01 teaching and leadership by John W. Ford

TEACHING & LEADERSHIP

â&#x20AC;&#x153;If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.â&#x20AC;? John Quincy Adams

Contents Teaching - Ideas & Images Leadership - Actions, Projects, & Management International School of Loose Affiliations

TEACHING

questions, no dogma but experience in the field. As a facilitator of learning I am but one of many resources, and always discharge my responsibilities to the best of my ability. If students leave my charge with a sense of what it means to learn, to fulfil their own destinies, and to accomplish their ambitions, then my role will have been in great part successful.

As an instructor I see my role as something akin to an airline pilot. It is not my role to determine the destination of my charges, but rather to create an environment in which they may reach their own destinations. I believe it is important that students must be allowed to become lost, as it is through this process that one must find ones own way. As a mentor, I should remain as unobtrusive as possible, though always be available to help support and guide when appropriate. My general aim is to present choices and enable students to pursue individual and group objectives. Questioning, introspection, empathy, and cooperation result in essential revelations with lasting positive effect. Mutual trust is essential to the application of these ideals, and is paramount to my teaching. Exploration and inquiry are of utmost importance, and emphasis is placed upon qualitative aspects of experience as well as quantitative outcomes. While I will present to students all the information at my disposal, I am not able to provide life and work experience itself, hence I make sure they understand very early that the process is in their hands, and I will serve as a resource and guide. Methods and media are the vocabulary of the young artist, so require a standard of facility for effective communication. I feel students should have equal access to historical norms and alternative means in any combination deemed necessary, including research outside the standard parameters of the visual arts. My job is to help the individual ascertain the means of inquiry, and to direct and focus as the need arises. It is not only important for students to begin asking their own questions, but to help them understand which questions are really important. I sense an effective instructor must be an effective learner. If one is to convey the essence of learning through creative experience, one must be intimately involved with oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own practice. Perhaps the most important way I teach about being an artist is by being an artist. I have few answers but many

Above: Presentation and demonstration as visiting artist at the University of Virginia, 2002. Below: Teaching and student crituque at Scuola Internazionale di Grafika in Venice, Italy, 2004.

Top left image: Lecturing to students of the Cracowian High School ofArt, 1997. Other images: John Ford as visiting artist at the Limerick Printmakers Studio, Limerick, Ireland, 2007.

Above images: Teaching and student crituque at the University of North Carolina Charlotte.

Teaching Print Media

Printmaking/Print Media as a discipline has undergone tremendous evolution as an art form in recent decades. From a tradition-based art form, it has grown to one of the most innovative domains in studio academics, and has adopted methods heretofore understood as Multi-media, Sculpture, and Installation.

courses, develop a print publication facility, archive of print and digital media, and develop an increased visiting artist presence on campus, and eventually grow to develop international exchange projects to benefit the university and Charlotte communities.

At the heart of this evolution is the utmost respect for tradition, yet also the willingness to embrace new approaches that build on the original premises - multiplication and reproductivity, layering of images and color tranparencies, and engaging the populist paradigm as a means of art-image distribution. It is difficult to estimate the effect of print media culture in our society, but in schools of art it becomes increasingly apparent the role print processes play in curriculum. If we take any lesson from the vigor of print methodology in contemporary art practice, we might suggest that print methods might never dominate in the world of fine art, yet it will undoubtedly infect every other process in a positive way. John Ford has expanded the definition of the printmaking in the Department of Art, UNC Charlotte. Beginning in Spring of 2008, the re-designed Print Media curriculum will introduce students to traditional and alternate methods of print media, a broadlydefined approach to image-making that includes intaglio, lithography, monoprinting, serigraphy, relief, digital, and mixedmedia methods of all types. Focus will be to develop young artists who employ print methods as a way to explore their ideas and career options. Whether we ever create large numbers of majors, students at UNC Charlotte come to understand and appreciate the power of traditional and contemporary print methods as they pertain to art processes. Print Media has come to play such an important role in our total fine art curriculum at UNC Charlotte that three separate disciplines, Art Education, Fibers, and Painting have designated an intro Print Media studio as a requirement for their majors. As we look to the future, we are working toward expanded facility and faculty resources such that we can offer more sections of

Above: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Print Media 4: Site to Sightâ&#x20AC;? is the first course offered in Print Media that is specifically designed to integrate non-Print Media majors in direct contact and dialog with Print Media students, and also deal directly with issues of collaboration and professional practice within studio course work: Spring 2008.

