ArtSake

Playwrights  LGBTQ theatre company seeks full-length scripts at any stage of development that have not had a full production for their XYZ Festival of New Works at About Face Theatre (2012-2013 Season, Chicago, IL). Scripts that break traditional ideas about dramatic form, structure, and presentation are encouraged. Selected plays will receive seated or staged readings with the support of professional directors and actors. Learn more. Questions: literary@aboutfacetheatre.com.
Deadline: January 8, 2012

Visual Artists Caladan Gallery is now accepting entries for their online exhibition CREATURES: Swim, Fly, Crawl. Learn more. Questions: director@caladangallery.com.
Deadline: January 15, 2011

Visual Artists UFORGE Gallery is now accepting entries for their February 2012 exhibition called Elements. Work must focus on the four elements found in nature; Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. Learn more.
Deadline: January 15, 2012

Camera Phone Photography Submissions are now being accepted for the iSpy exhibition at The Kiernan Gallery in Lexington, VA. The Kiernan Gallery seeks images taken with cell phones that span all genres of photography. Only images taken with a cellular phone will be accepted for this exhibition. Use of apps (e.g. Hipstamatic, Instagram, Darkroom, Tiltshift, Pano, etc.) is acceptable and encouraged. Learn more.
Deadline: January 26, 2012

Knit and Crochet Artists  No basketball court should be without a net. With that said, the Knit & Crochet artists have a call for submissions to cure what they have dubbed as the empty net syndrome. A little back court info: over a year ago NCAA (New Craft Artists in Action) team captain launched MOLTENi Net Works in Boston. Bringing together makers and players in collaborative exchange, the project aims to create functional, hand-crafted basketball nets for neglected public hoops. Inspired by DIY slow production, this process fosters creative problem solving, urban upkeep, and re-purposing of abandoned space to build a pro-active network between artists, athletes, and neighbors. Learn more. Expression of interest requested by January 31, 2012 to molteninetworks@gmail.com.

Temporary Public Art The Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) is currently accepting applications for Occupy 539, a unique platform for artists to engage with audience through public art projects that explore ways in which people congregate, occupy, and linger in public spaces. Artists are invited to submit proposals for a temporary public art project that will be exhibited on the Plaza of the BCA campus for July – September, 2012. Learn more. Questions: bfriedberg@bcaonline.org.
Deadline: February 6, 2012

Image credit: Images courtesy of MOLTENi Net Works.

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“The Biennial of the Americas in Denver asked, Could I represent the 35 nations of the Western Hemisphere and their interconnectedness in a sculpture? I didn’t know where to begin. But I said yes.”

I love how the words above, spoken by Janet Echelman at her March 2011 TED Talk, exemplify the leap of faith a creative person takes in embarking on a new project.

TED, that buzzy confluence of creative brains in technology, entertainment, and design, began as an annual conference of “ideas worth spreading.” Over the years, speakers ranging from Steven Hawking to Al Gore to MA’s very own Benjamin Zander (his impassioned argument for music and creativity is one for the ages) have shared their creative energies and ideas.

The original conference spawned a number of other conferences, and Janet Echelman, a 2009 MCC Artist Fellow in both Crafts and Sculpture/Installation, is one of the recent additions to the growing online library of TED talks. Her talk includes an anecdote of how desperate circumstances led to a breakthrough in her large-scale, fiber-based moving sculptures, and how her work combines timeless traditions with cutting-edge science. Watch it in the embedded video, above.

Another artist who works at the nexus of science, art, and craft, is Nathalie Miebach (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’09), who recently participated in the TEDGlobal Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, as a TEDGlobal Fellow. And there must be something “global” in the Massachusetts water: another local artist, Jae Rhim Lee, joined her among the 2011 Fellows.

Since 2009, local innovators have converged at TEDxBoston, which applies the same TED dynamic to the Boston community. The 2011 event featured Caleb Neelon (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’07). In Caleb’s talk, he shares how his background in street art led to public painting (some commissioned, some not) in Berlin, Sao Paulo, Katmandu, Tegucigalpa, Shenzhen, and Seville. But always, after the project was done, it was back to the Boston area, because, as he puts it, “it’s home.”

Creating public art in cities throughout the world led him to think about visual messages cities send, and the way his own city could send more signals of its receptiveness to creative ideas and individuals. “Big, adventurous public art is a way to signal that receptiveness, visually,” he says.

Definitely video clips worth spreading.

