ArtSake

Part of the thrill of making art is discovering how your audience interacts with your work. In our conversations with artists in numerous disciplines, we’ve asked: What’s the most surprising response to your work you’ve ever received?

Kathleen Volp, visual artist
I have been under the impression that the subject of many of my pieces was a deeply textured cantaloupe. I was surprised to find many viewers didn’t even remotely see a cantaloupe! Not even a kumquat. People saw protoplasm or coral or some kind of micro-organism or a CAT scan of the brain. It’s all good, even exciting, but really, really shocking to me. How could I not have seen this in my own work?

Mary Kocol, photographer
When I first started exhibiting at Gallery NAGA in 1993, some people thought the photographs were paintings – perhaps because I presented the work without mats or glazing, the traditional way to exhibit photos back then.

Ilie Ruby, writer
I once had a short story ravaged by wolves in a writing workshop. A friend suggested that the best revenge was revision. I looked over the story, dotted some i’s, crossed some t’s, and decided I was happy with it as it was. Then I haphazardly tossed the story into a box marked “contest,” (not knowing what contest it actually was). A few weeks later I received a phone call: “Congratulations, your story has just won the Edwin L. Moses Award for Fiction chosen by T.C. Boyle!” I received a huge prize, a small amount of satisfaction, and learned never again to listen to wolves.

Joshua Meyer, painter
I once stood in front of my paintings with the poet Robert Hass as he described my art to me. I felt like I was in the midst of one of his poems, a participant.

Scott Tulay, visual artist
My daughters, who are eight and five, consistently complain that my drawings are “too scary.” They will ask me, “Why can’t you draw something nice, with color, like with a rainbow?” Once in a while, however, I’ll do a drawing, and they’ll tilt their heads to the side and say, “Not bad, Dad.” This scares me.

Christopher Faust, painter
I had someone point out to me that there was something wrong with my composition – that the figures were too in the middle. When I told him I knew that and I did it on purpose, he kind of got angry and confused, then he stopped talking to me. I also had a piece stolen recently from a show.

Tara Masih, writer
“I love that story about your father.” When I told the woman it was fiction, that the character was not my father, she burst out, “Don’t tell me that! It was better when I thought it was real.” People seem to have a pathological need to have writing be autobiographical.

Rick Berry, painter
Tears.

Paul Goodnight, painter
Silence.

Jeff and Jane Hudson, musicians
YouTube and iTunes.

Shelly Reed, visual artist
Well, the most common response is that people very carefully and diplomatically suggest that I add at least a bit of color. The most surprising response was when someone contacted me from my Web site and asked me to design their tattoo.

Merrill Comeau, mixed media collage artist
I was working at the National Park of the Old North Bridge, on the edge of the Concord River. As I walked down, I fell into a sink hole of mud up to my knee. When I got to a good spot to work, I removed my boots and socks, washed them out in the river and hung them on branches to dry. I set out my tarp, stacks of fabric, lunch, etc. and worked all day. When I climbed back up to the bridge, the Park Ranger told me a group of women, seeing me on the edge of the river, asked where to leave money for the homeless person (me).

Salvatore Scibona, writer
My local Provincetown bookseller tells me that on the day my book (The End) came out, he sold a copy to a woman from New Hampshire, a tourist, the wife of a retired minister. It sounded interesting, she said; she liked the cover. What could be more commonplace than a person on a walk in a small town stopping to buy a book and taking it home? But also, what could be more unlikely, more uncanny from a writer’s point of view, than that a stranger he will never know should walk down a street with years of the writer’s thoughts in her bag?

Image: Kathleen Volp, BOUND MELON #2 (2011), photographic transfer, oil, metal and graphite on fabric and wood panel, 12x12x1 in.

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Tis the season (for great news from past fellows/finalists of our Artist Fellowships). Hark!

Steve Almond (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’08) blesses readers with God Bless America readings, including a co-event with the also-awesome Elizabeth Searle (12/6 at Stellina in Watertown).