STUDENT WORK - University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Print Media Student Works - Advanced on-to-phen-om-en-ol-o-gy a discipline that attempts to establish objective truth although uncertain of its existence; wavers constantly between reason and intuition, dubious of both; acknowledges the indiscernibility of one’s responsibility to create and choose in an already-contextualized present; is inextricably tangled in a never-ending slew of questions involving the exploration of paradox, never answers absolutely; signifies both deconstruction and reconstruction as primary epistemic processes in the perception and construction of reality an account of the discipline

Ontophenomenology is a project without any foreseeable end; it is an epistemic process, and an interdisciplinary one at that. It began, and I use the term began loosely, for a beginning can hardly be marked as a fixed point, with questions of perception and identity; presently, though I continue to ask these questions, I am more concerned with how they relate to meaning and contingency. In other words, I wonder to what degree I am free to choose and create meaning, and to what degree the time and place in which I am situated influence me. I am interested in the seemingly paradoxical notion that meaning is open to interpretation and is unfixed, but that it is already present in the world prior to my perception and conception of it. J. Carter

“Ontophenomenology”, 2008; Jessica Carter. A semester project executed by a BFA candidate in

In Print Media 4, I encourage non-Print Media majors to participate and base their work loosely on

Photography.

the ideas present in traditional printmaking. Ms. Carter’s project is a site-specific installation.

TRAILER PARK Since Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast in 2005, tens of thousands of displaced residents have been provided travel trailers by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Though a relief to those left homeless in the storm’s aftermath, the trailers have been linked to a number of health problems related to formaldehyde exposure (eye, throat, and respiratory distress). The chemical most of us associate with the embalming of the dead is a primary ingredient in several of the engineered wood products commonly used in the construction of such trailers. Under certain conditions the substance is “out gassed” into the surrounding environment. Air testing shown the trailers to contain up to 50 times the amount deemed harmful by the Environmental Protection Agencies. It is unknown whether the increased levels are due to hastened manufacturing to meet the storm victim’s needs, the humid Louisiana climate’s effect on the building materials, or some yet undiscovered factor. Class-action lawsuits have been if led against both the trailer manufacturers and the federal government. The result is an unfortunate catch 22 typical of American culture. While an interesting social topic, I find myself most drawn to the situation based on a commonality of materials, and the aesthetic result of the FEMA fiasco. In my sculpture I’ve often worked with MDF due to its artificial aesthetic qualities, and functional diversity. Having no grain, MDF can be machined, and even finished in a way that emulates plastic. Through similar treatment in previous pieces, I have achieved a material ambiguity that is characteristic of my work. The trailer structures themselves, recognizable alone or in the wasting lots they’re commonly seen, provide visual inspiration. By adopting the monochromism and patterning of such lots, and exploring the potential for architectural abstraction they afford, I’ve crafted my own Trailer Park. “Trailer Park”, 2008; Todd Payne. Editioned FEMA trailers made of MDF, plywood, glue, and mechanical fasteners, Spring 2008.

Todd Payne

Top image: Mark Farris, detail of image on left side of this page. Lower images: Liliya Kerusenko, 4th year student, BFA thesis exhibition, view of site-specific installation made of â&#x20AC;&#x153;lettersâ&#x20AC;? from the Ukraine, silkscreened and manipulated, Spring 2007 (plus two details).

Above: Mark Farris, site-specific installation during Mixed-media Works on Paper course, made of photopolymer transfers, incised and printed objects, found materials, Fall 2006.

Print Media Student Works - Advanced cont’d

Above: Darren Goins, 8 and 9 feet square images; Screenprint on canvas with acrylic painting, 2006-07. Below: Darren Goins, Screenprint on canvas with acrylic painting; 64 x 72”, 2007.

Darren Goins was awarded “Best of Show / Drawing” for his silkscreen and painted work during the 31st Bradley International . Other UNC Charlotte Print Media students exhibit work in the city and region with increasing frequency. Above: Darren Goins, Screenprint on canvas with acrylic painting, 96 x 72”, Spring 2007. Below: End of term critique, Fall 2006.

Above: Darren Goins, Screenprint on canvas with acrylic painting, Fall 2007.

Above: Darren Goins, “Stroke Lui-Red”, mixed media on wood, 24” x 23”, 2007 Below: Darren Goings, “Shine with Pine”, mixed media on wood, 26” x 38”, 2008

Above: Darren Goins, “Lame To Bunches”, mixed media on wood, 4’ x 6’, 2008 Below: Darren Goings, “Italiano Mondriano Calhinto”, mixed media on wood, 32” x 32”, 2008

Print Media Student Works - Advanced Cont’d.

Top: Jodie DeVries, gum-transfer print, 22 x 30”, 2005. Below: Shelley Lineberger, Solar plate, 9 x 6”, 2007.

Above: Patricia Byrd, acrylic-polymer tranfer on cloth, with stitching, approximately 6 x 4 feet, Fall 2006.

Top: Jennifer Liu, screenprint on glass and metal stand, 10 x 13”, Spring 2007. Below: Sarah Barker, xerox-transfer and mixed-media, 18” wine bottle box, 1994 .

Top: Sharon Sullivan, relief print collaged on board with encaustic, 24 x 24”, Spring 2007. Bottom: Critique of Advanced students and Independent study, Fall 2006.

Print Media Student Works - Advanced Cont’d.