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Public Art Arise from the dark all you spooky, funky, goth-loving artists who own nothing in pastel shades. The Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston is now accepting proposals from artists, artisans and/or designers to develop public artwork(s) celebrating Poe and his creative work. The site is Edgar Allan Poe Square in Boston and is a roughly triangular brick paved plaza of 1,700 square feet. Up to three artist/designer teams will be paid an honorarium of $1,000 to develop and present site-specific proposals. Learn more. Contact: Jean Mineo at 508-242-9991.
Deadline: August 15, 2011

Call to Artists Paul McCartney (yes that Paul), the devout veggie crusading, left-handed guitar playing (actually probably every instrument you can think of playing) ex-Beatle has issued an open call for designers, graphic designers, and illustrators to send in artworks inspired by his albums McCartney and McCartney II, with the winning work to be chosen by Sir Paul himself and exhibited at London’s Idea Generation gallery. Learn more. ArtSake Disclaimer- I saw Beatle Paul twice in concert many years ago and found myself weeping just before he took to the stage not unlike those schoolchildren back in the day. What is it with those four lads from Liverpool anyway?
Deadline: August 16, 2011

Site-Specific Conceptual Work Locust Projects’ in Miami, FL is currently reviewing proposals for individual artist exhibitions, collaborative projects, and curated exhibitions. Locust Projects is an alternative, not for profit exhibition space dedicated to providing contemporary visual artists the freedom to experiment with new ideas without the pressures of gallery sales or limitations of conventional exhibition spaces. Artists are encouraged to create site-specific installations that have a solid conceptual basis. Boys in bikinis and girls on surfboards optional.
Deadline: Ongoing

Craft Artists Applications are now being accepted to the CRAFT USA National Craft Triennial. This year’s juror is Holly Hotchner, Director of the Museum of Arts & Design (the museum with the great acronym) in New York. Eligibility: U.S. artists 18+; basketry, ceramics, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, mixed media, paper, and wood Learn more. Contact Jeffrey Mueller at 203-966-9700.
Deadline: August 26, 2011

Choreographers Gotta Dance? The Dance Complex’s Shared Choreographers’ Concert program is now accepting proposals. The proposal must briefly include a description of your dance style, length, number of dancers and main concept of your piece, and your contact info. Email proposals to scc.dancecomplex@gmail.com. Learn more.
Deadline: September 14, 2011

Free Fun Fridays Sponsored by Highland Street Foundation, Massachusetts residents and tourists are invited to visit designated cultural attractions for free every Friday in July and August. No registration or tickets required.

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So, you want art this weekend. You’ve come to the right place. Here’s a handy dandy guide to your art-seeking travels.

Your starting point is Taunton, Massachusetts, on Sat., June 4, 2011, for the Dighton Cow Chip Festival. There, you’ll behold chainsaw sculptor “The Machine” Jesse Green as he lives out his slogan – “Carving Dreams into Reality” – by sculpting (live, in real-time, and using the previously mentioned chainsaw) a cow sculpture that’s to become Taunton’s newest fixture.

Then, make your way due north until you reach the cool waters of the Charles River, where the Cambridge River Festival (Sat, June 4) can offer you music, puppetry, dance, theatre, improv, a parade, children’s programming, and all manners of interactive and creative fun.

Cross the Charles River to Boston – specifically, to the Rose Kennedy Greenway. There, FIGMENT Boston (June 4-5) awaits you. FIGMENT Boston is a part of the national FIGMENT project, a “forum for the creation and display of participatory and interactive art by emerging artists across disciplines.” Over 80 artists are participating in FIGMENT Boston this year, including live video installation, interactive music performance, architectural dance installation, and many, many other interesting projects that are too hard to compact into a reasonable sentence. May we humbly suggest this event is likely to be far out.

Next, head north to Salem, MA. You’ll find the Salem Arts Festival, a weekend-long (June 3-5) celebration of visual, performing, and literary art. You can take a magic carpet ride, learn bellydance, do improv, and see tons of art.

Now, I understand that, with four festivals already under your belt, you’re weary, hungry, possibly a touch over-festive. But you must persevere. For a little over 30 miles from Salem is the formidable city of Lowell, where you’ll breathlessly rush through the doors of the Merrimack Repertory Theatre. There, the Lowell National Historical Park hosts an evening of Irish dance and fiddle music Saturday night, featuring master artists and their apprentices, from the MCC’s Traditional Apprenticeship Program. Read more at our sibling blog, Keepers of Tradition, on this fascinating evening of solo, duet, and group performances.

You may rest now.

It’s Sunday morning (almost noon – you slept late). Rise, and see art.

First, head to South Boston, where there’s a Spring Open Studio at the Distillery & King Terminal (Sun., June 5, 2011). See the current participating artists and check out some previous work by some of those same artists in an older post we did about their Fall open studios.

Finally, make your way, by roller skate, rickshaw, unicycle, or – if need be – an easier mode of transport, to the Tufts University Art Gallery in Medford. A show of MCC Fellows just opened (see pictures of the opening on our Facebook page). If you want a sense of the range and vision of work being produced by visual artists in Massachusetts, you have arrived at your destination. While you’re there, use your cell to call a special number for audio commentary by the artists.

There. You’ve reached the end of our guide. But feel free to expand the map.

Image: Gallery view of paintings by Monica Nydam, from a show of MCC Fellows at Tufts University Art Gallery.

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Congratulations to all Massachusetts artists and scholars who received 2011 Guggenheim Fellowships!