Steven Barkhimer (Playwriting Fellow ’11) puts on his director’s hat for Merry Wives of Windsor with Actors’ Shakespeare Project (12/7-1/1).

Woo hoo! for David Binder (Film & Video Fellow ’11, Photography Fellow ’01), a 2011 Assets for Artists grantee for business/financial training and support.

Be a winner and learn about Edie Bresler‘s (Photography Finalist ’11) installation at the Somerville Arts Council’s Inside-Out Gallery.

Excellent: Beth Galston (Sculpture/Installation Finalist ’11) has two large-scale installations at PAAM (thru 1/15/12), commissions from San Antonio and Nashville, and a 2011 Design Award from the Chain Link Fence Manufacturers Institute for Serpentine Fence.

Michal Goldman‘s (Film & Video Fellow ’07) At Home in Utopia just screened in Philly and will stream for free online at New Day Digital (12/17-12/18).

Above: art-lovers immerse themselves in Brian Knep‘s (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’11) Healing Pool, which is at SEVEN during Miami Basel (thru 12/4).

All A’s for Caitlin McCarthy (Playwriting Finalist ’11), Best Short Script winner for Pass/Fail at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Complementing his work at ICA/Boston, Daniel Ranalli (Drawing Fellow ’10) shares Snail Drawings at Gallery Kayafas (thru 1/7).

Nicky Tavares (Film & Video Fellow ’11) is Kickstarting her new film-in-progress, Son of a Bug.

You already knew she’s in vogue, but did you know that Rachel Perry Welty (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’09, Drawing Fellow ’04) is in Vogue? Get the scoop on the artist’s Facebook page.

Read past Fellows Notes. If you’re a past fellow/finalist with news, let us know.

Image: Brian Knep, HEALING POOL (2008), six-channel interactive video installation, computers, six video projectors, three video cameras, custom software, vinyl floor, 30×20 ft.

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Peek into the studio and process of Edie Bresler (Photography Finalist ’11), an MCC-funded photographer and faculty member in the Art and Music Department at Simmons College, as she prepares a public art project in Somerville, this December.

A large part of my practice involves being out in the world with my camera and digital sound recorder. I shoot mostly with a 4×5 view camera and a DSLR depending on the subject. Since all my printing is done digitally I work in the sunlight which is a nice change from the darkroom days. I usually listen to music or podcasts like Fresh Air and Radio Lab. The dress hanging on the wall has been part of every studio I’ve worked in for the last 25 years. The hand-sewn pouches contain personal keepsakes from past projects and places I’ve lived.

Lately I’ve become fascinated by small local shops that sell lottery tickets. These neighborhood convenience and liquor stores are fairly invisible to the wider public even though each year our communities grow more dependent on the small portion of direct local aid we receive from lottery profits. Combining information culled from the Massachusetts lottery website with google map, I locate shops across the state where a winning million dollar scratch ticket was sold. Dedicated players tell me it makes a store lucky. This store is in Somerville.

The fading blue twilight against the bright yellow interior mirrors this transformation. I seek to evoke a poignant connection to these shops and the economically challenged citizens across the Commonwealth who are unfairly relied upon to shore up budget shortfalls. This tiny shop is in Canton.

I arrive early and first introduce myself to the vendors. Then I spend time looking at the store and its surroundings. There’s nothing worse than an unexpected cloud front obscuring the twilight effect at the last moment. When that happens I spend time interviewing the players who are usually scratching their tickets in the parking lot. Here are a few excerpts:

After I received a grant from the Somerville Arts Council (a percentage of arts funding in MA comes from lottery proceeds), I decided to see how lottery sales impact a single city. I met and subsequently photographed the proprietors from a variety of neighborhood stores. Frank and Rafaella DiFonzo have been running Bill’s Food Shop for 54 years, making it the oldest family-run convenience store in Somerville.

Inêz and Antonio Andrade are the proprietors of Cross Street Market. Their shop offers home-made Portuguese and Brazilian meals daily.

