Artist Residencies at Centrum

Centrum's 2009 Jaqua Award Recipients

Artist Trust  has chosen two musicians to receive the Russell Jaqua Award for Artistic Excellence! We'll let you know when they choose dates, and see if we can get them scheduled for performances while they are here...

Jherek Bischoff, Seattle, King County.  Jherek has a number of years of experience in musical performance, ranging from orchestral composition, to arrangement and performance. This local involvement got him linked to the Degenerate Arts Orchestra, which consisted of 48 of the city’s finest musicians. Jherek will be performing at Town Hall in Seattle, where he will assemble a 35-person orchestra to play 12 of his compositions on September 11.

Juliana Svetlitchnaia, Bothell, Snohomish County. Juliana is a singer and ethnomusicologist specializing in Russian folk music.  For the last 20 years she has been collecting and learning ancient Russian songs from expeditions to remote Russian Villages where these songs existed for centuries and were carried orally from generation to generation. Unique songs that are truly beautiful, this project is an effort to preserve and promote a genuine culture. For more information go to: www.ethnorussia.com

2009 EDGE Artists in Residence this Summer

Congratulations to the thirty-three artists selected to participate in the 2009 EDGE Professional Development Program! This year's cycles will be July 5-12 and August 8-15. Both cycles are being held as week-long intensives at Centrum in order to attract more artists from around the state. See and hear presentations of their work in July and August following their EDGE-ucation.
 
The EDGE program at Artist Trust  is a comprehensive survey of professional practices offered through a hands-on, interactive curriculum that includes instruction by professionals in the field, specialized presentations, panel discussions and assignments. EDGE provides artists with the relevant and necessary entrepreneurial skills to achieve their personal career goals and the opportunity to build community through peer support and exchange.  

The East Pole, John Lucas - wood, paint, resin, basalt

"The Borders Project" at Centrum

How do borders affect the spaces we encompass in our everyday lives? How can the technologies of dance, film, and multi-media performance translate and expand the conversations we have about our borders?  What are the repercussions on our bodies and communal health?

Adam McKinney of DNAWORKS in New York will bring 8 artists to Centrum's Artistic Residency Program, where they will begin work on a multi-media collaborative piece entitled “The Borders Project”. This collaborative residency will include both Daniel Banks and Adam, Co-Directors of DNAWORKS, along with Chris Crader, Trinity Hamilton,  Samar Haddad King, Diane Roberts, Ariel Vegosen, and Scott Macklin.

" DNAWORKS is dedicated to furthuring artistic expression and dialogue, focusing on issues of indentity, culture, class, and heritage. We catalyze performance and action through the arts in the intersecting communitites in which we live and work. In our work, art = ritual = healing = community. We look forward to taking advantage of Fort Worden’s natural elements, as well as the cistern, bunkers, and beach from June 14-20, 2009."

Jaqua Fund Recipients at Centrum

By a happy coincidence we have three recipients of the Russell Jaqua Award for Artistic Excellence in Residence this month. These Residency Awards are provided by Centrum in collaboration with Artist Trust of Seattle as part of the GAP Program, providing support for artist-generated projects including the development, completion, or presentation of new works. Recipients are selected by a panel of artists and arts professionals from Washington State. The Russell Jaqua Fund was established in his memory through the generousity of Centrum Donors and  Russell's friends and family.

  Kevin Bernstein is inspired by the natural phenomena of the Pacific Northwest. He plans to produce a new body of paintings and drawings based upon the research of regional traveling in Washington State from Eastern to Western Washington. Kevin works primarily on six-by-four-feet pieces of birch plywood in his effort to understand nature as a primal source in a complex and ever-changing world in need of preservation and restraint. His new works will be on display at an exhibition in Olympia.

Robert Campbell has been primarily a video artist for the past 20 years and has recently expanded his materials to include glass. His most recent body of work, Yellow, combines sculpture, glasswork, photography, and multi-channel video in order to explore environmental degradation and its effects on  humans, specifically targeting estrogen mimickers and other hormone disruptors found in everyday products.

