Category: Exhibitions

Artists4Artists: A Retrospective of Anne McKee Grant Recipients

 

Frida Rebel, (Digital Photograph, encaustic wax, oil pastel and digital image transfer on board, 2015), featured in the Artists4Artists Exhibition at TSKW.

The first artist grant I ever received was from the Anne McKee Artist Fund in Key West.  The year was 2000 and just the beginning of my artistic career.  The awarding of this grant not only funded a photo project, but it solidified the belief in myself as an artist in an established and esteemed community of creative individuals.   I was fortunate to receive other grants from Anne McKee in 2005 and 2009 as well.  These grants encouraged my exploration of the photographic medium and steered my work into new directions.  It goes without saying that I would not be where I am (or whom I am ) today if it were not for Anne McKee!

Since 1994, the Anne McKee Artists Fund has been the only grant program of its kind for Florida Keys artists.  It has had an immeasurable impact on an entire generation of artists and has helped to shape the cultural landscape in the Keys.  In the past 22 years over 250 grants have been given!!

Tonight marks the opening of Artists4Artists, A Retrospective Show of Anne McKee Artists Fund Grant Recipients at The Studios of Key West.  This exhibition celebrates 100 visual artists, authors and performers who have received Anne McKee grants over the past 22 years.

The opening reception is tonight January 5th from 6-8pm.  The exhibition dates are from January 5th – 26th at The Studios of Key West, located at 533 Eaton Street.  Artwork will be displayed on the 2nd and 3rd floors of TSKW with live performances and book readings in the main theatre.

 “When I started, I thought it would help people buy frames and materials,” said McKee of the fund that offers such tangible and intangible benefits to the local creative community. “I never dreamed it would help people do so many big things.”

 

Thank you Anne McKee! Wish I could be there in person to celebrate with everyone!!

~jz

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Ways of Seeing”, a statewide traveling exhibition

Artwork that depicts an alternate reality is the feature of the Kentucky Arts Council’s traveling exhibit titled “Ways of Seeing.”  The work is abstract, conceptual, fantasy-based and experimental.  Some pieces imagine an alternate reality by exploring the unknown or by re-envisioning the known world.  Each work is by an artist in the Kentucky Crafted program or a recipient of the Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship and will travel to 5 venues around the Commonwealth of Kentucky through December 2017.

Looking Backwards 2 (from Attempting Utopia series), Dye Sublimation on Aluminum, featured in “Ways of Seeing” exhibition.

As a 2014 Al Smith Fellowship recipient, it’s a real honor to be a featured artist in this exhibition and I’m also very grateful for the opportunity to have my work travel across Kentucky.  I must admit that the show is traveling to places in the state I have yet to visit.   And I love going to places I have never been before…even if it’s vicariously through my artwork!

Check out the exhibition in the following locations: (I will update this page with specific dates for shows in Williamsburg, Somerset and Madisonville when that information becomes available)

Appalachian Artisan Center, Hindman October 3rd – December 22 2016
Eastern Kentucky University Center for the Arts, Richmond January 9th – February 26th 2017
Whitley County Fine Arts, Williamsburg March – May 2017
Center for Rural Development, Somerset June – August 2017
Glema Mahr Center for the Arts, Madisonville September – December 2017

 

“‘Ways of Seeing’ transports the viewer to a different time and place and gives them a sense of otherworldliness,” said Lori Meadows, Kentucky Arts Council Executive Director.  I’m ready to transport myself to some of these smaller towns, check out areas of Kentucky currently unfamiliar to me and see these works in person!

Road trip anyone?

~jz

 

Rockaway Artists Alliance InkSplash 2016 exhibition, ‘Printmaking in a Changing World’

My recent work. (from left to right, ‘Tent City’, ‘Woodlands’, ‘Bewilderbeast’, ‘Back with Butterfly Wings’)

 

This past Sunday, the Rockaway Artists Alliance InkSplash 2016 exhibition ‘Printmaking in a Changing World’ came to a close.  I was fortunate to attend the opening reception, see the work in person and meet most of the artists who exhibited.   And. I. Was. Impressed!!…by both the caliber of the work and the beautiful arts community at RAA.

 

The large and beautiful sTudio 7 at Rockaway Artists Alliance.

 

And not only was I impressed…I was INSPIRED!  InkSplash 2016 featured a wide variety of original printed works including intaglio, mono print, relief, solar-plate etching, aqua tints, photo transfers and experimental techniques celebrating the fine art of printmaking in a changing world.  My work as a photo based artist falls into the latter of the above mentioned processes.

 

 

(In all the photo galleries, I have linked the artist’s website with their image if they have one…learn more about that artist and their work by simply clicking on an image)

 

 

The printmaking press at RAA.

 

 

The exhibition also got some amazing press and I was fortunate enough to be prominently featured in a lot of it as well!  Click on the clicks below to read more.

THANK YOU again to the Rockaway Artists Alliance and especially to Victoria Barber who invited me to exhibit in this show.  I was honored to hang alongside such quality work that inspired me to continue seeking new ways to create.  I met a lot of wonderful individuals, who were happy to share their stories and process with me!  And lastly, I received great feed back on my work from a new audience…and even sold a piece!!

 

 

Other artists included in InkSplash 2016 are Carolyn Antonucci-Almeida, Victoria Barber, Kathy Caraccio, Faith Edeson, Jason Novetsky, Brendan Patrick, Renee Radenberg, Carmen Frank, Willa Mae Gilbert, Elizabeth Harington, Neddi Heller, Christian Le Gars, Luanda Lozano, Esther Grillo, Deena des Rioux, John Grillo, Melissa Rubin, Onnie Strother, Susan Rostow, Dan Welden, and Wendy Stefanelli.

~jz