We note in particular past MCC Fellows Janet Echelman (Crafts and Sculpture/Installation ’09) and David Fiuczynski (Music Composition ’09), plus Waban composer Chaya Czernowin, Cambridge writer Ann Jones, Cambridge dramatist Jay Scheib, Northampton writer Seth Shulman, and filmmaker Michelle Handelman, who divides her time between New York City and Boston and teaches at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Here are all of the artists and scholars currently living in Massachusetts, honored with 2011 Guggenheim awards:
Mr. Sven Beckert, Laird Bell Professor of History, Harvard University: Capitalism: a global history.
Ms. Chaya Czernowin, Composer, Waban, Massachusetts, and Walter Bigelow Rosen Professor of Composition, Harvard University: Music composition.
Ms. Janet S. Echelman, Artist, Brookline, Massachusetts, and Faculty Member, Department of Visual and Performing Arts, New School University: Fine arts.
Ms. Ann Jones, Writer, Cambridge, Massachusetts: War comes home.
Mr. Todd Lewis, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross: The enculturation of Buddhist teachings: traditional and modern vernacular literature for children.
Mr. Eric Matthew Nelson, Professor of Government, Harvard University: Thinking the Revolution: American political thought, 1763-1789.
Mr. Fallou Ngom, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the African Language Program, Boston University: Wolof Ajami literature and the Africanization of Islam in Senegambia.
Mr. Fiorenzo Omenetto, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Physics, Tufts University: Optics and electronics at the biotic-abiotic interface.
Mr. John M. G. Plotz, Professor of English, Brandeis University: Semi-detached: the aesthetics of partial absorption.
Mr. Bjorn Poonen, Professor of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Random maximal isotropic subspaces and Selmer groups.
Mr. Jay Scheib, Dramatist, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Associate Professor of Music and Theater Arts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Drama and performance art.
Mr. Seth Shulman, Writer, Northampton, Massachusetts: Thomas Edison and the electric car.
Mr. Vahid Tarokh, Perkins Professor of Applied Mathematics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow of Electrical Engineering, Harvard University: Random matrices from deterministic structures: theory and applications.

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In our modern world, mysteries abound! On the other hand, so do plastic water bottles. And twist ties (see above). In fact, lots of things abound. Information. Celebrities. Blog posts and websites. Haters and their hatin’. Makers and their makin’. All abound.

It’s been suggested that curation will be increasingly key to our navigation, as a culture, of the overly abundant information-scape in our lives. In that spirit, we thought we’d round up some of the abundantly intriguing, or mysterious, or just plain keen stuff going on.

On The Public Humanist, blog of Mass Humanities, Natasha Haverty and Adam Bright share the backstory of their radio documentary-in-progress about a debate society formed in the 1930s by inmates in a Norfolk, MA prison – and how the team defeated debate squads from more hallowed MA institutions like MIT and Harvard.

Why should James Franco work at Grub Street, the Boston-based writers service organization? Answer this question by 5 PM today (Friday, April 15), and you may win a pair of tickets to Cocktail Hour with the Francos, an unscripted conversation with writer/actor/conceptual artist James Franco and his mother, writer Betsy Franco, at Grub Street’s great Muse and the Marketplace Conference. Just tweet “James Franco should work at Grub Street because…” and your answer, and include @GrubWriters and #musefranco in your tweet.

How big a wave could one week’s worth of plastic bottles create? The good folks of Citizens for Salem/Beverly Water Resources suspect it will yield A Mighty Wave. They’re encouraging artists to converge at Salem Common in Salem on the morning of May 7 to create a one-day public art display, creating a wave of plastic from bottles collected in just one week in Salem. All will be broken down in time for a recycling truck to break (and recycle) the wave by afternoon. Find out more.

Not since the Mayors’ Arts Challenge have two MA cities had so vigorous a rivalry! Responding to a remark by a Cambridge city councilor that Somerville doesn’t have many interesting places, Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone has challenged Cambridge to an “Interesting City Challenge.” He even invokes the arts:

It’s called authenticity, and we’ve got it in the arts too. The City and local businesses weave art into everything we do. Public art absolutely needs to be part of this Challenge, though it’s not fair because most of the artists Cambridge had long ago moved to Somerville. And we’re talking everything from painters to sculptors to comic book artists. Oh, if you happen to catch a band in Cambridge anytime soon, make sure to ask them where in Somerville they live.

(As a state agency, we are not taking sides.)

Speaking of rivalries: watch Governor Deval Patrick go head to head with The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart! Actually, it’s a really friendly conversation. They talk about Gov. Patrick’s new book, former MA governor Mitt Romney, and why The Daily Show should move production to Massachusetts.

New England Film has a terrific article on five films from New England talent screening this month at the International Film Festival of Boston (April 27-May 4, 2011).

GO SEE ART. Where? Find out at GO SEE ART. It’s a compendium of New England art exhibitions. So go there. And then go. You know. To see art.

Will it surprise you that the Boston chapter of the Awesome Foundation, which funds projects it considers awesome (that’s really the only criteria), funded a group that describes itself as “Boston’s mysterious playmate?” Banditos Misteriosos won a $1000 “Awesome” grant for its plan to create a giant puzzle to be put together by the Boston community sometime this summer. Past efforts by the Misteriosos, who aim to answer the questions “Who are these people we pass in the street?” and “How could we use those big open public spaces?” by staging whimsical public events, include massive pillow and water gun fights and a live, “Choose Your Own Adventure” game.

