just step back for a second internalize everything that just happened, and to be able to talk about it,” says Jean-Michel.

What has just happened is that Jean-Michel Ross, a Montreal-based curator whose work is currently focused on issues on the intersection of democracy and the visual arts, has started a publishing project, an online magazine called Free Pass. “It’s a web magazine for which I’ll try to have one paper edition a year,” He explains. “Everyone who wants to be part of the editorial staff can ask to be part of it, and then I give to any one of those people a press pass. Since every magazine has the right to print their own press passes, they then have access to all of the museums and galleries, not just here in the United States but around the world.”

“My idea is to really have a reflection on the idea of context, which is something that’s been very important in my previous work, and my previous research. One of the first things that I was interested in was the question of the link between democracy and the idea that everybody has a voice. So if you’re giving everybody a voice, how can you make a context to actually do that?”

For a former assistant editor of ESPACE Sculpture magazine, a magazine, even an online format, has provided a context that was at once familiar and provided opportunity not only to provide access through the actual passes issued, but to explore the ways in which those issued the passes use the tool, the “voice” they are given. “Some of the people have chosen to use their press passes to get access to other artists to do interviews, and that has been interesting.” He notes.

The other business Jean-Michel has managed to start in his first 30 days in New York is a pop-up, for-profit gallery under the auspices of his ISCP residency. “The gallery? That came up the third week I was here. The whole idea for the research I was doing here was to reflect on the problems linked to democracy and the visual arts, so the magazine was one way of doing that. But then I was thinking on the other side there’s also the idea of the actual space, creating an actual context.”

For Jean-Michel, the context of the gallery has become a means to explore more themes in his chosen research field. “There’s a question of access, there’s a question of trying to raise the standard of living of the artist, for their production, their promotion,” Jean-Michel explains. “But I also find it interesting to explore a long term collaboration with different artists that can not only work together but also research and think together: what is this context, how does it actually affect the work that is being shown, what is the discourse, what are the limits? If we’re going towards a private gallery and we’re going toward profit, how does this research actually fit into that?”

“For instance, I have a number of artists who do process art, where it’s not just about the actual object, but it’s the whole ‘how they get there’ that’s important. And of course if you take those objects and you transpose them to a private gallery, it’s much more about the object. So this is a way to go towards those different ideas.“

Many of these questions are raised for him by the distinct difference between the contemporary art institutions in his native Quebec and those in the United States. “I’ve been on the board of one of the oldest non-profit galleries in Canada, Optica Gallery.” Jean Michel says. “There’s a very vibrant not-for-profit scene in Quebec, it’s quite important, much more important than the private galleries actually.” Jean-Michel goes on to describe the network of artist-run nonprofit ventures that sprang up in the 70’s and 80’s, that later became the beneficiary of government subsidies, sometimes up to 90% of their budget being supplied by the Provincial Government.

The level of focus that it takes to accomplish even one project of this depth in barely more than a month is significant. That Jean-Michel has taken on two such endeavors speaks to the level of clarity and commitment he has to his curatorial vision. But when asked what he’s gotten out of his residency at ISCP, the answer is a little surprising. “The most important thing? I would say meeting with artists is the first thing -- being in a building with 34 or 36 artists from all over the world. That’s dynamic, and those exchanges are probably the richest thing that I have gotten up to now. It’s not just thinking about the projects and everything. Those interactions have actually contributed to thinking about those projects and to making them happen.”

Jean-Michel Ross will be speaking as part of WPA’s “InfoEx” program at 6:30pm on January 5, 2012 at UBS Financial Services, 1501 K Street NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC. InfoEx is an informal partnership between Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) and the International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP) in Brooklyn, New York. On Friday, January 6, he will hold one-on-one meetings with WPA member artist, curators, and arts writers. Individuals wishing to attend the talk should RSVP to WPA Program Director Blair Murphy at bmurphy@wpadc.org. This InfoEx program is sponsored by UBS Financial Services.

December 15, 2011

WPA Member Gert Barkovic Gives Back
by Liz Georges

It takes a special kind of vision to see what’s not there. Whether you choose to call it imagination, suspension of disbelief, or just plain crazy, it’s not easy to look at a thing and see past what’s there to what could be. It is one of the things, however, at which artists excel.