On December 1st, I’m installing these photographs along with pertinent lottery graphs and charts in the Inside-Out storefront windows in Davis Square. I will then be in residence by the windows on specific days inviting the public to contribute their stories and thoughts about the lottery in surveys like the ones below. Incorporating hand-written responses into the installation helps foster a community dialogue about the lottery. This is especially relevant in light of the recent passage of the casino bill. Such an open-ended artwork will evolve week-by-week. I hope you will check the schedule and stop by to add your comments and read what others have to say.

Edie Bresler’s YOU SCRATCH MY BACK, I’LL SCRATCH YOURS will be installed in the Inside-Out storefront windows in Davis Square, Somerville, in the month of December.

All images courtesy of the artist.

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November, upon us like a helping of heavily syrupped sweet potatoes, brings with it this bounty of news from our past Fellows/Finalists…

(more…)

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The Art of Leaving, a multi-disciplinary dance performance at The Arts Block in Greenfield, MA, takes place on Nov. 4 and 5, 2011, 7:30 PM. But elements of the project have been viewable by the public stretching back to May 2011, when Cynthia McLaughlin, the creator of The Art of Leaving: Portrait Tales, began exhibiting large scale photographs in public places. The photographic scenes depict characters and situations exploring leaving and staying.

Working with performers Krista DeNio, Cassie Sioux Mills, Lani Nahele, and Jennifer Polins & Saliq Francis Savage, and with Chattman Photography, Cynthia conceived portraits to explore questions like, “When do we stay?” “When do we leave?” “What do we preserve?” and “What do we abandon?”

The dance performance continues those explorations.

We asked Cynthia a few questions of our own, and here, she responds:

What inspired the “Portrait Tales” project? I met Joanna Chattman, the photographer, when she was photographing a fashion show I had choreographed and performed in (Tiny Crush Society), and, later, I was struck by the thought that she takes these beautiful photographs and works on them and prints them, and then she can share them again and again. I know it sounds like a “duh” moment, but as a director and performer I work so hard for so many hours and it’s all so expensive and no one is paid well and then it’s over. I wanted to find an aspect to my work that is sustainable. So I began to consider the process I was currently involved in, The Art of Leaving, and there began the idea to find a life for the characters through portraiture, a way to preserve them. I wanted to reach the widest audience possible, so I wanted them to be large and outside. What I never expected was how the process of working with these buildings, learning their history, getting to know their owners would become part of the work on its own. The work of siting, styling and costuming the portraits became a study in itself of The Art of Leaving.

Do you secretly dream of being a) a pop icon, b) an algebra teacher, and/or c) a crime-solver/writer a la Jessica Fletcher? There was a dark period last spring when it felt like I was pushing up against a lot of solid walls. I kept fantasizing about being a Bolt bus driver. It seemed so clear and functional. Get these people from Hadley to NYC – something seemed so deliciously straightforward about it. I suppose I would last a day….

Computer, longhand, or typewriter? Ha! I had to write all your questions down in pencil and write all my answers before I sent them to you.

What’s the most surprising response to your art you’ve ever received? Recently, I performed an installation, “Waiting for Pigeons” as part of a curated event called 21 Rooms in York, ME. Each artist had a room in this wonderful vintage motel, The Nevada. The work deals with nesting, isolation and confinement. A lot of people (1,500 attended) found it “scary.” Really, I thought, I’m in a white paper bag bird mask and I’m making a nest. That’s scary? It was great.

The unauthorized biography of your life is titled: Hmmmm… Fumbling in Grace.

If forced to choose, would you be a magic marker, a crayon, or a #2 pencil? #2 pencil, definitely.

What are you currently reading? I just finished Birds in Fall, a beautiful, poignant novel. There is an underlying thread throughout the story that deals with birds in migration, so it is related to my work. I’m highly influenced by literature and keep a bibliography for my projects.

What’s next? I have many plans in the works. More collaborations with Tiny Crush… I would like to do another photo project that is more of a scavenger hunt – this time dealing with my bird character. There is an old church near my house with no electricity and an old pump organ. I know an amazing organist and would love to create something there… My mind’s always racing.