Top: Kristin Remelius, serigraph, 22 x 30”, Spring 2007. Below: Leah Daniel, serigraph, 22 x 30”, Spring 2007.

Above: Bryan Cook, four-color woodcut using masonite, 48 x 24”, 2007

Top: Leah Daniel, serigraph, 22 x 21”, Fall 2006. Bottom: Liliya Kerusenko, serigraph with painting and ball-point pen, Spring 2007.

Top: Mark Farris, drypoint on plexiglass, 12 x 18”, Fall 2007. Bottom: Luis Zepeda, polyplate lithography and monotype; 22 x 26”, Fall 2006.

Print Media Student Works - Intro & Intermediate

Though the long-range objective of Print Media is to promote cross-disciplinary creative practice, we also make every effort to introduce students to the traditional methods that have given printmaking its historical underpinnings and credibility. The following student images are a cross-section of works done in introductory classes at UNC Charlotte. Top: Gloria Rodriguez; linoleum print, 18 x 12â&#x20AC;? & Lacey Beam, linoleum print and chine colle, both 2007. Below: Celeste Cronrath, polychrome linoleum prints on fabric with stitching, 2007.

Above image: Lacey Beam; Woodcut; 30 x 22â&#x20AC;?; 2007.

Top: David Sackett, xerox-transfer to lithographic stone,12 x 13”, Fall 2007. Below: David Sackett, “Device for Spelling 4-letter Words”, lithograph, card stock, rivets, 3 x 12”, Fall 2007.

Clockwise from upper left: Emily Hopler, etching, 12 x 9”; Jessica Collins, etching, 12 x 9”; Dee Her, polycrhome softground etching, 12 x 9”; Jessica Cleveland, polychrome softground etching, 12 x 9”.

Print Media Student Works - Intro & Intermediate

Top: Gloria Rodriguez, polychrome serigraph, 22 x 30”, Spring 2007. Bottom: Darcey Quates, polychrome serigraph, 22 x 30”, Spring 2007.

Image above: Celeste Cronrath, CMYK color separation - serigraph, 24 x 18”, Spring 2007.

STUDENT WORK - Sculpture and various other works

LEADERSHIP

Following five pages represent a very recent proposal submitted to the newly-formed College of Arts and Architecture. It is intended as a proposal to increase the opportunity for cross-disciplinary activities in the College, the community of Charlotte, and beyond by using the flexibility of Print Media attitudes and facilities.

LEADERSHIP I can honestly say that I’ve never sought a position of leadership, nor have I considered myself a leader in any direct formal sense. That said, I am committed to getting things done for the common good, and am intrigued by the variation of ways I can help to facilitate positive outcomes.

Finally, I do not think a person can claim leadership, it must be earned and then granted by those who are willing to be led. If I lead at all, it is also to challenge myself to be the best I can be, and elevate those around me. I truly believe in the quote by John Fitzgerald Kennedy: “A rising tide lifts all boats”.

I prefer to lead by example rather than by edict. I like working behind the scenes, in ways that engender trust, respects humanity, and builds confidence in our shared enterprise. For things to be accomplished, I do not feel a need to have my name attached. When teaching I am trying to develop a scenario in which an individual or group can recognize their own strengths and accomplishments. Perhaps my leadership style is the same - I am interested in providing a platform and a context for success, facilitating the inherent talents of my colleagues in order that they may achieve their established objectives, and also supercede the limitations they may have imagined for themselves. It is exhilarating to see a professional colleague go beyond expectations, and I like to serve as a quiet but appreciative audience when this happens. I believe I lead by challenging, and also by nurturing. Rarely would I ask someone to do something I would not do myself, and I am known for my sense of empathy. However, I know the difference between friendship and collegiality, and in every way I try to be even-handed when it comes to delegating work and responsibility. I am able to speak truth to power, diplomatically, and will propose changes or evolutions in programming that might enrich the learning of students as well as my colleagues. I am quite resourceful, and am interested in pursuing opportunities when they present themselves. At times I see resources when others see limitations, and I take action to make efficient and effective use of those resources. I encourage my colleagues to do the same.

Above : Old litho stone graining sink made from scrap parts; water leaks and rotting plywood frame. Below : Newly-installed 10’ long stainless steel graining sink fabricated by local supplier in Charlotte.

University of North Carolina Charlotte Immediately upon his arrival John Ford took measures to upgrade dangerous areas of physical plant in UNC Charlotte print facility. One area of major concern was a 30 year old, dilapidated and leaking litho stone graining sink that was actually made of plywood and parts of an ancient composite (probably resin and asbestos) sink designed for a science lab. Ford drew schematics for a new sink to be made of stainless steel, proposed the upgrade for special funding to the Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences, and the new sink was fabricated in Spring of 2007 and installed Fall semester. During his first year, John Ford also rewrote the curriculum of the Printmaking concentration to include a more diverse approach to creative practice. Clockwise from top left: Ayako Aramaki, Japanese sculptor (in red coveralls), beginning work on a liftground intaglio print. Assisting with communication is UNCC student Shinobu Urita.