Which explains why it took an artist, namely WPA artist member Gert Barkovic, to see the necessity of the Sonreir Project (“sonreir” means “to smile” in Spanish). Upon hearing from a maxillofacial surgeon friend (the man who later became her husband) about the medical missions he’d been doing in the Mountains of Honduras through the Barnabas House working with children with cleft palate and other maladies, Barkovic’s curiosity was piqued.

“I had heard about all the children they were able to affect, and I was looking at the before and after which is just so amazing,” she says. “I felt like there was something missing. The parents really had no contact between the medical team and what was going on with their children, and there’s a language barrier, and a lot of the families have never come in contact with a doctor, or a hospital. And the parents are terrified, absolutely terrified because here are these people in white coats from America coming and taking their kids behind this screen, and they hear them crying and it’s just hard.”

No longer merely curious, and seeing a need that she could help meet, Barkovic talked her way onto a medical mission team going to Honduras. “I asked to travel with one of their teams and bring all the loot from my studio that I hadn’t touched or used in years. Just packed them in big midshipman duffles and brought them down.”

The first mission wasn’t easy. The medical staff didn’t understand what she was doing. She was given the recovery and waiting area to set up – a tiny hallway where parents and children wait nervously to have surgery and afterwards to recuperate. It was cramped, the windows were closed and the shades were drawn. The hospital staff recoiled when Barkovic threw open the shades to let in light. The parents were shy, unsure of what Barkovic really wanted from them with her paints, feathers, pipe cleaners and other supplies. She coaxed the parents into coming to the table, and creating while they waited for their children.

Her instincts ultimately paid off. “By the end of the week we determined that it was so beneficial to the parents there,” she says. “It totally changed the realm that they were in, and it became more of a community. A lot of parents in previous missions, they went in and they would stay away from one another, and through this we’ve developed a community.”

Now Barkovic’s art therapy is considered a necessary companion to the work done by the surgeons. Families will come to Barnabas House prior to surgery and create using the donated art supplies Barkovic brings with her, or will participate in sing-a-longs. Families that under other circumstances would be paralyzed with anxiety and anticipation loosen up and begin to form a community. “It’s such a comfort, and it’s not forced upon them. It’s really just out of curiosity. It’s definitely a diversion from the worry, and the stress,” says Barkovic. “We had a young couple, they were 23 years old, and they had three children there in surgery and they were just beside themselves. I think it just provides the ability to create community between the medical team but also between the parents and the mothers, they just became really supportive of one another. ”

Doctors usually known for their detachment from their patients have come to see the value in Barkovic’s work. “The coolest thing is that now the doctors are doing it!” Barkovic exclaims. “They come in so it’s totally wrecked the old system. They’re hanging out with the moms and the dads so there’s this whole other relationship going on that’s totally awesome and they are walking around with the goofy eyeglasses and the noses.”

Art becomes for the parents and the children not merely a means to divert stress, but a means to communicate about themselves. “What’s important to them is the first thing that they create. The first thing is always the church, the Iglesias. They’re a really devout country and that’s pretty prominent. And the other thing is where they live. There’s a level of pride of being able to communicate where their home is, what they love,” says Barkovic. “A lot of the moms will draw pictures of their children and say, ‘my beautiful baby’ and ‘my beautiful son.’”

Barkovic finds inspiration for her own artistic practice in her interactions with the people in Honduras, like the cobbler Marco, one of the parents she met on a recent mission. “I thought he was ungodly talented. I mean the things he was able to create with his hands made me so humble as a maker,” she says. “He was teaching me how to weave, and that was something his village just does because they need a container and it took him no time at all – just to watch his fingers create.” Other artists who have joined Barkovic on her mission – photographer Alisia Packard and conversation artist Chanan Delivuk – have likewise discovered that there is much to be gained from the project, even more than just the satisfaction of helping others.

As the medical mission itself becomes more successful – the doctors now have a permanent hospital facility to work in – Barkovic has plans to grow Sonreir. “I save up and pay a lot of it out of pocket. Some of the medical fraternities at local medical colleges have been very generous. Virginia Tech, exceptional. George Mason has just started donating for the first time this year with their medical fraternity…. Ideally I’d like to make it so that it’s not just me going, but even more artists going, too. We have so many talented people here that have such an intellect and a giving spirit. Ultimately that is my hope.”

