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| Historic Hill Town of Assisi, Italy |
I am excited to announce that I will be doing my first
artist residency in Assisi, Italy during the month of October. Arte Studio
Ginestrelle is located in Regional Park of Mount Subasio, a UNESCO Heritage
Site in Umbria, the “green heart of Italy.” Assisi is the birthplace of St.
Francis, founder of the Franciscan order. Assisi contains famous frescos by
Giotto and Cimabue.
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| Map of Italy Showing Location of Assisi |
What is an artist residency?
A residency means that an artist goes to a particular site for a specific period of
time to work on an artistic project that has personal or site-specific meaning.
Generally several artists are working at the site simultaneously, either in
individual or communal studios. The following gives you a sense of this.
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| Arte Studio Ginestrelle in Regional Oark of Mt. Subasio |
Aims of Arte Studio Ginestrelle
·
to promote contemporary art in all its
diverse forms within an international context
·
to stimulate creativity through direct
contact with nature and a respect for the environment
·
to set up an exchange of ideas within
various disciplines of contemporary art practice
·
to establish workshops, exhibitions,
and open-air art events in the Regional Park of Mount Subasio
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| View from Balcony |
Each artist will have the
opportunity to develop his/her project within a number of different artistic
fields:
·
Visual Arts painting,
drawing, photography, installation art, land art, sculpture, etc.
·
Literary Arts fiction,
poetry, script writing, novel, short stories etc.
·
Performing Arts dancing,
music, drama. Work can either be done in the studio, within the residency, or
outside in one of the two refurbished barns that have been adapted as work spaces.
How does one get an artist residency?
As with most advanced artistic opportunities, there is an
application process. This includes an application form, a CV or resume, a project proposal,
and most importantly, images of one’s art. There is usually a deadline that
allows for a board, committee, or jury to meet and review the applications.
After ranking the applicants, they decide to whom they will award a residency.
What will I be doing?
My
time in Arte Studio Ginestrelle will be focused on conceptualizing and
beginning the environmental pieces for EVE’S IMPRINT: A Global Family, my large visual arts project that traces
our human journey from East Africa to all parts of the world. Many
human migrations were intimately related to environmental events. Thus as I
envision the Eve's Imprint exhibition, there will be eight artworks that depict
ecological and environmental events.
I
cannot say how much I will finish in one month, perhaps one of the eight
pieces. I generally work on several pieces simultaneously; so quite likely
during the residency I will have begun at least two or three pieces. I keep
detailed sketchbooks and document as I go, so I can assure a minimum of two or
three process-oriented accordion books for display.
I
am a visual and experiential learner. I feel that living in the region of Mount
Subasio and having access to the Geo-Paleontological Museum and those who work
there will stimulate the ecological and environmental artworks for Eve’s Imprint.
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| Church in Assisi |
Is it all work and no play?
In
addition to our studio work, we will have a chance to participate in cultural activities
such as walking the trails of the park, visiting ancient churches in the area,
going to the grotto where St. Francis lived, and seeing paintings by Giotto,
Cimbau, Lorenzetti, Sermei, and Giorgeti, etc.
In early December, all of the
artists who have done residencies at Arte Studio Ginestrelle in 2014 will have
work in a show at Art Gallery Le Logge in Assisi. Our work will be published in the International Contemporary Art Guide supported by the Council of
Assisi.
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| Art Gallery Le Logge |
How did this happen?
Lest
you think this opportunity just magically fell into my lap, in next month’s
blog I will share the journey I have taken from putting out my antennae eight
months ago, to seven months of soul-work in Something
More, to six months of work on a self-portrait, to pushing through rejection by my first chosen site, and then
reconfiguring to submit to Arte Studio Ginestrelle.
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| Hill town of Assisi, Italy |
Photo credits: Studio, View
from Balcony, and Gallery from Arte Studio Ginestrelle; Others from Google Images
