Metairie, Louisiana, USA. Carol M Lynch's creative process combines her pioneer-spirited West Texas roots and her New Orleans cultural life that brings history and tradition alive, with Mardi Gras thrown in for something extra! Paper and textile collage has influenced most of her current artistic projects. She strives to bring the past into the modern reality. She often incorporates haiku or quotes from books and poems to further elucidate the theme and to stir emotions. What she creates differs from piece to piece and is purpose-based. Current issues find reality within her collages.

Amy Zerner takes the world around her and transforms it magically into her own art forms. She combines fabrics, embroideries, and found objects into lushly imaginative collages intended as signposts to spiritual growth and healing. Guided by her husband, Monte Farber, you’ll experience how Amy synthesizes myths, archetypal symbols, fairy tales, and world cosmologies as she conjures sacred spaces; depicts goddesses, gods, and guardian angels; and creates surreal dreamscapes of primeval grottoes, sanctuaries, and utopias.

Portland, Oregon, USA. Justin Tuttle's practice begins with the necessity of catharsis. He does not have preconceived notions of what the collage piece should be beforehand. The process of discovery is intentional as an artistic method and cathartic process for him. His collection of work typically touches on topics of mental stability, discovering selfhood, political injustices, and rootedness within geographic regions, attempting to bridge concepts of self within a sociological context. He believes his collages are surrealist in nature, blending “common” seen imagery with an abstraction of an idea.

At Kolaj Institute, our philosophy is that if we bring artists together, explore ideas and concepts, share knowledge, we can stretch and develop as artists. When we bring that knowledge and skill into our communities, we raise the standing of collage and contribute to the civic discourse. Kolaj Institute's Artist Development Program is a collection of three core workshops for self-motivated artists, at any stage in their career, who want to develop and expand their collage-based artist practice and work towards professional goals, particularly in the areas of exhibitions and publishing.

NEXT SESSION: Collage in Practice

starts Sundays, 29 September 

DEADLINE TO APPLY

Saturday, September 14, 2024

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Yannick Lowery is inspired by the cultural dynamism of his native New York City and present hometown, his work explores the creations of illustrated proverbs, portents, and historical souvenirs to guide the viewer through cultural introspection and responsible, imaginative perpetuation. He utilizes photography, found, and archival papers to employ world-creation and compile instigative, investigative waymaking devices.

Final Deadline to Apply: Saturday, 31 August 2024. As part of a year-long investigation of castles as buildings, metaphors, and systems of power, Kolaj Institute will host a week-long artist residency in New Orleans focused on Plantations from 13-17 October 2024. During this residency, collage artists come to New Orleans and explore the history of Plantations and learn how to adapt their artist practice to pick up the unfinished work of history and make art that contributes to the civic discourse. Through interactive sessions, visits to plantations, and collaborative collage making, artists will explore their process and practice; present a slideshow of their work; receive supportive, critical, curatorial feedback about their ideas; and discuss contemporary issues. After the Residency, artists will be invited to propose artwork for inclusion in Kolaj Institute’s Castle Project, an exhibition, book, and related programs in 2025-2026 that invite viewers to consider how the history of castles, colonies, plantations, and corporations relate to one another and shape the world we live in today.

Next Deadline: 29 September 2024 (for Spring 2025 dates). Residents stay in Kolaj Institute’s space in the New Orleans Healing Center, where they will have their own bedroom, and access to a shared kitchen and bathroom with shower. Residents work in Kolaj Institute’s Gallery that includes access to collage making supplies and a printer. The Gallery and Resident space is located on the second floor of a building in the Marigny neighborhood. The wrap-around balcony overlooks St. Roch Market. Residents work independently to complete their plan. At the end of the residency, we meet with the artist to review their progress with them and discuss next steps. Submissions are reviewed on an ongoing basis.