Ford worked with Japanese artist Ayako Aramaki to develop a print that will be published in 2007, as part of a larger project called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Force of Natureâ&#x20AC;?, taking place in locations around the Carolinas and coordinated on campus by the College of Architecture. As part of his teaching objectives, Ford also took classes to visit Bosnian - American artist Endi Poskovic, artist in residence at the McColl Center for the Arts. Most recently, Ford arranged a meeting between the Dean and artist/master printer Ryan Burkhart (current director of Flying Horse Editions) in an attempt to establish a special print atelier on campus that will publish artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; work but also serve as a teaching laboratory and an archive for published prints, books, and experimental print media. In the future, the Print Media program at UNCC hopes to offer special topics courses that allow for collaborative exchange projects between young artists in Charlotte and art students or art communities in other parts of the world. Broad interpretation of Print Media, to include virtual connectivity by internet as well digital output and photo-based work will allow for global communications, cross-cultural pollination of ideas, and new working methods.

Clockwise from top-left: Endi Poskovic, California-based artist from Bosnia, speaking with advanced Print Media students from UNCC. Poskovic served as artist in residence at the McColl Center for the Arts.

McMaster University While serving as Assistant Professor of Art in the School of the Arts at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario (2004-05 school year), John Ford was expected to assume a leadership role on behalf of the Art Department. In his initial year, Ford was selected by Art Faculty to serve as their representative on the Executive Committee, reporting directly to the Director of SOTA. In consultation with the Humanities Media and Computing, John Ford established the first ever computer resource for students in visual art. With borrowed and donated equipment, and a small budget line from the Director of SOTA, Ford set up 4 working computer stations, each with scanner, printer, and dualboot operating systems (Windows and Linux). Ford also agreed to take over operations for the SOTA Visiting Artist Program and arranged a program including two lectures from artists outside of Canada as well as more local artists, and he also produced all public relations material for the lecture series. In other ways, John Ford sought to extend the extramural activities of the Art Department in order to more fully synthesize the creative communities of the university and the town of Hamilton. These efforts led to several initiatives including collaborations and dialogue between SOTA and two community arts organizations; Hamilton Artists Inc. and transit Gallery, a privately-owned exhibition space in the city. Ford proposed other long-term initiatives including the institution of a Fifth-year program for new graduates of McMaster Art Department who, upon completion of their BA and by jury selection, would go to work in professional artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; studio collectives based in the town of Hamilton. Ford also helped to organize a special cross-community program for Polish artist Artur Tajber (see description following). A tribute to the contributions of John Ford, the McMaster Fifthyear program for art graduates is now a reality. The computer lab has been updated with newer equipment and is heavily used by fine art students. Ford has since been invited as a visiting artist at McMaster University during 2008, during which time he will also exhibit new works at transit Gallery, Hamilton.

Above: As organizer of the SOTA VisitingArtist Program, John Ford designed and published the public relations material for the semester lecture series.

Special Visiting Artist project - Artur Tajber, (Poland) Cross-disciplinary artist Artur Tajber visited the city of Hamilton, Ontario as a combined initiative between McMaster University School of the Arts, the Center for Leadership in Learning, McMaster Museum of Art, Transit Gallery (commercial gallery in Hamilton), and the Hamilton Artist’s Inc. (non-profit artist-run organization in Hamilton). Tajber presented public lectures, a public performance, participated in group exhibition of works on paper, and consulted with the School of the Arts about implementation of innovative learning strategies in third-level education.

Clockwise from top-left: sTABLE, table with metaphoric map of translocation, 2005; WALK’MAN-1, Digital Print at transit gallery, 2005; Stills from Artur Tajber performance at Taipei Artists’ Village, 2005Above: Invitation produced to advertize special performance at transit gallery (following page), a private commercial gallery in Hamilton owned by Priti Kohli and David Brace, ISLA collaborators.

Top to Bottom images: Tajber rehearses and films for performance with projection; The performance “sTABLE-ABLE” at transit gallery; Gathering after the performance with Shirley Madill, former Executive Director of the Hamilton Art Gallery and Reinhardt Reitzenstein, Head of Sculpture, University at Buffalo.

PAST ACTIVITIES

ISLA International School of Loose Affiliations

ISLA The artist working as social contributor, organizer, advisor, consultant, collaborative curator, and facilitator of learning and cross-cultural experience.