At the recent TransCultural Exchange Conference, attendee Ilana Manolson (Painting Fellow ’08) shared her experiences exhibiting her paintings through the ART in Embassies Program, which places American art in U.S. diplomatic residencies worldwide. Through that program, Ilana’s paintings have been on exhibit at American embassies in The Hague and Sarajevo.

I really like this post by the Our Stories literary journal that lists short stories that employ a very specific device, then carry it off with skill. Massachusetts literary rawk star Steve Almond (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’08) is on the list twice!

Finally: arts funding is one thing mentioned in this post that’s not nearly abundant enough. On a federal level, the NEA’s budget is under threat, and here in MA, we have our own issues. Read this testimony by Tim Robbins about how a small investment in the arts can yield a bounty – not just in terms of the tax revenues, but culturally and personally.

Image: Rachel Perry Welty, LOST IN MY LIFE (TWIST TIES) (2009), Pigmented ink print, edition of 3, 90×60 in, Courtesy of the Artist, Barbara Krakow Gallery (Boston), Gallery Joe (Philadelphia), and Yancey Richardson Gallery (New York). Rachel’s solo show RACHEL PERRY WELTY 24/7 is on exhibit at the deCordova Sculpture Park + Museum in Lincoln through April 24, 2011. Currently, Rachel’s video work KARAOKE WRONG NUMBER 2004-2009 is featured in Videonale 13 at Kunstmuseum Bonn, through May 29, 2011.

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Choreographers Green Street Studios announces the Spring/Summer 2011 cycle of its Emerging Artists Award Program designed to provide infrastructure for choreographers, to create new work, and to provide deep, ongoing mentorship between experienced and early-to-mid-career choreographers. The Emerging Artist Award provides the opportunity for New England-based choreographers to be in residence at Green Street Studios from March – June 2011. Call 617-864-3191.
Deadline: March 4, 2011

Grant Information Workshop The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod (AFCC) will hold a grants information workshop for interested applicants on Tuesday, March 8, 6 pm at the AFCC office in Centerville. First-time applicants are strongly urged to attend. Reservations required. Contact 508-362-0066 or info@artsfoundation.org. AFCC’s grants program provides cash awards to local artists and cultural organizations that are engaged in projects that help create a strong, stable, and diverse arts and culture industry on Cape Cod, and contribute positively to the quality of life and economic vitality of the region. Preference is given to specific program initiatives, particularly those enhancing the arts education of learners of all ages, and to collaborative efforts within the arts community.
Deadline to RSVP: March 7, 2011

Filmmakers Birmingham SHOUT: Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (August 27-28, 2011, Birmingham, AL) is now accepting submissions of independent films by, for, or about the GLBT community in the following categories: narrative feature (over 45 minutes), documentary feature (over 45 minutes), and short (under 45 minutes). Contact billyraybrewton@gmail.com or call 205-324-0888.
Deadline: March 15, 2011

Boston Photographers The Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism & Special Events seeks Boston photographers to capture the essence and spirit of Boston. They are asking participants to photograph Boston on Patriot’s Day 2011. The best 25 photographs chosen will be displayed in the Mayor’s Gallery, the remaining pictures will adorn the hallways on the 2nd and 8th floors of Boston City Hall. The exhibition will take place May 23 – June 30, 2011. Participants must reside or work in the City of Boston. Artwork submitted will be juried by the The Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism & Special Events Exhibition Committee. To apply, submit 3 jpegs (72 dpi) of the photos, description sheet of the work submitted, and resume or brief description of your photography experience. Deliver or email completed applications to John Crowley, Exhibition Coordinator, Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism & Special Events, Boston City Hall, Room 802, Boston, MA 02201. Questions: john.crowley@cityofboston.gov or 617-635-2368.
Deadline: March 30, 2011

Public Art Festival Call to Artists The summertime festival ArtBeat 2011 (Somerville, MA) includes music, performance art, craft vendors, dance, theater, and food. Each year they develop a theme that serves as a launching point for artists and the community to express themselves. This year it is “Red.” Deadline for Craft Artists: March 28, 2011
Deadline for Performing Artists and Painters: April 1, 2011

Call to Artists FIGMENT BOSTON 2011 is now accepting project proposals for the event which takes place June 4-5 on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, Boston, MA. Learn more.
Deadline: April 15, 2011

Painters Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Foundation Grant is offered to American painters aged 45 or older who demonstrate financial need. The primary emphasis is to promote public awareness and a commitment to American art, as well as encouraging interest in artists who lack adequate recognition. Questions: Call 508-487-1750 or visit www.paam.org.
Deadline: August 15, 2011

Also of Note:

Make Art, Pay Bills: Creative Economy Summit 2

Moral Rights and the Visual Rights Act Webinar

 Free Drawing Marathon

 Gallery Conversations at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum

Image credit: Photograph by Provincetown Art Association depicting the Hawthorne Gallery.

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Here’s the latest installment of Fellows Notes, the current news of past fellows/finalists from our Artist Fellowships Program.

In February, our past awardees roll with rock book clubs, pack for Rome residencies, go walking (and dancing) in Memphis, and lots more.