Miho Takekawa is a percussionist from Japan who wishes to revisit the traditional Japanese folk music of her childhood in a non-traditional way. Miho is scheduled to collaborate with three Seattle musicians, each with extensive experience with Japanese music: jazz drummer Greg Campbell, jazz vibraphonist Tom Collier, and South American Flutist Diego Coy. Her hope is to perpetuate Japanese folk music and inspire others to challenge their artistic identities. Miho will perform during her residency with Diego Coy at two Port Townsend Venues... scroll down for details.

Contributions to the Russell Jaqua Fund for Artistic Excellence may be made by contacting Mary Hilts, Development Associate at 360-385-3102 x116, or by email mary@centrum.org. Your support is deeply appreciated, and will help Centrum continue to bring talented artists and writers to this wonderful place.

Centrum Residents Playing Locally

Miho Takekawa is a recipient of the Russell Jaqua Award for Artistic Excellence. This award is funded through the generosity of Centrum Donors, and is awarded annually as part of the Artist Trust GAP program in Seattle.

 

Miho will be here in collaborative residency with Diego Coy from May 23rd through May 30th. While in Port Townsend they will perform with Matt Sicerly at The Upstage Restaurant on Thursday, May 28th at 7pm. On May 29th at 7pm they'll kick off the grand opening of Better Living Thru Coffee, a new coffeehouse overlooking Port Townsend Bay on Tyler Street.

For more about Miho and Diego's music and new CD release check out their website. And come join us if you're in the neighborhood... this is going to be a real treat!

May Residencies - Centrum Celebrates Diversity

May 2009 is a time to celebrate the multidisciplinary nature of Centrum's New Works Program with twenty Artists in Residence. The month begins with a workshop on illustration, journaling, and movement… then finishes with a presentation of traditional arts of India. Writers are well represented by David Haynes, author of six critically acclaimed novels and five children's books, and Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic who are widely considered leading commentators on race in the United States. Musician Stuart Dempster will be back with his entourage to record more work in the Fort Worden Cistern, and GAP Award recipient Miho Takekawa will continue work on her second CD celebrating Japanese female musicians. And we'll have several Washington State visual artists in residence, including Russel Jacqua Award recipients Kevin Bernstein and Robert Campbell, along with Jesse Watson.

Learn the Traditional Arts of India

In May 2009, Centrum is please to welcome Kiran Soni Gupta as an artist-in-residence.

Kiran Soni Gupta is an artist, writer and an activist, who also serves as Divisional Commissioner, Jodhpur in Rajasthan, India. After a career in academics, she joined the Indian Administrative Service and has held various distinguished assignments in the Government of India, Kerala & Rajasthan. She was a Mason Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in 2005-06.

It is however through the brush and paint that Kiran Soni Gupta's creativity finds its fullest expression. Her works vividly reflect not only her conviction and clarity on issues relating to women, children, poverty, development, environment but also her keen sense of observation, humility and above all an abounding faith in god and service to humanity and mankind. From sketches, pen & ink works to mixed media she has given new horizons to art forms both traditional and modern.

Her works have been exhibited at a variety of different national and international events. She was also a visiting artist at the East West Centre in Hawaii.

While at Centrum, Kiran will be leading a series of workshops designed to help students “Learn the Traditional Arts of India.”

BANDEZ- TIE & DYE
Friday, May 29
12pm - 3pm                       
$35 per person

MEHANDI (Designing Henna Tatoos)
Saturday, May 30
12pm - 3pm                       
$35 per person

GLASS PAINTING
3 Sessions
Friday, May 29 - Sunday, May 31
3pm - 5pm
$75 per person

INDIAN MINIATURE PAINTING
4 Sessions
3pm - 5pm Wednesday, May 27
3pm - 5pm Thursday, May 28
1pm - 3pm Sunday, May 31
1pm - 3pm Monday, June 1
$95 per person

Space is limited. To register, please contact Residency Coordinator Lisa Werner at 360-385-3102-x128 or email lisa@centrum.org.