ISLA is an attitude: an effort to promote continued learning across boundaries of discipline and specific interests, culture or language, with primary interest in those enterprises that must be realized despite potential limitations of imagination and material support. ISLA is realized primarily through combining good intentions, critical thought and decisive actions. ISLA actions are based in personal responsibility, autonomy as well as collaboration from a position of strength, the sharing of personal and professional resources, implementation of diverse ideas and intentions, and an extremely high premium placed on quality outcome at all levels, particularly those involving meaningful human interchange. ISLA intends to lay the groundwork for future collaborations and collegiality, then carefully nurture relationships that result in tangible activities. ISLA activity aims to serve the purpose of self-realization and micro-cultural betterment. We all have something to learn, and as well something to teach: we must be active in both. ISLA exists as an option along-side the paradigm of competitive commerce. It is understood that in collaborative work there are ways that we all may benefit, and that we each have the necessary resources to realize our dreams. Each creative practitioner must find a way to share their resources, even if it would seem our personal and professional resources are limited. Even with little, much is possible where will exists. ISLA aims for excellence in all endeavor, thereby raising the standard and expectation for larger potential in modern culture.

ABOVE; Site of original ISLA studio, rural residency program in Lomira, Wisconsin, USA; Home, studio, and garden of John Ford; Ford with visitors from Korea, 1999.

ORGANIZATIONAL, CONSULTING, CURATORIAL John Ford working as independent artist and facilitator of learning since 1986; Visiting artist, exhibitions and exhibition proposals, grant writing, publication design and production, curatorial and artistic liaison with public and private exhibition spaces, facilitation of projects for colleagues and non-profit organizations in the US and abroad. Developing physical plant for ISLA in rural Missouri Summer of 2002, constructed studio and exhibition facility on farm in southeast Missouri. Physical site will serve as publicaccess studio for John Ford and also guest resident artists, organizational center for ISLA activities, a conduit for information exchange at international level with exhibition and meeting spaces. ISLA will remain a private association with public interest (exposure of rural citizenry to contemporary visual art practice), working toward formal affiliation with Parks and Recreation Dept./City of Jackson, MO and other 501(c)3 organizations as a means of collaboration and fund-raising potential.

John Ford building ISLA studio/residency in rural Missouri, Summer 2002.

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES

Organized public lecture at City of Jackson Town Hall by Romanian Artist Bogdan Achimescu In conjunction with Parks and Recreation and Jackson Public Schools, arranged by private and public support to bring Romanian artist Bogdan Achimescu for a public lecture at the City of Jackson Town Hall. Mr. Achimescu showed slides of Eastern Europe, his own artwork and influences, and images from his recent participation in Venice Biennale. Achimescu also visited First Grade classroom at Jackson Public school and spent informal time with community members as part of cultural exchange.

Bogdan Achimescu visiting First Grade class at Jackson Public School, and lecturing at City of Jackson Town Hall.

Curatorial liaison to Edward Krantz, Director of Gallery One in Elgin, IL In 1998, Artur Tajber (Polish artist) was introduced to Edward Krantz, Gallery Director at Elgin Community College. After negotiations with gallery curator Krantz, Tajber came to Elgin (near Chicago) in November 1999 to develop new work for site-specific installation. Also consulted for programming at ECC Gallery One (Don Stinson, Kevin Shunn 2000).

Edward Krantz, director of Gallery One in Elgin, Illinois with visiting artistArtur Tajber (1999); Exhibition of Artur Tajber drawings and sculpture at Gallery One, Elgin Community College.

Consultation with Jack Gron, University of Kentucky During visit to University of Kentucky as lecturer, John Ford suggested to Jack Gron that he should propose a special project to ArtsLink/CEC International Exchange for conducting a publicaccess Cast Iron Workshop in Krak贸w where no such project has occurred. Through connections in Krak贸w, and with support of ArtsLink, Gron, Rick Batten and others traveled to Krak贸w during summer of 2000 and built the facility, conducted the workshops, then donated all materials to the art community of the city.

Above: Images of Iron Pour conducted at the High School of Art in Krak贸w, Poland during summer 2000. (photos -Artur Tajber)

Installation/Work in Process (Austin Peay State University and Semantics Gallery, Cincinnati during 1998, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point during1999) John Ford worked with faculty member Gregg Schlanger conducting site-based installation short-course at Austin Peay State University, also developing his own work in open-access studio space. Invited by Visiting Artist Alliance in Cincinnati, where Ford conducted seminars at nine institutions in Cincinnati area, also developed work in open-access studio at Semantics Gallery. Finalized project at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in two-person exhibit in Carlsten Gallery with German artist Renate Herter.

Collaborator Gregg Schlanger, Austin Peay State University; Student projects from short-course, Fall 1998; John Ford working at APSU, Semantics Gallery; Semantics directors David Dillon and Rob Delongchamps.

Exhibition for Renate Herter at Fassbender Gallery, Chicago (Fall 1998) Proposed to gallery director Ingrid Fassbender (Chicago) that she might develop first solo exhibition in the USA of Berlin artist Herter. Herter worked for one-month in Chicago at Fassbender Gallery Annex, then presented exhibition “Kopfräume/ Headrooms”, 1998

Renate Herter; “Kopfräume/Headrooms”, 1998 at Fassbender Gallery; Chicago, IL.