Five MCC Artist Fellowship Program awardees in Painting, Vico Fabbris (Fellow ’06), Christopher Faust (Fellow ’10), Joel Janowitz (Fellow ’08), Laurie Kaplowitz (Finalist ’08), and Anne Neely (Finalist ’10) are in an exhibition at the Shipyard Gallery in Hingham, a satellite gallery of the South Shore Art Center. The exhibition runs through February 20, 2011 at 18 Shipyard Drive, next to the Hingham Beer Works. Read about the show in the Boston Globe.

Steve Almond‘s (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’08) book Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life is the inaugural selection of the new Rock and Roll Book Club. Since the club, inspired by a love of books and rock and roll, reads and discusses books with a connection to rock, we can’t think of a better first selection that Steve’s ode to the pop music we love (even when we know we shouldn’t). Steve will join the group for a launch party on February 16 at The Enormous Room in Cambridge. Read about the Rock and Roll Book Club in Time Out Boston.

Claire Andrade-Watkins (Film & Video Fellow ’09) has organized a weekly program of screenings of rare archival 8mm, video about the Fox Point Cape Verdean community and the Cape Verdean Diaspora, presented by the Cape Verdean Student Organization at Brown University and the Fox Point Cape Verdean Project (which Claire directs). The series launches on Friday, February 18, 7 PM, at the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, Brown University, in Providence, RI. Admission is free, open to the public.

Claire Beckett (Photography Fellow ’07) has a solo show opening this month at Carroll and Sons in Boston: You Are…, February 23-March 26, 2011, opening reception Friday, March 4, 5:30-7:30 PM. She’s also among the artists currently exhibiting in The Truth Is Not in the Mirror: Photography and a Constructed Identity at the Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, through May 22, 2011.

Nell Breyer (Choreography Fellow ’06) will give an illustrated lecture called Perceptions of Motion at the Observatory Room in Brooklyn, NY, on Friday, February 11, 8 PM. The lecture, which is presented by the Hollow Earth Society, will explore how we perceive motion, using art and science as lenses.

In late 2010, Janet Echelman (Crafts & Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’09) was awarded a prestigious, year-long residency at American Academy in Rome. She’s currently working on three sculptures to be featured in Terminal 2 at the San Francisco Airport (see a computer simulation of her recomposure zone in this New York Times article). What’s more, she’ll be presenting at TED2011 on March 1, 2011, as part of the Threads of Discovery series.

Christopher Frost (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’09) has a solo show at Boston Sculptors Gallery in the South End, February 9-March 13, 2011.

MASS MoCA will screen Michal Goldman‘s (Film & Video Fellow ’07) film At Home in Utopia, which tells the story of immigrant Jewish garment workers as they challenged social norms through the cooperatively owned and run United Workers Cooperative Colony, aka the “Coops.” The documentary, showing on Thursday, February 10, at 7:30 PM, is part of MASS MoCA’s “Power to the People” Series. Screened in Club B-10, followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.

Michael Hoerman (Poetry Fellow ’04) will read on February 4 for Dire Literary Series at 106 Prospect Street, Cambridge, at 8 PM. Joining Michael are poets Carissa Halston and John Hodgen (Poetry Finalist ’00).

Masako Kamiya (Painting Fellow ’06, ’10) is part of two exhibitions opening this month. She’s among the artists in Extravagant Drawings at Dorsky Gallery in Long Island, NY, February 6-April 10, 2011, opening reception Sunday, February 6, 2011, 2-5 PM. Also, she, along with Rose Olson and other artists, is featured in Point of Departure at The Gallery Della – Piana in Wenham, MA. The show runs February 13-April 21, 2011, opening reception, Sunday, February 13, 3-5 PM.

Caroline Klocksiem‘s (Poetry Fellow ’08) chapbook, Circumstances of the House & Moon, was accepted for publication by Dancing Girl Press.

Kathryn Kulpa (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Finalist ’10) has a new piece published in decomP magazine, “Soon, and for the Rest of Your Life.” Also, the Winter 2011 issue of Newport Review, which she edits, just made its online debut. The journal is now looking for submissions of poetry, prose and artwork for the Summer 2011 issue.

Caitlin McCarthy (Playwriting Finalist ’11) is interviewed on WCVB-TV Boston’s Chronicle, on Friday, February 18, 2011, about her screenplay Wonder Drug, which explores the DES drug disaster. She’ll also discuss efforts, advocacy, and personal history with the case. The program coincides with the 40th anniversary of the DES cancer link discovery at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital. Find details on The Boston Channel or watch the program after it airs on the Chronicle HD Archives.

Gary Metras (Poetry Fellow ’84) was profiled in and is the cover photograph for the National Education Association’s magazine for retired members, The Active Life, Nov. 2010 issue, with a focus on retired teachers who are published writers. Also, Gary has a poetry reading this month, on Friday, February 18, 2011, 7 PM, at Amherst Books in Amherst, Mass.

Nathalie Miebach‘s (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’09) installation Changing Waters will be on exhibit at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton through September 25, 2011. There will be an opening reception on February 27, 2-5 PM, and an artist talk on March 27. Also, Nathalie will conduct an intensive, week-long sculptural weaving workshop at the museum March 8-12. Elsewhere in the state, she has a solo show called Musical Scores and Sculptures at the Anderson Gallery at Bridgewater State Univeristy. The show runs Feb 14 – March 11, with an opening reception Thursday, February 17, at 4:45 PM.