Gert will be returning to Honduras in February on another mission and is setting up Sonreir as a nonprofit corporation that will be able to take direct donations soon. Individuals who want to donate supplies or wish to get involved can find out more at http://www.anvilorange.com/www.anvilorange.com/sonreir_project.html.

December 1, 2011

People of the Book: Don Russell & Provisions
by Liz Georges

Considering that he first rattled into DC as a staffer on the Book Bus in 1978, it is somehow fitting that more than 30 years later, Don Russell, Executive Director of Provisions Learning Project, is still surrounded by books. Nowadays, it’s a concentrated set of bookshelves housed in the core of the new Art and Design Building at George Mason University in Fairfax. Provisions Library, part of this larger project addressing the intersection of arts and social change, has over 6,000 volumes, organized along 36 topics called “Meridians.”

Back then, it was the prospect of creating Bookworks, WPA’s much beloved bookstore, that lured Russell onto the staff at WPA in 1981. “[Then-WPA Director] Al Nodal was very interested in artist books because it was a phenom in the art world in the late seventies…one thing led to another and he asked me to manage a bookstore when they moved to the new space at 7th and D Street,” Russell remembers.

Russell’s experience running the bookstore at WPA, and his later roles as Program Director and Executive Director, contained the seeds of what he is doing today. “I remember there was a wonderful Board member, Herb White, and the bookstore was always struggling to make money, and Herb said, … ‘Don, why don’t you just start a library?’ And I thought at the time, ‘It’s a bookstore, why would we start a library?’ But the idea sort of embedded in my mind.”

Exploring social change via art was also a hallmark of his time at WPA. “Even back in my first stint at WPA, we did work on US intervention in Central America, we did an exhibition called Artists Call. We worked with an the artist Esther Parada from Chicago who did this lengthy elaborarte thing installation about Smedley Butler who was the sort of renegade general who was againstopposed all the foreign intervention. I also organized exhibitions about the AIDS crisis”.

So when Gaylord Neeley of the Gaea Foundation was looking for a way to reconfigure her foundation’s efforts to promote the intersection of art and social change, Don Russell was a natural fit to lead the project. “We developed a sort of collection of knowledge and way of bringing resources forward, alternative resources about a whole range of social change issues – 36 to be exact—and then filtered in all the most pertinent artists books that relate to social change,” Russell explains. “Look, nobody can make money selling books except Amazon, and even they’re going to be hurting at some point. But the idea of a library, especially a very focused, intentional sort of library, not encyclopedic, but you’re trying to make making a point, trying to create a conceptual work of art piece if you will, and that’s what the Provisions Llibrary is. It’s a usable conceptual artwork: an oracle.”

Now relocated to its new home at George Mason University, the choice to house the Provisions Library across from the snack barcafe in the Art & Design Bbuilding with GMU’s art department was deliberate. “I feel like libraries are too monumental. When I go around, I talk to classes a lot and I ask them, do you ever use Fenwick, which is the main library, a perfectly lovely library. Nobody Hardly anybody uses it. It’s very intimidating, I find. The way things are organized, it’s not always clear or intuitive. You almost have to learn how to be a librarian in order to figure things out. And that’s not for everybody,” says Russell. “Every day, people just come in here. They wander in here, they don’t even know they’re going to a library in a way. They’re going because they want to look at and learn from some interesting books.”

Russell’s goal for how students, artists and other visitors will use the library is three-fold: “There’s personal research, people come in here and ask a question and I’ll help them. Then there’s the second level, which I’d say is dialogue. I can have a dialogue with peoplethem. People have a project and they want my help conceptualizing it. … And then the third level would be collaboration. We want to do projects. We want to use the research center to generate projects.”

In many respects, the College of Visual and Performing Arts at George Mason offers a perfect ecosystem for Provisions to create projects that use art to explore social change – Russell has already worked with the Floating Lab Collective, which is based at Mason, and many longtime friends – Edgar AndresEndress, Tom Ashcraft, Peter Winant and Helen Frederick -- are part of the program. As an “up-and-comer” amongst the halls of higher learning, Mason is less entrenched in its thinking. Provisions is now supported in part by the university, but will remain an independent non-profit, with additional foundation supportThe university has agreed that Provisions will do its own fundraising, but as a part of the GMU community, but, Russell will now has ave the chance to pursue larger institutional grants. “I couldn’t get a National Science Foundation grant on my own, I couldn’t work with the State Department on my own. But I know that there are many ambitious projects we could do under with the imprimatur of the university,” Russell says.