PREVIEW, PROCESS, AND ARCHIVE (Spring of 1999) Consulted and participated with curator Suzanne A. Woods to develop project PREVIEW, PROCESS, AND ARCHIVE at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Project was intended to explore the role of curator, artist, and audience in the formation of an exhibition meant for a specific site. Most of the work was public-access, and many decisions regarding the actual makeup of the exhibit were decided in consultation between all participants.

“PREVIEW, PROCESS, AND ARCHIVE”, 1999; Special collaboration with curator Suzanne A. Woods, Renate Herter, and John Ford; Carlsten Art Gallery at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

FlaxArt Residency, “Archetype” Exhibition FlaxArt studios in Belfast, a non-profit arts organization keen to develop links and residencies with artists and student artists globally. Ongoing discussions with FlaxArt to develop new exchange projects. Exhibition “Archetype” at Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast grew out of John Ford’s artist-residency at FlaxArt.

FlaxArt Studios in Belfast, N. Ireland, 1998; Two-month artist residency for John Ford, lecturing, and student tutorials. Residency resulted in three-person sculpture exhibition “Archetype” at Ormeau Baths Gallery in Belfast.

Summer University of Art (Invited participant) Meeting to consult, establish protocol for annual school of professional, contemporary art practice in National Forest near Kraków. Long-term objective is to implement regular summer activities for professional artists in Ojców (ongoing)

Lodge in Ojców National Forest near Kraków, Poland; Summer University of Art Conference, 1997.

Artist-in-Residence Projects for Artists at Illinois State University As past recipient of one-month fellowship at ISU (Fall 1996), John Ford nominated artists to ISU Department of Art for their annual one-month Visiting Artist programs (each of six artists annually teaching four evening seminars, free lodging and $3,300.00 remuneration). Of nominations to the department, three of six artists chosen in 1997-98 were ISLA nominations (Bogdan Achimescu, Romania; Artur Tajber, Poland; Karen Baldner, Germany/US), and one of six artists chosen in 199899 was ISLA nomination (Moira McIvor, Ireland/Scotland)

L to R; Students at Illinois State University; Bogdan Achimescu conducting printmaking demonstration 1997;Artur Tajber lecture at ISU, 1998.

Source/Resource (Stevens Point, WI, 1996) Curatorial collaboration with Suzanne A. Woods; Five-person exhibition featuring three artists proposed by ISLA; Karen Baldner (Germany/US), Kathy Herbert (Ireland), and Julia Kjelgaard (USA).

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Source/Resourceâ&#x20AC;?, 1996; Carlsten Art Gallery, UWSP; Karen Baldner triptych, Julia Kjelgaard framed prints, Kathy Herbert sculpture.

East Meets West (Cisco, UT, 1996) Participant/collaborator Four-person installation in Utah desert, referenced in TIME magazine, July 1997. Echo project of collaborative work in Kraków with artists Don Stinson (organizer of Cisco project), Linda James, artist/curator Suzanne A. Woods, and John Ford.

Clockwise from upper left: TIME magazine article, July 1997; “East Meets West” participants Stinson, Ford, Woods, James; Ford installation; Ford sculpture; James installation; Stinson working; Woods working, installation.

Spotkania Krakowskie (Kraków, Poland, 1995) Participant, Facilitator for US artists as contributors to Festival. International meeting of 65-plus artists for exhibitions, installations, performances, films, and seminars. John Ford was invited to attend, collaborated with Bogdan Achimescu, and also facilitated the participation of US artists Linda James and Don Stinson to travel and participate in 10th Cracowian Meetings, contribute to artistic dialogue. Built contacts with community of Performance/Installation artists from Europe. Developed plans for future projects in US for artists Bogdan Achimescu, Artur Tajber, Renate Herter and others.

“10th Cracowian Meetings”, 1995 in Kraków, Poland; Interior view of Bunkier Sztuki, Gallery of Contemporary Art in Kraków; Ul. Mikolajska, Dominican property; Artworks and projects by artists Don Stinson, Linda James, Bogdan Achimescu, Renate Herter, and Artur Tajber.

RESIDENCE PROJECTS

RESIDENCE PROJECTS: ISLA facilitates cultural exchange projects for artists, assisted by special collaborations and support from multiple institutions and individuals to defray expenses. All projects began at ISLA studio in rural Wisconsin (now relocated in rural Missouri), where artists from abroad were introduced to culture in the Midwest of America. Artists are supported with studio time, tools, some materials, a place to live, and transportation in the surrounding area to conduct their projects and present lectures and informal community interchange. Residencies are tailored to be beneficial for all involved. Specific projects and public presentations are developed to suit the personality of the resident, and also best serve the context in which the resident decides to work. Some residencies focus on a single major artistic project which may relate to the resident’s past work, others are dedicated to provide new experiences for the artist to work in ways which present new challenges. Importantly, these residence projects are seen as a way for one artist to share material and human resources with another artist, in contrast to the general competitive attitude many artists encounter, and indeed foster, in their own field. It is generally understood that the resident artist’s only contribution to ISLA is to consider the simple human exchange equation that he/she has experienced, and consider whether it is feasible to extend this sort of gesture to another artist. On the larger scale, it is conceivable that the world, and the art world specifically, would be a better place if every artist were able to extend the offer of a “special project” to only one other artist, only once in their life. Unlike some other models of cultural practice, ISLA trusts that artists are capable, and in fact are responsible, to make the milieu of the arts a more humane, cooperative, and productive environment. By living the example of collaboration and support within their own context, and by working in close proximity and interacting informally with the public, ISLA hopes the misperceptions and erroneous assumptions which typify the artist/public divide may be diminished over time.