Pan Morigan (Music Composition Fellow ’07) just released an album of new original songs called Wild Blue. Pan will perform at a CD release concert on Friday, February 11, 2011, 8 PM, at the Helen Hills Chapel at Smith College in Northampton. Pan will also join another past MCC fellow, Andrea Hairston (Playwriting/New Theater Works Fellow ’03), in a series of events combining narrative and music, taking place across the United States to promote Andrea’s novel Redwood and Wildfire.

Koji Nakano‘s (Music Composition Finalist ’09) Ancient Songs was recently performed by Soprano Stacey Fraser at Chapman University and at the University of California at San Diego, and another performance is planned at the Hong Kong Arts Centre on March 6, 2011. On February 20, 2011, Fraser will premiere Arigatoo, an aria from Koji Nakano’s second opera Spiritual Forest, as part of a concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. In addition, she will give the Taiwan Premiere of the same aria at the Taipei National Concert Hall on March 1, 2011.

Jendi Reiter (Poetry Fellow ’10) was runner-up for the 2010 Iowa Review Award in Nonfiction.

Matt Rich (Painting Fellow ’10) was among the artists selected by the editors of New American Paintings as 11 to watch.

Adam Schwartz (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’10) will have an event celebrating his book A Stranger on the Planet at Wellesley College (where he teaches), on February 4, 2011. Also, he joins poet Dan Chaisson for a reading at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, on February 9,  at 7 PM. Read a terrific review of Adam’s novel in the Boston Globe.

Carolyn Webb (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’82) will have a solo exhibit of sculpture and prints at Spheris Gallery in Hanover, NH. The show runs February 19-March 22, 2011.

Rachel Perry Welty (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’09, Drawing Fellow ’04) has a solo exhibition at deCordova Sculpture Park + Museum in Lincoln, called Rachel Perry Welty 24/7. The show runs through April 24, with an opening on February 5, 2011. Read a Q&A with Rachel in the Boston Globe.

Judith Wombwell (Choreography Fellow ’10) choreographed a piece called Integral for Project: Motion in Memphis, TN. The piece will be part of a performance at Evergreen Theatre in Memphis, February 18-20, 2011. Judith’s company Deadfall Dance will perform their piece Grass as part of the concert. Read an article about the rehearsal process for Integral.

Kevin Young (Poetry Fellow ’10) reads from his new book, Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, on Monday, February 7, 7 PM. Read a primer on the books of Kevin Young on the Porter Square Books blog.

Past Fellows Notes
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: Laurie Kaplowitz, LUSTRE (2006), Acrylic on canvas, 46×42 in; Chris Frost, RED CASTLE (2008) concrete patio blocks, 7x11x12 feet; CD cover for WILD BLUE by Pan Morigan; Promotional image for Deadfall Dance.

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Here’s the latest installment of Fellows Notes, the current news of past fellows/finalists from our Artist Fellowships Program.

From the looks of it, the new year will be rich with great art!

Peter Brown (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’06) reads from his new short story collection A Bright Soothing Noise at Brookline Booksmith, on Tuesday, January 11, 7 PM. The collection, which won the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction, is about characters struggling to realize their own pieces of the American dream.

Alicia Casilio, Sara Casilio, Kelly Casilio, and Cary Wolinsky aka TRIIIBE (Sculpture/Installation Fellows ’09) have their New York City debut in a show at DODGE Gallery, January 8 – February 13, 2011.

Patrick Donnelly (Poetry Fellow ’08) is the new director of the Advanced Seminar at The Frost Place, a poets’ residency and educational center in New Hampshire.

Beth Galston (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’84) unveils a new public art project this month, Serpentine Fence. Three years in the making, this permanent sculpture is a 120-foot-long serpentine fence made of stainless steel and translucent purple metal mesh, with special lights at night. The project has involved a collaboration between the City of Boston Parks Department, JP Centre/South Main Streets, Ray Dunetz Landscape Architecture, Solutions in Metal (Fabricator), Ron Marini (Contractor), and the artist, supported by grants from The Browne Fund.

In April 2010, Ralf Yusuf Gawlick (Music Composition Fellow ’09) premiered Kinderkreuzzug, a large-scale work for children’s voices and small chamber ensemble (read an ArtSake post about the work). Musica Omnia has released a CD of the powerful cantata, which adapts Bertolt Brecht’s extraordinary poem about a group of orphaned children on a crusade to find a land of peace.

Michael Hoerman (Poetry Fellow ’04) will read on February 4 for Dire Literary Series at 106 Prospect Street, Cambridge, at 8 p.m. Joining Michael are poets Carissa Halston and John Hodgen.

Eric Hofbauer (Music Composition Fellow ’09) was recently featured in an interview/solo set on BBC’s Jazz on 3 radio show. In it, he played several pieces from his American Fear solo recording.

Congratulations to Sharon Howell (Poetry Fellow ’10), who recently learned that her poetry collection has been accepted for publication by Pressed Wafer Press – details to come!