Performances of The Art of Leaving are November 4-5, 2011, 7:30 PM, at The Arts Block in Greenfield, MA.

Images: all photos conceived, directed and styled by Cynthia McLaughlin, photographed by Chattman Photography.

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Go on, don’t be shy. Enter the circle and lay down your mark lest you become an ancient relic.

Dancers and Choreographers The Boston Dance Alliance’s 6th Annual Open Call Audition for dancers and choreographers will take place on Sunday, September 18, 2011. Early registration is now open but you can also register at the door. Learn more.

Newton Artists Any artist who lives, works, or attends art classes in Newton or who is a member of a Newton arts organization can apply for the Newton Open Studio Fall Juried Show. The juror this year is Katherine French, director of the Danforth Museum. Selected artists will take part in the November 5-6 sale weekend at the Newton Cultural Center, and 10 artists will be selected for the three-week “Juror Award Preview Exhibit” at NewTV Gallery. Find more information. Questions: Newton Open Studios.
Deadline: September 20, 2011.

Filmmakers Entries are now being accepted for the annual IFFBoston 2012. The festival will take place April 25 – May 2, 2012. Registration available at Withoutabox.

Playwrights Culture*Park seeks original short plays for their 10th anniversary short plays marathon on November 19, 2011 in New Bedford. Plays should be recent, not produced, and not exceeding 15 minutes. Selected plays will be presented as staged readings in the New Bedford Whaling Museum Theater. Learn more. Questions: culturepark@earthlink.net.
Deadline: October 5, 2011

Residency Opportunity The Arteles Creative Residency Program in Finland is now accepting applications. Learn more. Questions: info@arteles.org.
Deadline: October 7, 2011

Films and Screenplays The Female Eye Film Festival (Toronto, ON) is accepting entries for both films and screenplays for their 10th Anniversary Festival March 21 – 25, 2012. Films must be directed by a woman. The Screenplay Program is open to men and women. Learn more. Questions: info@FemaleEyeFilmFestival.com.
Deadline: October. 31, 2011

Call to Artists The Arte Laguna and the Italian cultural association MoCA (Modern Contemporary Art) is now accepting applications for their 6th International Arte Laguna Prize. The Prize is aimed at supporting emerging and established artists creating painting, sculpture, photographic art, video art, performance, and virtual art. Read more. Questions: info@artelagunaprize.com.
Deadline: November 11, 2011

Cape Cod Artists The South Yarmouth Library is looking for local artists to display their work on the library’s Art Wall. Every month, one artist has the opportunity to display their work in the library’s public reading room. The wall space is approximately 20 feet long and 5 feet in height. 312 Old Main Street in South Yarmouth. Questions: Toby Wilson (508-760-4820 x1317).

Image credit: Photograph by of Merry Maidens Stone Circle in Corwall, England, by Trish Steel.

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In September, past MCC fellows/finalists venture into imagined flora, faraway lands, outer space, the impermanent, the temporary, and the nearly not. (For starters.)

And now, we venture into our monthly round-up of the news of past awardees of our Artist Fellowships Program.

Karen Aqua (Film & Video Fellow ’11) will be honored by the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston in a tribute program, on Sunday, September 25, 2011, 3 PM. Read more about the program on ArtSake.

Sally Bellerose (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Finalist ’04) will read from her novel The Girls Club at Forbes Library in Northampton on Saturday, September 24, 2011, at 3 PM. The novel tells of the complicated, interconnected lives of three working class sisters in small town Massachusetts.

Congratulations to Alice Bouvrie (Film & Video Fellow ’11), whose documentary Thy Will Be Done now has a distribution partnership with New Day Films. The film will be appearing at Heart of England International Film Festival in the UK, September 7-18, 2011. The film, an excerpt of which won the artist an 2011 Artist Fellowship, will also be screening at the North Louisiana Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in Shreveport, LA on September 17 (12:30 PM) and September 20, 2011 (5:30 PM, followed by a panel discussion). Next month, along with a screening at the International Film Festival Australasia in Australia, the film will be shown at Lesley University‘s Marran Theater in Cambridge on October 12, 2011, at 7 PM.