Jill McKeown, 1999 (Northern Ireland) Jill visited in the fall of 1999, beginning as a guest at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, then as visiting artist at Antioch College, Ohio. One of her specialties is ecologically safe printmaking processes. While in residence, Jill developed an experimental body of work that is site-based and photographic in nature. In America, her works were seen in a group exhibition of Contemporary Printmaking at the Carlsten Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Jill McKeown conducting experimental work in garden at Lomira studio, summer 1999; Work in progress leading to site-based installation “7x5”, 1999.

Group exhibition “Directions in Contemporary Printmaking” at Carlsten Art Gallery at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Jill McKeown’s large triptych of photo-intaglio prints at far right.

Artur Tajber, 1998 and 1999 (Poland) In 1998 Artur Tajber was visiting artist in residence at Illinois State University; In 1999 ISLA facilitated a project for Tajber to exhibit new work at Elgin Community College, near Chicago, where he conducted a two-week site-specific project ending in the exhibition “ACHANLOCHY & WALK’MAN”, and also was a visiting artist at University of Kentucky in order to meet with Jack Gron to discuss Iron Pour project for Kraków. Artur Tajber as visiting artist at Illinois State University, 1998; Site specific installation at ISU.

Artur Tajber selecting materials to use for the project “ACHANLOCHY & WALK’ MAN” at Gallery One, Elgin, IL; Last images are from initial meeting with Jack Gron and Rick Batten during lecture at University of Kentucky, 1999.

Renate Herter, 1998 (Germany) Visited and developed new sculpture for exhibition at UWStevens Point (March 1999). Work for exhibition was conducted in public-access space during two-week residency at UWSP, and eventually became part of two-person exhibit PREVIEW, PROCESS, AND ARCHIVE; Herter also took part in residency in Chicago, made new work, and exhibited at Fassbender Gallery in the project space.

Working in Fine Arts building at UW-Stevens Point. Construction of paraffin houses for the work “Headrooms” as part of “PREVIEW, PROCESS, AND ARCHIVE” in the Carlsten Gallery; Herter and artistic assistant Christian Gellner.

Bogdan Achimescu, 1997 (Romania) Visited/lectured/exhibited at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, UW-Madison, Indiana University, Illinois Wesleyan University, Illinois State University, San Francisco Art Academy, others; Since 1997 residency, and with ISLA facilitation, Achimescu was appointed to a one-semester visiting artist position at the University of Virginia for Spring 2000.

Bogdan Achimescu at 10th Cracowian Meetings, 1995; 1997 ISLA project to exhibit and visit in the midwest of America. Images of work in ISLA studio/Lomira, WI, at UW-Stevens Point, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Indiana University; While at Indiana University Achimescu developed student project in courtyard of residence dormitory; IU student Ernie Hahn (and ISLA member) facilitated IU project and is seen installing Achimescu print exhibition in IU Fine Arts Gallery.

Kathy Herbert, 1996 (Ireland) Visited/lectured/exhibited at University of Wisconsin CenterMarshfield, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Denison University; Since this first project, Herbert was invited back to Denison University as part of group exhibition Out of Belfast.

Images from the cycle of works â&#x20AC;&#x153;ABSENTâ&#x20AC;?, 1996; As seen in Belfast and Ballinglen residency Ireland; Lower images are work at ISLA studio/Lomira, WI and exhibition in Helen Connor Laird Gallery at University of Wisconsin-Marshfield.

ADDITIONAL INTERESTS

ADDITIONAL INTERESTS / FUTURE PLANNING: In association with Artur Tajber, ISLA is attempting to develop a residency in Poland at the commercial offset lithographer KOLOR-ART. Guest artists would travel to Krak贸w, establish short-term residence, and work in the commercial printing firm to develop artist books or other image-based work produced on offset presses. Intent of the program will be cultural exchange at a basic, one-to-one citizen level, new capital projects for the printing house, and artistic production for the artist involved. Seen in these images are the workshop and facilities of KOLOR-ART publishers, and facility co-director Robert Tancula. 麓

ISLA is interested in the potential to collaborate with artist/teacher Józef Polewka to arrange exchanges for American artists at his home/studio/bronze foundry in Mylenice Poland. Myslenice is a small community outside of Kraków, and Józef has developed a small scale bronze foundry at his home. He is also in the process of renovating several historic farm buildings as a residence and studio for artist exchange.