Ultimately, Russell sees his work with Provisions as an opportunity to encourage more dialogue between art and other disciplines and social sectors, which he sees as revitalizing for everyone. “The art world is a subculture -- it protects artists, it protects its interests, it maintains a certain standard of quality most of the time, but I think we’re entering a phase where creativity is needed in a lot of other disciplines -- like engineering, for instance. Teaching people by the book is no longer working. People want the creative. So in a sense I’d like to take the artist out of the art world in some way and move them into other types of careers that are equally creative and satisfying and draw some of the engineers and mathematicians into the arts and make the art world more interesting and more just.”

Provisions Library is located in the Art and Design Building on the George Mason University Campus in Fairfax, Virginia. The Library’s unique collection of books, periodicals, and videos for artists, students or researchers interested in the intersection of arts and social change is open to the public Tuesday through Friday, 11am to 5pm, or by appointment. Visit provisionslibrary.com for more details or email provisionslibrary@gmail.org.

November 17, 2011

Connecting in the Digital Age: Inter-Net
by Liz Georges

People have worried about the effect of technology on the human spirit for centuries. Michelle Lisa Herman’s Coup d’Espace installation, Inter-Net, takes on the topic with wit and compassion. The three pieces included in the installation, Social Network, Virtual Window and Love Letters (Language is a Virus), each play with the juxtaposition of human and machine, offering a perspective that melds the sinister with the soulful.

Social Network, the centerpiece of the installation, provides the clearest example. The constellation of white orbs is suspended from the ceiling on wires that lead back to a nest of amplifiers and power cords on the wall. The orbs have the cute, vaguely anthropomorphic feel typically reserved for Japanese robotics and aliens on “Doctor Who” episodes. Each orb has, roughly where the ears ought to be, a pair of speakers that broadcast a voice recording.  Each orb has a little motion detector.  Whenever it is triggered, the orb says, “I’m here…are you there?”
 
Trigger a single orb and the question seems forlorn, lonely even.  Set off all the orbs together and the effect is a cacophony.  The whole pack of shiny white orbs asking all together, to everyone and to no one, “I’m here….are you there?”

The vision behind Social Network, though profoundly human at heart, found its genesis in bacteria. “It’s a process called quorum sensing,” Herman explains. “Bacteria send out a signal saying, ‘I’m here’ to announce themselves and to detect for that announcement from others. And so I was thinking about that idea and how a lot of things we do on social networks -- even just every time we post something, or ‘like’ something or blog something -- if you boil that down to its essence it’s sort of announcing to the world, ‘I am here.’ I had this idea to create an interactive audio installation composed of multiple orbs, and as people walk through these orbs that are hanging from the ceiling, a motion detector would be triggered, and audio would be played out of that orb and it would say, ‘I’m here, are you there?’”

The vision was clear. Bringing it to fruition wasn’t so easy. “In my day job I am a tech-savvy person. I’m the digital media manager at the Phillips Collection, and so I’ve always done html, websites and coding. But as far as audio and circuitry, I’m a little clueless,” Herman admits.

Then, in February of this year, WPA hosted its No Artist Left Behind program, The DC Listening Lounge Audio Workshop, in partnership with the DC Listening Lounge. Herman saw an opportunity. “I was really interested because I had this idea of this piece in mind, but it hadn’t been completely developed yet.”

The workshop helped Herman to find a collaborator to help her finish Social Network. “I learned a lot about DC Listening Lounge and their group,” she says. “They meet every month and they’re a bunch of sound lovers and audio engineers… And so I went to the meeting that they had, and just asked everybody for a recommendation of how to do this audio installation I was making. And everybody pointed me to Sean Phillips. He’s an audio engineer at NPR as his day job, and he’s a sound artist at night.”

With Phillips on board, Herman was able to construct her vision almost exactly to her specifications. Add in a well-timed 2011 Young Artists Program Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and an application to WPA’s Coup d’Espace program, and what previously had been no more than an idea in Herman’s head had an opening date on November 4, 2011. “November just seemed like the perfect time and it just happened to completely coincide with DCWEEK,” says Herman.

