1942: A Collection by Dante Tsuzuki Betsch

A COLLECTION BY DANTE TSUZUKI BETSCH JUNE 5 - JULY 24, 2020 HARWOODARTCENTER.ORG

SUrFaCE emerging artists of new mexico

Harwood Art Center June 5 - July 24, 2020

2019 SURFACE Solo Exhibition Award Recipient Dante Betsch

COVER: Dante Betsch, Desolate

SUrFaCE is an annual juried exhibition, endowed awards and professional development program presented by Harwood Art Center, to support the creative and professional growth of emerging artists and to expand their visibility and viability in our community. We have received hundreds of noteworthy submissions over the eight application cycles to-date; as of this year, the program has served 96 exceptionally talented, committed artists, including the 7 accepted for 2020.

Dante Betsch received the SURFACE 2019 Harwood Art Center Solo Exhibition Award, presented annually for artistic excellence, originality of vision and dedication to practice. 1942: A Collection by Dante Betsch is his solo exhibition.

On March 13, 2020, in accordance with public health emergency orders, we announced Harwood’s building closure, ceased all in-person gatherings, deployed staff to work from home, and began pivoting our programs to continue mission-driven service to the 10,000 New Mexicans we engage each year. In this transition, we have made fundamental shifts in the content, strategies, and financial models we’ve refined over 29 years of rootedness in our public, physical, arts center, and we’ve shaped, tested and rolled out an array of new distance arts and exhibition engagements, and have many more to come.

As we contemplated how to adjust SURFACE, for a time when we cannot plan physical convenings (such as exhibitions or opening receptions in our galleries, which have been cornerstones of this program), we’ve explored countless ideas, and we’ve sketched out a revised framework that we believe upholds the core value(s) of the program and adapts best to the upsidedown of now.

As we cannot presently install in our public physical galleries, we’ve put together an online exhibition and this comprehensive digital exhibition catalog.

Our SURFACE Professional Development Workshop & Alumni Circle Reception are the heartbeats of the SURFACE program, and they will take place in digital classroom spaces.

We have an amazing network of program alumni and panelists who have served in the workshop in years past, and we will work with them to adapt content and dialogue with the recognition that there are not yet experts and best practices for this current landscape, that we are treating SURFACE as a collaborative laboratory to experiment and explore them, and that we can all benefit from a circle of support and camaraderie.

Previously, artists juried into the exhibition became eligible to win endowed cash awards; in 2020, we are including a smaller total number of artists, converting existing award funds and combining with existing program support from the City of Albuquerque’s Urban Enhancement Trust Fund, to provide microgrant awards ($250) to each participant.

These microgrants will support each participant in acquisition of new tools, trainings, or subscriptions that could facilitate visibility and viability in this era of distance. We will also and still select one artist as the Solo Exhibition Award recipient for an exhibition in 2021.

A COLLECTION BY DANTE TSUZUKI BETSC

Dante Betsch, 1942: Closeup Front

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1942

In 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, sending over 120,000 US citizens of Japanese ancestry into internment camps. Households along the western coastline were moved abruptly into often stark and unforgiving desert landscapes, forced to leave their personal possessions behind. My textile collection, 1942, explores Japanese American identity through this troubled history. Each garment is patterned on historically accurate western culture clothing of the 1940s, but incorporates the aesthetics of Japanese Boro and Kintsugi techniques, which are, significantly, both mending practices. The lining is made from UV printed photos by Dorothea Lange who documented the internment camps for the US government.

I used raw indigo denim for the body and screen printed scrap denim for the Boro patchwork. The gold brocade is topstitched to echo the Kintsugi practice of mending what has been broken, and underscores the possibility of creating beauty out of a fractured past.

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ABOUT DANTE Dante Betsch holds a BFA in Graphic and Textile Design and a minor in Entrepreneurship from the University of Michigan. Growing up in New Mexico, Dante was exposed to the value of different cultural approaches, and strived to be open minded towards using new media and techniques in his art. Being Japanese-American, his art is informed in part by the awareness of race dynamics in this country, and by the social and political injustices in America. Dante’s passion is in but not limited to textiles and multimedia art.

Dante Betsch received the SURFACE 2019 Harwood Art Center Solo Exhibition Award, presented annually for artistic excellence, originality of vision and dedication to practice.

Dante Betsch, 1942: Riveter Jumpsuit

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Dante Betsch, 1942: Men’s Western Jacket

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Dante Betsch, Desolate

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Dante Betsch, 1942: Closeup Back

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Western Jacket Closeup

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Dante Betsch, Riveter Jumpsuit Closeup

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Dante Betsch, 1942: Women’s Bolero Jacket

Dante Betsch, 1942: Bolero Jacket Closeup

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JUNE 5 - JULY 24, 2020 • HARWOODARTCENTER.ORG/DANTE

SUrFaCE emerging artists of new mexico

HARWOOD ART CENTER’S GALLERIES are dedicated to providing exhibition, audience expansion and professional development opportunities to artists. Harwood Staff curate four exhibitions annually; the remaining months are awarded to individuals and groups through a competitive application process.

Harwood, the outreach program of Escuela del Sol Montessori, is a creative center for community and the arts. We believe that equitable access to the arts and opportunities for creative expression are integral to inspired, passionate individuals and to healthy, vibrant communities. Participating at a grassroots level, we recognize and engage the arts as a catalyst for lifelong learning, social change and community development. We provide art education for all ages; community outreach projects and events; teaching and apprenticeship opportunities; and studios, exhibitions and professional development programs for both emerging and established artists.

For 50 years, Escuela del Sol, an independent Montessori school, has nurtured selfdiscovery, social responsibility and passion for learning in our students. Each day Escuela supports students from ages 18 months to 13 years on their real-world quests to excel academically and to develop the skills they need for meaningful, happy and successful futures.

Harwood and Escuela are dedicated to instilling a passion for lifelong learning, creative expression and positive impact on our world.

MANY THANkS TO OUR geneROUS paRTnERS. We are deeply grateful to The FUNd at Albuquerque Community Foundation, Bernalillo County, City of Albuquerque / Urban Enhancement Trust Fund, The Geissman Family, McCune Charitable Foundation, New Mexico Arts and National Endowment for the Arts for their support of SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico, as well as to Marion & Kathryn Crissey and Reggie Gammon for establishing our endowed awards for this program, and to Meghan Ferguson Mráz and Valerie Roybal for their unwavering support and constant inspiration – and for whom we named new annual awards in 2019. SURFACE would not be possible without our extraordinary local collaborators at A Good Sign, Albuquerque Art Business Association, The Grove Cafe & Market, Tractor Brewing Company, and UNM School of Architecture and Planning.

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