ISLA maintains a working relationship with Bogdan Achimescu who operates a small-scale residency program from his home/studio in Bronowice (ISLA/Kraków). Bronowice is a small, historic village incorporated on the edge of Kraków, and has the dual benefit of being close to the cultural center of a major city while also remaining quite rural in its character. In 1997 Achimescu hosted John Ford and facilitated the site-based installation project VIEW WITHOUT BOUNDARIES at Galeria Krzysztofory in, Kraków. Ford used Achimescu’s studio for a four-week work cycle, and later hosted Achimescu for an exchange residency in America. Also in 1997, Achimescu served as curatorial liaison for Suzanne A. Woods as she developed the exhibition POLISH WORKS ON PAPER for the Carlsten Gallery at UW-Stevens Point.

ISLA maintains an ongoing relationship with ceramic artists Jim Neimann and Theresa Millard who operate a studio in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. ISLA would like to arrange for small-scale residencies for artists to live and work at the Millard/ Neimann studio. Jim Niemann is an independent artist, and Theresa Millard is the lead designer at the Artist Edition Division of Kohler Company, USA. Kohler Co, one of the largest supplier of toilet fixtures in the world, is also a chief sponsor of the acclaimed Arts/ Industry Residency Program operated in collaboration between Kohler Company and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, WI.

OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS - SELECTED

*All without specific notations represent lectures

Augusta State University; Augusta, GA (slide lecture, 2007) Texas Tech University; Lubbock, TX (slide lecture, graduate student tutorials, Fall 2006) University of Alberta; Edmonton, AB (slide lecture, 2005) SNAP Gallery; Edmonton, AB (gallery talk, 2005) Scuola Internazionale di Grafica; Venice, Italy (slide lecture, 2004) Minnesota State University – Moorhead; Moorhead, MN (slide lecture, 2004) Indiana University; Bloomington, IN (presentation, Fall 2003) University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA (symposium with Artur Tajber, Brian Kennedy, and Bogdan Achimescu, 2003) Indiana State University; Terre Haute, IN (lecture, 2003) University of Arizona; Tucson, AZ (lecture, seminar 2002) Kansas City Art Institute; Kansas City, MO (lecture 2001) University of Wisconsin - Madison; Madison, WI (lecture, workshop 2001) University of Wisconsin - Platteville; Platteville, WI (lecture 2001) Ormeau Baths Gallery; Belfast, N. Ireland (lecture, 2001) University of Ulster - Belfast; Belfast, N. Ireland (lecture 2001) Belfast Print Workshop; (lecture 2001) Southeast Missouri State University (lectures, tutorials during 2000-2001 school year) University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA (lectures, tutorials, workshops during March 2000) University of Tennessee-Knoxville; Knoxville, TN (lecture in conjunction with Knoxville Museum, January 2000) Knoxville Museum of Art; Knoxville, TN (Gallery talk, January 2000) University of Kentucky; Lexington, KY (Seminar with Artur Tajber, November 1999) University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Stevens Point, WI (workshop in printmaking) University of Kansas; Lawrence, KS (tutorials, lecture) Kansas City Art Institute; Kansas City, MO (workshops in printmaking, career seminar, lectures to sculptors) Cincinnati Art Museum; Cincinnati, OH (lecture as part of Visiting Artist Alliance residency) Austin Peay State University; Clarksville, TN Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (tutorials with sculpture students, lecture, career seminar) Elgin Community College (lecture in conjunction with solo exhibition) University of Ulster-Belfast (lecture in conjunction with FlaxArt residency and exhibition at Ormeau Baths Gallery) Context Gallery; Derry, Northern Ireland (lecture 1998) Seacourt Print Workshop; Bangor, Northern Ireland (lecture 1998) Columbus College of Art and Design (lecture, seminar with sculpture students) University of Wisconsin; Madison, WI (workshop in printmaking 1997, lecture to professional practice course 1994) University of Illinois; Champaign, IL (Public lecture, seminar in professional practices course) Colorado State University; Ft. Collins, CO (public lecture, lecture to professional practice course) University of Southern Colorado; Pueblo, CO (printmaking workshop, public lecture) Southeast Missouri State University; Cape Girardeau, MO (1995, 1992) University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA (presentation, tutorials, organized by students) Concordia College; St. Paul, MN (1994, 1990) Northwest Institute of Technology-Studio Art; Derry, Northern Ireland Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design; Milwaukee, WI (1994, 1991) Independent Artists’ Union (ZPAP); Kraków, Poland Walker’s Point Center for the Arts; Milwaukee, WI Portland State University; Portland, OR Pacific Northwest College of Art; Portland, OR Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville; Edwardsville, IL University of Southern Indiana; Evansville, IN Orchard Gallery; Derry, Northern Ireland John Michael Kohler Art Center; Sheboygan, WI Lawrence University; Appleton, WI Crawford College of Art and Design; Cork, Ireland University of Ulster-Belfast; Belfast, Northern Ireland