In another stroke of impeccable timing and fortuitous connection, Digital Capital Week, or DCWEEK, a festival focusing on digital entrepreneurship organized by iStrategy Labs and Tech Cocktail, was looking for artists to submit projects to be included as part of the technology-oriented calendar of events. “My piece just happened to be perfect,” Herman smiles. As one of the first events on the DCWEEK calendar, the opening for Inter-Net drew many individuals from the technology community to see Herman’s work.

It is no small coincidence that networking has played such a pivotal role in realizing her vision, and Herman credits WPA with many of the opportunities she has had. “They have so many resources,” she says. “In my case I needed audio help and I was able to find it through the Listening Lounge workshop. WPA has the ability to connect you to people, to the tools you need to write grants, get into shows, promote yourself.”

Inter-Net will be at WPA’s Offices at 2023 Massachusetts Ave., NW through November 23, and is open to the public Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm.

November 3, 2011

Furthermore Takes Printing to the Next Level
by Liz Georges

Artist and curator Jose Ruiz, the founder and principal of Furthermore, was not interested in creating yet another digital print shop. “We had this impression that DC needed a new affordable print shop specifically for artists.”

A year later and Ruiz has produced that print shop on the third floor of 1019 Seventh Street , NW. The space is open, the feel is modern-- like a visit to an artist’s studio, as opposed to a print shop. “The way it had been before, you send a file, come pick it up, and there’s no real discourse in between. That’s something we’ve opened up,” Ruiz says.

“We’ve created an environment where it’s open and we encourage artists if possible to come in, spend some time, experiment a little,” he adds. Unlike other digital print shops that will wax poetic about the output specs of their equipment and the fast turnaround times and the low prices, Furthermore assumes you know all that already. Rather, Furthermore prides itself on its collaborative nature, its willingness to help artists experiment.

Lately, this has meant elevating the digital edition print, transforming it from a money-saving, shortcut production method into an artistic process in its own right. “The project we’re doing right now [for New York artist Halsey Hathaway] we’re trying to re-imagine the analog process of printing through digital printing. So we’re printing part of the compositions and printing them on top of each other, which normally you wouldn’t do,” Ruiz explains.

Artist Bridget Sue Lambert, who co-founded Furthermore, and is currently a digital printing specialist, explains, “We’re printing it like it was four colors – printing a black layer, then running the paper back through the machine, printing the yellow, then the magenta, then the cyan. . . It’s kind of like going back to traditional printmaking.”

“It’s a good example of an artist who’s engaged and trying to push it. He knows there’s going to be an edition. He could send anything really, but he’s trying to have a similar process to his paintings, and push what he knows of digital printing, and even push us, too, because it would be easier for us to click ‘print’ without having to redo it several times, but that’s not a challenge,” Ruiz finishes. The project is an example of one of many close working relationships that Furthermore has developed with artists and artist groups both here in DC (Flashpoint, Pleasant Plains Workshop and The Studio Visit are recent collaborators) and all over the world.

“I think it’s becoming for us not only necessary, but integral to what we do. Without those collaborations, it’s hard to really move contemporary art forward,” Ruiz says. In the end, Ruiz is not just a businessman running a print shop, but also an artist and a curator, and the multiple roles are what differentiate him. “It’s interesting. I find it inspiring, which is why I choose to do a lot of things, and I kind of see it as an overarching practice. But, for the sake of the print shop, I think it benefits it that we have these practices. If we didn’t, I think it would be any other print shop, you know?”

WPA members wanting to collaborate with Furthermore may do so at a discount. Starting November 1, WPA members receive a 20% discount on their first five visits to Furthermore, applicable to all printing services.

October 20, 2011

Arlington County, Virginia, Public Art Administrator Angela A. Adams.  Photo by Lloyd Wolf.

Angela Adams: Perspectives on Public Art
by Liz Georges

To the casual observer, the metal rods and concrete spheres that comprise the centerpiece of Nancy Holt’s installation at Dark Star Park seem little more than an odd vignette of fallen stars. But at precisely 9:32 am every August 1st, the shadows cast from this collection of elements aligns perfectly with the corresponding shapes in the ground, as a commemoration of the date in 1860 when Henry Ross acquired the land on which the park sits, in the neighborhood that bears his name. It was the multi-faceted nature of Holt’s installation, as well as the unprecedented level to which the work was integrated into plans for the surrounding buildings, that made Dark Star Park a groundbreaking work in public art, and a fitting choice for Arlington County as its first major public art commission in 1979.