Jan Johnson (Drawing Fellow ’10) is one of the artists exhibiting in A woman’s work is never done, at the A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. The show, curated by Susanne Altmann, includes work by women from throughout the country (and world). The art focuses on diverse artistic approaches and blends “the personally meaningful with a close and objective eye toward cultural observation” (read more). The show runs at January 5-January 30, 2011. See images of the exhibition on A.I.R. Gallery’s Facebook page.

Caroline Klocksiem‘s (Poetry Fellow ’08) poem No cracked earth was recently featured in the poetry journal Leveler. Also, two of her poems appear in Super Arrow, issue three.

Jane D. Marsching‘s (Photography Finalist ’03) work Ice Out an edition of 5 “hybrid prints,” is on exhibit at Ningyo Editions in Watertown, through January 15, 2011. The work draws on wind data during “ice out” days (90% melt of pond ice), using data drawn today via specially created software (co-written with Matthew Shanley) and from Thoreau’s 1847 almanac. This piece includes a video with choreographer/dancer Sarah Baumert.

Todd McKie (Painting Finalist ’08) has a solo exhibition of collages and of paintings on found wooden panels at Victoria Munroe Fine Art in Boston, January 13 – February 26, 2011.

Rachel Mello (Painting Finalist ’10) has a solo show of cut-silhouette paintings, wood-block prints, and print collages at Club Passim/Veggie Planet in Cambridge, MA. The show runs through January 21.

Nathalie Miebach (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’09) has a solo show opening this month at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton. Changing Waters is the largest installation Nathalie has build so far, a 27-foot long wall piece and four 10-foot long sculptures. The installation looks at the interaction between ocean and weather systems in the Gulf of Maine, integrating both data from off-shore buoys and weather stations as well as some of the rich fishing history. It’s fantastical, theatrical and numerical. The installation will be on exhibit January 15, 2011 – September 25, 2011, with an opening reception February 27, 2011, 2-5 PM.

Koji Nakano (Music Composition Finalist ’09) has had a fortuitous run since receiving his MCC award. In 2011, in conjunction with a University of California/Davis lecture, his work Ancient Songs will be performed at Chapman University (Jan. 14), University of California at San Diego (Jan. 20), and the Hong Kong Arts Centre (March 6). In 2010, Mr. Nakano received a MetLife Creative Connections Grant from Meet The Composer to support the premiere of Time Song III: Reincarnation “The Birth of a Spirits” at the Pacific Rim Music Festival. It was subsequently performed in Seoul, Korea, and Taipei, Taiwan. Two film/music collaborations with filmmaker Tiffany Doesken premiered in 2010: Unspoken Voices-Unbroken Spirits for Audio Visual at the 2010 ISCM World New Music Days in Sydney, Australia, and Looking at a Dancing Apsara through Rectangular Prisms at the Interactive Creative Forum. In the fall of 2010, the multi-media concert Music, Dance and Film: Innovation and Tradition in the Works of Koji Nakano was presented as part of the Annual Music and Performing Arts at Burapha University in Bangsaen, Thailand (see image above). Also in 2010, Mr. Nakano received a residency fellowship from the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming, an ASCAPlus Award, and the White Flowers Residency for Composers from Yaddo. In the fall of 2009, Ensemble Reconsil Vienna gave the world premiere of his Scattered Clouds/Dramatic Sky as part of Composers Forum in Mittersill (recorded on CD KOFOMI #14 from Ein_Klang Records).

Monica Raymond‘s (Playwriting Finalist ’07, Poetry Finalist ’08) essay Notes on “Collateral Damage Noted” (about Mobius member Tom Plsek‘s sound meditation commemorating Iraqi civilian deaths in the current war) was published at qarrtsiluni.com in December. Also, her poem Dreaming the World was a prize winner in Old Father William’s Frabjous and Curious Poetry contest for poems influenced by Lewis Carroll, sponsored by Caffeine Theater in Chicago.

Anna Ross (Poetry Finalist ’10) has poetry in the Fall/Winter 2011 issue of the journal Barrow Street.

Eric Henry Sanders‘s (Playwriting Fellow ’09) play Reservoir had its world premiere at The Drilling CompaNY Theatre in New York, November 4 -24th, 2010 – read a terrific review in the New York Times. The run has been so successful that it’s been extended for an additional eight shows: January 6-16, 2011. You can read about the play’s development (as well as hear an excerpt performed by Company One) on ArtSake.

Adam Schwartz (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’10) reads from his new novel A Stranger on the Planet (an excerpt of which won him an MCC fellowship) at Brookline Booksmith on Thursday, January 27, at 7 PM. Next month, he joins poet Dan Chaisson for a reading at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Wednesday, February 9, 7 PM.

In The Guardian, Annie Proulx gives Salvatore Scibona‘s (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’06) The End a great review, calling it “an outstanding work in all the right ways.”

Peter Snoad‘s (Playwriting Fellow ’09) new full-length farce, Identity Crisis, winner of the 2010 New Play Festival at Centre Stage in Greenville, South Carolina, will receive a workshop production there from January 13-22. Also this month, his short play My Name Is Art will run at the Short and Sweet Festival in Sydney, Australia (January 5-February 20). Recently, his play The Greening of Bridget Kelly was performed at the Roy Arias Studios in Manhattan by 3 Road Productions as part of its “Blood Bond” series of new plays.