Sarah Braunstein‘s (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’04) novel The Sweet Relief of Missing Children was shortlisted for the Center for Fiction’s Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize.

John Cameron‘s (Crafts Fellow ’11) work is included in New Hampshire Furniture Masters 2011. The annual auction is on September 10, 2011, at the Currier Museum of Art in NH.

Cheryl Clark (Poetry Finalist ’10) will read her poetry on Saturday, September 24, 3 PM, at Outpost 186 in Inman Square, Cambridge, as part of the Unaffiliated Reading Series.

Shawn Cody‘s (Playwriting Fellow ’07) new music theater work The Water Dream will have a staged reading as part of Shakespeare & Company’s Studio Festival of New Plays. The performance features Broadway veteran Anthony Rapp and takes place Monday, September 5, 2011 at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA. Read about the event in Playbill.

Rebecca Doughty (Painting Finalist ’10) has a solo show of new paintings, called Nearly Nots, at The Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown. The show runs September 2-21, 2011, with a reception on Friday, September 2, 7-10 PM.

Vico Fabbris (Painting Fellow ’06, Drawing Fellow ’00) will have an exhibition titled Floragenis at the Rice Polak Gallery in Provincetown from September 1 to September 15, 2011. Opening reception, with the artist, Friday, September 2, 2011 at 7 PM. An interview with Vico Fabbris on his Floragenis exhibition at the Rice Polak Gallery will appear in the Provincetown Banner on Thursday, September 1, 2011, written by art historian and art critic Susan Rand Brown.

Long time organizer of poetry and interdisciplinary programs in Massachusetts, Michael Hoerman (Poetry Fellow ’04) has created a brand new organization, The Temp Series Project, to advocate and promote writing and art in the Commonwealth. Based in culture-rich Lowell, MA, The Temp Series Project will create interdisciplinary events, develop commissions, and host special showcases that highlight Massachusetts artists and promote their appreciation. Projects in the works include a temporary reading series, pocket poetry festival, and temporary public art. For more information, join The Temp Series Project on Facebook. The Temp Series Project was recently approved for fiscal sponsorship by Fractured Atlas.

Brian Knep (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’11) is showing Healing 2 as part of the group show Building Expectation: Past and Present Visions of the Architectural Future at Brown University in Providence, RI. The show runs at the David Winton Bell Gallery September 3-November 6, 2011, with an opening reception and curatorial talk on Friday, September 9, 5:30-7:30 PM.

Jesse Kreitzer (Film & Video Finalist ’11) has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for his independent feature film, The Wake. The film, which was recently selected as a finalist for the 2012 Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab, is the story of a grief-ridden social worker who cares for a dying woman in secrecy from his wife and two children.

Dawn Lane (Choreography Fellow ’10) will premiere a new work of dance, one potato, two potato, at the Doris Duke Theatre at Jacob’s Pillow on September 2, 2011 (8 PM) and September 3, 2 PM and 8 PM. The work draws on aspects of Irish culture & history (i.e. knitting, the famine and Irish dance) to explore perceptions of excess, wastefulness, having enough, or nothing. Dawn’s MCC Fellowship, as well as a Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Creative Development Residency, helped pave the way for the new work. One potato, two potato is presented in cooperation with Jacob’s Pillow Community Dance Programs and Community Access to the Arts. Read Dawn’s post about the development of one potato, two potato, on ArtSake.

Scott Listfield (Painting Finalist ’10) is among the artists with work in Lift Off: Earthlings and the Great Beyond at the Paul Robeson Galleries at Rutgers University in NJ. The exhibition is in the Main Gallery September 1, 2011-January 5, 2012, with an opening reception and catalog launch Thursday, September 15, 5-7 PM. Follow Scott’s new blog for more info on his upcoming solo show at the University Gallery at UMass Lowell, Astronaut: Paintings by Scott Listfield. That show will run November 7–December 2, 2011, artist talk & reception November 8, 3-5 PM. Finally, Scott is featured in a recently released book documenting the great Crazy 4 Cult art shows at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles.

