Wednesday Lemonade
July 15, 2020
|
Welcome back to Wednesday Lemonade, a community newsletter focused on keeping VCCA Fellows, staff, and supporters connected.
Over the course of the relentless COVID-19 pandemic, this newsletter has been just one of many initiatives VCCA has undertaken to stay engaged with you while our residency programs are paused. We've recently gathered all those virtual projects into one place on our website
for quick reference and easy access
. More on that below.
Thanks to those who have watched last week's VCCA Fireplace Series event featuring
readings by Donna Hemans and Sharon Charde
. In our next Fireplace event,
Washington Post columnist, Fellow, and VCCA Board member Steven Petrow will return to host poet Barbara Crooker and co
mposer Greg Mertl. Mark your calendar to join us live on Thursday, July 23, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Today's Fellow messages come from visual artist Amy Cheng and writer
Harry Kollatz Jr.
We also begin highlighting member posts from Virtual VCCA / Mighty Networks, starting with
updates you may have missed from visual artists
Amie Oliver and
Janet Fredericks.
In today's resource section, we pass along an invitation for Fellows to take part in a research survey on creators' relationships to society and government. We also share info about a new relief fund to support central Appalachian
creatives.
Since we sent word out into the world two weeks ago that
VCCA is now the proud owner of our home at Mt. San Angelo
, we've continued to be delighted by the ripples of congratulations and excitement as new waves of our community catch on to the good news. Thank you, all, again and always, for being a part of VCCA.
|
|
As a read
er of this newsletter, you well know: “Virtual VCCA” has come to mean many things over the past months. In the name of online connectivity, we have launched a live video series, established an online community platform, found new ways to highlight Fellows’ work, and more.
Look to this
new page of the VCCA website
for an updated list of
ways to stay virtually engaged with our creative community during our temporary closure.
|
|
|
Fellows,
please fill out this form to submit a message
. This is a way to tell the VCCA community about how you're navigating these times as an artist and human and to spread the word about work affected by or created during the pandemic.
|
|
July 8, 2020
"
Hello Friends. The big news is that I have retired from teaching at SUNY New Paltz. I feel lucky and
privileged to have taught painting and drawing at the college level for three decades. It was a job that allowed (and, sometimes, forced) me to learn and grow. I feel I owe a great debt of gratitude to all the students I encountered. Taking early(ish) retirement will allow me to concentrate on studio work and public art commissions, which is what I am doing these days. I also expect to have time to maintain a blog.
I am officially launching the new blog, which you can find at this link
.
"
|
|
Nature Provides is the most recent mural, installed February 2020 at the Patient Services Center at Western State Hospital in Tacoma, WA. Fabricated by Miotto Mosaics in Carmel, NY, it measures 8'x18' and consists of mosaic tessera, various sized glass blobs, and brass flower shapes.
|
|
July 11, 2020
"In these crazy days, seems the way to remain focused is to maintain a creative project/s/ ahead of you. So I've been attempting to promote the novel
Carlisle Montgomery
,
and working on a short novella addendum to that piece, along with a couple of others: an historical speculative fiction in which World War I as we know it didn't happen, among others. The uncertainty of whether anybody will see the present work seems doubly precarious considering the times."
Work Affected by COVID-19
"I had scheduled several appearances and readings from my novel
Carlisle Montgomery
during the spring, all cancelled. I've conducted virtual readings and presentations. Published by a small house, Primer Books in Sydney, Australia, promotion has largely been left up to me. She's been in the world a year."
|
|
|
highlights from virtual vcca
|
|
These updates come from members posting in
Virtual VCCA
, our online community platform powered by Mighty Networks.
|
|
Amie Oliver shared a link to “All Together,” a group exhibition of work created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently on view at Reynolds Gallery in Richmond, Virginia, the exhibition includes work by several VCCA Fellows, including Amie Oliver, Sally Bowring and Tanja Softic.
|
|
|
Janet Fredericks shared photos from
“Water, Sacred Water,” an exhibit
of drawings made in water,
at
GreenTARA Space in North Hero, Vermont. Janet says, "
I'm happy to be showing this older work after all other exhibits were cancelled for the summer."
|
|
|
Survey on Creators, Society, and Government
|
The University of Cambridge is conducting research on creators (artists, podcasters, filmmakers) and their relationship to society and government. They are looking for artists to
fill out a short survey
. It should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. The survey is anonymous and will not collect any personal details from respondents.
|
|
New Fund for Creatives in Central Appalachia
|
The new
Appalshop Creators Fund
offers stipends of $3,000 to individual creatives located in central Appalachia. The fund aims to support people working in a variety of artistic mediums. While all central Appalachian creators are eligible to apply, Appalshop is particularly looking to support applicants who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, caregivers, and immune-compromised.
Applications are due this Friday, July 17.
|
|
|
Listen: Composer Playlist
|
- Joelle Wallach | String Quartet #2
- Joshua Marquez | Toward
- Beth Wiemann | Opera from Scratch
- Suzanne Sorkin | Swept
- James Primrosch | Carthage
- Hayes Biggs | O Sapintia/Steal Away
|
|
|
Apply or Share: Wachtmeister Award
|
We are
now accepting applications
for the
2021 Wachtmeister Award
. Please share this opportunity widely with prominent visual artists who you think would benefit from uninterrupted time and space at VCCA.
|
|
🧡
Stay safe, and be well.
|
|
Want to stay in touch with VCCA, just not on a weekly basis? Simply reply to this email to let us know, and we'll understandingly
unsubscribe
you from this particular email list.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|