Julia Story (Poetry Finalist ’10), who recently won the John C. Zacharis First Book Award for her prose poetry collection Post Moxie, is entertainingly interviewed on the Ploughshares blog by another past MCC awardee, Simeon Berry (Poetry Fellow ’06).

Cam Terwilliger (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’08) was recently named the Associate Fiction Editor at West Branch, and his short story “The Kingdom” was a finalist for Narrative‘s “People Under 30″ contest.

Daniel Tobin (Poetry Finalist ’10) reads from his new poetry collection Belated Heavens at Brookline Booksmith on Tuesday, January 25 at 7 PM.

Rachel Perry Welty (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’09, Drawing Fellow ’04) will have a solo exhibition at deCordova Sculpture Park + Museum in Lincoln, called Rachel Perry Welty 24/7. A 68-page fully illustrated catalogue/artist book has been created in conjunction with the show, which runs January 29 – April 24 with an opening on February 5, 2011. By the way, Rachel recently had a solo show of work at Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York, which received a nice blurb in The New Yorker.

Jeff Zimbalist‘s (Film & Video Fellow ’05) much-lauded documentary The Two Escobars just received another laud: it was named Best Documentary of 2010 by Sports Illustrated!

Past Fellows Notes

Dec. 2010

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: Image from a portrait concert of work by Koji Nakano as part of the Annual Music and Performing Arts Festival at Burapha University in Thailand on November 17, 2010; CD cover image for KINDERKREUZZUG by Ralf Gawlick (Musica Omnia 2010); Todd McKie, FRUIT BOWL (2007), flashe on canvas, 40×30 in, photo by Bill Kipp; poster for IDENTITY CRISIS, a play by Peter Snoad, performed by Centre Stage Theatre; cover art for BELATED HEAVENS by Daniel Tobin (Four Way Books, 2010).

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This post is a pictorial tour of some of the exceptional stuff past fellows/finalists from MCC’s Artist Fellowships Program are currently up to.

1. Reimagined tea pots. Leslie Sills (Crafts Fellow ’95) created the above work, called HIGH TEA. The sculptural teapot is among the works included in The Teapot Redefined, an exhibition of sculptural teapots at Mobilia Gallery in Cambridge (through Oct. 31). The work was inspired by Leslie’s artist residency this past summer at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, which borders a sheep farm in Newcastle, Maine.

2. National film releases. Jeff Zimbalist’s (Film & Video Fellow ’05) documentary The Two Escobars is being released in San Francisco this month, is currently running in New York, and will have an LA release next week. The film recently received a glowing review by The Onion’s AV Club (and those discerning hipsters are tough to impress!).

3. Chinese World Expos. Martha Jane Bradford (Drawing Fellow ’85) collaborated with Chantal Harvey to produce Acquarella: The Fable, digital/virtual art on view in the Air Tree Exhibit in the Madrid Pavilion of the World Expo in Shanghai, curated by Spanish curator and virtual arts leader Cristina García-Lasuén. Martha (Alizarin Goldflake in Second Life) produced, directed, and designed most of the virtual environment, while Chantal Harvey helmed the 3-D computer animation. Watch the clip with narration in English or Chinese.

4. Literary/culinary benefit events. Former Poetry Slam National Champion Regie Gibson (Poetry Fellow ’10) will emcee the literary feast A Taste of Grub, a November 5 fundraiser for Grub Street, a writers’ service organization based in Boston.

5. Edens-in-progress. TRIIIBE (Sculpture/Installation Fellows ’09), the artists collective of Alicia, Kelly, and Sara Casilio and photographer Cary Wolinsky, is turning Boston University’s massive 808 Gallery space into a site-specific installation. In Search of Eden will evolve as creators and observers participate in developing a present day version of the Garden of Eden. If you’re in search of art that’s visually arresting, socially engaged, and possessed of a truly unique vision, then traveler, I think I know where to find your paradise.

6. Collaborative, two-part installations. Liz Nofziger (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’05) and Linda Price-Sneddon (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’01) have created a multi-media installation showing at two different art venues. Part one of That Which Changes That Which Stays the Same shows at the Villa Victoria in Boston through November 3, 2010. Part two shows at the Essex Art Center in Lawrence through December 8, with an Artists’ Talk Wednesday, November 17, 7-8 PM. The artists’ collaboration is itself the result of a collaboration (woah, meta) between Villa Victoria and Essex Art Center, called Exchange.

For more exceptional stuff, check out Fellows Notes.

Images: Leslie Sills, HIGH TEA (front and side view), ceramic; still from THE TWO ESCOBARS by Jeff and Michael Zimbalist; still from ACQUARELLA by Martha Jane Bradford and Chantal Harvey; Regie Gibson; promotional image for A Taste of Grub; TRIIIBE, FINE; installation view of THAT WHICH CHANGES THAT WHICH STAYS THE SAME by Liz Nofziger and Linda Price-Sneddon.

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