Christian McEwen‘s (Playwriting Fellow ’11) new book World Enough and Time: On Creativity and Slowing Down will be published by Bauhan Publising this month. The book reflects on how slowing down the pace of one’s life can have profound benefits, including on creativity.

Nathalie Miebach (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’09) has two solo shows in Massachusetts, this month: Musical Storms is on exhibit at the Cushing-Martin Gallery at Stonehill College in Easton from September 22-October 31, 2011, with an opening reception October 5, 6-7:30 PM. Another solo show, Changing Waters, is on exhibit at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown September 30-November 30, 2011.

Anne Neely (Painting Finalist ’10) has a solo exhibit, Mopang: Recent Paintings on view at Lohin Geduld Gallery in NYC, from September 7 through October 8, 2011, with an opening reception September 8, 5–7 PM. A catalog with essay by Jonathan Franzen (who, incidentally, won our Artist Fellowship in 1986!) accompanies the exhibit.

Congratulations to Marlo Poras (Film & Video Fellow ’05), whose film-in-progress The Mosuo Sisters received a Chicken & Egg Pictures Liberty Grant.

Eric Henry Sanders‘s (Playwriting Fellow ’09) play Reservoir is being remounted at Theater 89 in Berlin (translated title: Haseks Heimkehr), following a successful production there in May. There was one performance in August, and upcoming performances September 9, 10, 16, and 17, 2011.

Tara Sellios (Photography Fellow ’11) is preparing for a solo show called Lessons of Impermanence at The New England School of Art & Design, this November 2011.

Peter Snoad‘s (Playwriting Fellow ’09) short play My Name is Art was staged at Artists Exchange in Cranston, RI, August 19-28 as part of their Black Box Theatre’s annual one-act festival.

Julia Story‘s (Poetry Finalist ’10) poetry was recently featured in TriQuarterly literary journal.

Steve Tourlentes (Photography Fellow ’11, ’05) currently has a piece in Night Vision, an exhibition on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City through September 16, 2011.

Frank Ward (Photography Fellow ’11) gave two presentations in Central Asia, in August, first presenting his work in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, followed by a lecture in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

Jeff Warmouth (Sculpture/Installation Finalist ’05) has a solo exhibition at the SHOW Gallery and Performance Space in Staten Island, NY. The show, called SuperJeffuBurgerMarket, runs September 10-October, 29, 2011, with an opening reception Saturday, September 10, 5-8 PM.

Ellen Wineberg (Painting Finalist ’04) has work in two MA exhibitions this months: she has four pieces in 24 Solo Shows at Bromfield Gallery in Boston, August 31-October 1 (opening reception Sept. 9, 6-8:30 PM). She’s also part of a five-person show, Exquisite Corpse at Deerfield Academy. The show, with work ranging from minimal to real, runs September 22-November 17 (opening reception Sunday, Oct. 2, 2-5), at the school’s Russell Gallery.

Michael Zelehoski (Painting Fellow ’10) has a solo show at Sanford Smith Fine Art in Great Barrington, running through October 13, 2011.

Past Fellows Notes
Aug. 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
Apr. 2011
Mar. 2011
Feb. 2011
Jan. 2011

Are you a past fellow or finalist with an event, honor, or other bit of news you’d like to share? Tell us about it.

Images: Painting by Vico Fabbris, from the FLORAGENIS series; paintings by Rebecca Doughty, from the NEARLY NOTS series; Michael Hoerman’s digital rendering of Storehouse No. 1, a video installation proposed by The Temp Series Project in Lowell; cover art for Christian McEwen’s WORLD ENOUGH & TIME (Bauhan Publishing, 2011); Frank Ward, #3 (2009), Giclee print, 22X33 in.