For Angela A. Adams, Arlington County Public Art Administrator, the project remains a benchmark against which other public art projects are evaluated. “It was the guiding spirit in writing the goals of our Public Art Policy, which talks about an integrated approach to public art in terms of our architecture, parks and infrastructure. We continue to aspire to do projects that are of the caliber of Dark Star Park, and it continues to challenge us to work at that level.”

Integration and partnership are recurring themes when Adams talks about the projects she’s working on, and what she hopes they will achieve. Ultimately, she views her role as helping her County colleagues and private developers and other working partners to realize the role public art plays in good civic design and placemaking. “We work closely with planners, engineers, design professionals and project managers to really truly understand what the needs and constraints of the project are, so that our recommendations fit within the tolerances of that project – how fast it needs to be delivered, the budget, and the needs of the community.”

Artists wanting to get involved in public art, according to Adams, face a challenge because of the collaborative nature of the work. “We really need a lot from the artist in terms of previous experience and knowledge working as a member of a design team with other design professionals,” she says. Being able to convey their ideas effectively to project engineers and other design professionals, even the ability to read plans and do computer-assisted drawing are some of the skills artists need to effectively function as part of the team. “We tend to be looking for artists who can bring design problem solving to the table, using their skills as artists.”

Adams refers to the Wave Arbor sculpture by San Francisco artist Doug Hollis recently installed as part of Arlington’s new Long Bridge Park as an example of how an artist’s contribution can really enhance a project. Phase 1 of the park will open to the public on Saturday, November 5th, with a dedication ceremony at 11 am. Long Bridge, when completed, will convert the former industrial area into a park that will feature an aquatic center, playing fields, a water retention rain garden and an esplanade along a portion of Route 1 that has gorgeous views of Washington’s memorials. “We feel that Doug’s contribution in Wave Arbor is a way of making a really nice park design even better. It provides vertical marking to what is largely a horizontal project, and it responds to the site, by capturing the movement of the wind and changes in sunlight. There’s also a solar capturing element that will power LED lights on the sculpture at night,” Adams says. “The artwork adds drama and distinction.”

When it’s working right, the spaces that are created “mark where civic facilities are in a way that makes people feel first of all, oriented, and second of all, proud of where they are,” Adams says. Given that Arlington continues to grow, becoming more densely populated, enhancing that sense of community becomes even more important. “Each of these projects is an opportunity to make our civic places, our streets, buildings, and our infrastructure as enjoyable as possible.”

Come hear Angela A. Adams, as well as art consultant Jean Efron, artist Margaret Boozer and architect Valerie Hassett discuss the making of public art on November 2, 2011 at the Baltimore Convention Center, 2-3pm. “Public Art: Fitting a Team Together” will be presented in partnership with the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the International Interior Design Association as part of WPA’s “No Artist Left Behind” program. To attend the panel, please email an RSVP to Liz Georges at lgeorges@wpadc.org.

October 6, 2011

Corcoran Trustee Henry L.Thaggert, III and 30 Americans artist Nina Chanel Abney.
Photo by Rob Shore

Henry Thaggert on 30 Americans
by Liz Georges

While it may be human nature to categorize things, it is also human to resist labels and the constraints on identity that come with them. Hence why Henry Thaggert, noted DC art collector, confesses, “in a literal sense, I do collect art, but like a lot of younger collectors, I am uncomfortable with the label.” Lately, however, Thaggert has been taking on a different role -- Committee Chair, heading up the group that is organizing programming and outreach in connection with the 30 Americans exhibition, which opened October 1st at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

This question of roles, identity and labels lies at the heart of 30 Americans. The exhibition, drawn from the extensive Rubell Family Collection, is a wide-ranging survey of some of the most important African-American artists of the last three decades, and explores issues of racial, sexual and historical identity in American culture. Yet even the title is a conscious rejection of the idea of labeling the works presented with any specific racial identity. Originally shown in Miami, 30 Americans has been, according to the Corcoran, “reconceived” for its presentation here.

And although Thaggert is quick to remind you that he had little to do with the decision to bring 30 Americans to the Corcoran, he is certainly involved in the “reconception” of the show. “[The Corcoran] thought it would be helpful to have input and advice from a diverse group – not just black people—a diverse group who bring different perspectives to the table about artist outreach, marketing to a broader public, and the sensitive issues that come up when dealing with an exhibition like this.” He says. Heading that committee, he says, ”is a huge honor and a huge challenge.”