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Visual Artists and Filmmakers Resonate! A Synthesis of Sight and Sound, a multidisciplinary event being held September 28, 2011 at Oberon in Cambridge, MA is looking for visual artists and filmmakers. The intention of the evening is to allow young artists in the local/regional community to get together, possibly collaborate, and strengthen one another’s audiences. The evening will consist of 3 to 4 bands, and an art sale to begin before the music and go on throughout. The event will feature musicians that are blending elements of folk, pop, jazz, and improvisation in their music. The intention is for an open genre approach to filter throughout the evening. Visual artists are sought for selling and showcasing work, as well as filmmakers for collaborating with the featured musicians. Contact Leah at ResonateCambridge@gmail.com.

Call for Artists HarborArts in Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina is currently accepting applications for artists, art vendors, artist/activist groups and galleries to have tables at their one-year anniversary celebration, which includes an exhibition of 30 large-scale outdoor public art pieces. Learn more. Questions: Bri.HarborArts@gmail.com.
Deadline Extended: September 1, 2011

Call for Artists The Brookline Arts Center is now accepting entries for their Artist Marketplace on December 4–11, 2011. Learn more. Questions: 617-566-5715.
Deadline: September 1, 2011

Photography Brighton Photo Fringe is now accepting submissions from photographers and lens-based artists. Brighton Photo Fringe is supported by University of Sussex, School of Media Film and Music, Brighton and Hove City Council and the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Learn more.
Deadline: September 12, 2011

Photographers The Photography Center of Cape Cod is now accepting entries for their Photo Contest 2012 Calendar. They want photos that depict a season or month in the year that were shot on Cape Cod. The winning images will also be hung as part of a special exhibit in the Cape Cod Art Association gallery. The 2012 Photography Center of Cape Cod calendar will be a high-quality, poster style calendar, with each month treated as its own frame-able work of art. Enter as many pieces as you like, $10 per entry fee. Jurors are Barnstable Town Councilor Ann Canedy,  photographer Stephen Heaslip, and Hyannis Chamber of Commerce Director Jessica Sylver. The calendar will be available in their gallery, online and at different locations across the Cape. Questions: manager@photographycenterofcapecod.org.
Deadline: September 12, 2011

Craft Artists Applications are now being accepted for Craftboston Spring and Craftboston Holiday 2012. There is only one application for both 2012 shows. Read more. Questions: show@craftboston.org.
Deadline: September 13, 2011

Early-Career Directors and Choreographers Applications are now being accepted for the SDC Foundation’s Observership Program. Through this program, SDCF offers early-career Directors and Choreographers 25 paid opportunities to observe the work of master Directors and Choreographers as they create new productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway and at leading regional theatres across the country. Each Observer will receive a $200 weekly stipend and an additional travel stipend. Learn more.
Deadline: September 15, 2011

Playwrights The Portland Stage Company is now accepting entries for their 2011-2012 Clauder Competition. The Clauder Grand Prize Winner will receive a cash award of $2,500, as well as a full production at Portland Stage with a professional director, designers, and actors. The Clauder Gold Prize winners will each receive $600. Grand Prize and Gold Prize winners will be invited to workshop their plays at the Little Festival of the Unexpected, Portland Stage’s annual new play festival where playwrights, professional theater artists, and audiences develop new works in a nurturing environment. Additional prizes will also be awarded to the best play submitted from each of the six New England States. Learn more.
Deadline: March 1, 2012 (postmark)

Image credit: Last Rose of Summer, 1867, by Charles Kinkel, Music A-5015, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.

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On cue here they are.

Artists Professional Toolbox Program Information Session D’lynne Plummer, Director of Professional Development for the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston, will be giving a presentation on the Artists Professional Toolbox Program where artists will have the opportunity to learn more and ask questions. Thursday, August 18, 2011 from 7-9pm at LynnArts, 25 Exchange St. Lynn, MA. Pre-registration required. Email swhalter@lynnarts.org to register.

Performing Artists The New England States Touring Program has funds available for presenters to hire NEST eligible artists. So how do you become a NEST Eligible Artist? Easy. Just create a free profile on MatchBook.org. Read more.

Photography The Los Angeles Center For Digital Art is now accepting applications for their international juried competition for digital art and photography. All styles of artwork and photography where digital processes of any kind were integral to the creation of the images are acceptable. The selected winner receives 10 prints up to 44×60 inches on canvas or museum quality paper (approximately a $2,500-$3,000 value) to be shown in a solo exhibition in the Center For Digital Art’s main gallery September 8-30, 2011. Jurors are Peter Frank (Riverside Art Museum) and Rex Bruce, L.A. Center for Digital Art. Online registration only. Questions: lacda@lacda.com. Learn more.
Deadline: August 22, 2011

Filmmakers The Crown Heights Film Festival in Brooklyn is now accepting submissions for short films, artist films and animations under 18 minutes. With the support of Five Myles Gallery, short films and animations will be showcased from October 13-15, 2011. Application is free. Learn more.
Deadline: August 26, 2011

Photography PortfolioX2 Submissions are now being accepted. The Davis Orton Gallery has a call for work for their Street Photography, Surveillance exhibition. Contact 518-697-0266 or info@DavisOrtonGallery.com.
Deadline: August 31, 2011

North Adam Open Studios The North Adams Open Studios (October 15-16, 2011) registration period is now open. Questions: 413-664-8718. Learn more.
Registration Deadline: September 2, 2011

Plein Air Artists Artists are invited to participate in the 4th Annual Easthampton Paint Out; a one-week plein air painting competition that culminates in a gallery show and judging at Nashawannuck Gallery during the Art Walk. Oils, acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media/painting works are accepted. Participating artists must paint within the city limits of Easthampton from September 3-10, 2011, at an outdoor location and not from a photograph. Fee: $20. Questions: nashawannuck@yahoo.com or 413- 529-9393.

Image credit: Photograph of teenager at the ICA scratching out sounds by ArtSake.

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Call to Artists The Cotuit Center for the Arts has announced an open call for their juried exhibition Couplings. They are seeking work created by couples or pairs of artists. All interpretations of the theme and media will be considered and artists are invited to enter up to two pieces. The Cotuit Center for the Arts encourages large and three-dimensional works. The fee for entry is $5 for members and $10 for non-members. Works must be delivered gallery-ready with appropriate frame and wire (if hung). If work is not accepted the artist will be informed by email or phone and must retrieve their work. Drop off deadline: Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Playwrights Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga’s I Can’t Think Straight: The Coming Out Experience is seeking plays of any length that explore the coming out experience, preferably in a humorous vein, for production during the Fall, 2011 season. Include any production history information, if applicable. Electronic or postal mail submissions accepted. No Fee. Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga, 915 Central Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37403, Contact: Garry Lee Posey.
Deadline: August 15, 2011

Performing Artists Guidelines are now available for the 2012 USArtists International (USAI) program. USAI provides support for American dance, music, and theater ensembles and solo artists invited to perform at significant international festivals or engagements that represent extraordinary career opportunities anywhere in the world outside the United States and its territories. Read more. Questions, contact Sara Nash.
Deadline: September 6, 2011 (first round)

Craft Artists The Society of Arts and Crafts is now accepting applications from New England artists working in ceramics, fiber, glass, metal, wood or mixed media for their 2012 Artist Awards. Students and past winners are not eligible. Three winners will be selected, each will receive $3,000 and participate in a group exhibition to be held April – June 2012 in their Boston gallery. Read more on Juried Art Services.
Deadline: October 5, 2011

Filmmakers San Diego Black Film Festival aims to provide a vehicle for worldwide exposure of quality African American and African Diaspora films. Seeking entries in the following categories: dramatic feature, documentary feature, documentary short, comedy, animation, music video, and dramatic short. Read more. Questions, call 619/685-7215 or email.
Deadline: October 26, 2011

Image credit: Photograph of construction site by ArtSake.

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