It’s important to Thaggert that visitors leave 30 Americans with a new understanding of the artists. “I know nearly all these artists. I know the quality of their work. I hope 30 Americans will pull back the curtain.” He hopes that visitors will question why these artists aren’t being shown on more occasions in Washington and elsewhere. “I hope it’s revolutionary in terms of how the man on the street thinks about the placement of African American art in museums and in collections.”

During its four and a half month stay, the Corcoran’s 30 Americans programming will pay specific attention to the notion of community and its influence in art. WPA will be partnering with the Corcoran to put on Under the Influence on November 17th, a presentation where local artists discuss their own work and how it has been influenced by the work of one of the artists whose work is in the show. An open call for artists’ presentations is available on the WPA website.

And what about Henry Thaggert’s influences? Given how much we’ve been talking about the perils and limitations of labels, it’s natural that he should cite to an exhibition and catalog from the Center for African Art from 1989 called art/Artifact that explores how one labels an object as art. “It was an exhibition and catalog about how westerners transform non western utilitarian objects into art. And [the author] meticulously described and documented how that happens at a place like the Met versus a place like the Museum of Natural History, and how by changing the lighting, the labels, the vitrine you can transform these objects into masterpieces. And it speaks to our intentions as observers. It’s a book that I go back to over and over again. It’s very important.”

September 22, 2011

LISA GOLD TALKS OPTIONS

During a week when most of the DC art community is hurriedly putting the final touches on projects for the (e)merge art fair at the Capitol Skyline Hotel, the But Is It Art? Fair, Art All Night: Nuit Blanche DC, and the Submerge Art Fair all happening this weekend, WPA Executive Director Lisa Gold talks about one of the city’s oldest (and continuous) venues for emerging artists: OPTIONS!

OPTIONS 2011 opened last Thursday at 629 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC featuring works by 13 artists and one collaborative. Weeks of work went into building out the raw space donated to WPA by Douglas Development for the run of the exhibition. This 14th incarnation of WPA’s biennial exhibition continues the tradition of the first OPTIONS which presented works by emerging and unrepresented artists and was curated by Gene Davis and Mary Swift.

After 30 years, Gold has no doubt as to what keeps OPTIONS relevant. “It’s the artists and the work. Every two years we’re showing a survey of what’s being produced right now.” And given the process that curator Stefanie Fedor used to select the works featured in the show, a great deal of effort went into finding what was being produced right now. “We put out a call, artists submitted applications, and then Stefanie did a number of visits to MFA shows, to universities, to artists’ studios, to a lot of exhibitions to see what artists were doing at different spaces,” Gold explains.

Gold is rightfully pleased with the outcome. “I think it’s exciting to see new names, new faces, new work. It’s interesting to see what people are experimenting with. We’ve been doing this show for 30 years and there are issues that artists are still wrestling with, and I think it’s interesting to see how that takes shape and form over time.”

The issues that artists struggle with might be universal, but part of Gold’s excitement about OPTIONS comes from seeing artists grow and change after they have been featured in the show. “The first exhibition included works by now established artists Jeff Spaulding and Carol Brown Goldberg. Looking at those paintings that Carol showed in the first OPTIONS, you can see the genesis of what she’s doing now, you can see the evolution of the work. A lot of these artists will continue to produce great work, and you’re seeing them at a very early stage in their development.”

With OPTIONS now open, WPA is now focusing on its presence at the (e)merge art fair at the Capitol Skyline Hotel. “(e)merge is bringing the art community together in a way that I haven’t seen since I’ve been here in DC,” she says. “People are getting excited! There’s a lot of stuff and a lot of energy happening. And it’s nice to see people getting together and being part of a cohesive community that’s really pushing art and artists and creating momentum and making things happen in Washington and showing that off to the rest of the country.”

September 8, 2011

WPA Launches Projector

WPA is proud to announce the relaunch of its bi-weekly newsletter as Projector.  We're hoping that this format will make it easier than ever to access the latest information on WPA and the DC contemporary art scene.

We've also added some new features for your enjoyment.  Every issue will have an article about what's new at WPA or in the DC arts community. We will also feature a "Meet a WPA Member" section where we spotlight a WPA member artist.

Want to be our next featured artist?  Send an email to Membership Director, Liz Georges at lgeorges@wpadc.org.