ArtSake

Truth, whether revealed, bent, created, or discovered, told straight or told slant, is central to the creative process. Sometimes, the question of what is and isn’t true in art can become a deep source of controversy.

We’ve been exploring issues artists encounter in their work, and we recently asked artists in different disciplines: How do you incorporate the “true” in your art?

Tracy Slater, writer and founder of the Four Stories literary series
As a literary event host, I leave it up to my featured authors to decide how to render the truth without sacrificing creativity in their nonfiction – and I learn a lot from their abilities to do so. As an academic-turned-narrative-nonfiction writer, this is a challenge I’m fascinated by: I was trained as a literary critic to detail the truth as dryly and clearly as possible, but now, as I’m learning to grow (I hope!) as a creative writer, I know that to write great narrative, as opposed to theory or criticism, you somehow have to make the plain truth captivating. The key – and the challenge – I think is not to allow yourself necessarily to go beyond the actual or plain truth, or to ignore its limits, but to render it in a way that resonates with all the emotional depth of its significance. Sometimes this is incredibly hard, but it’s what makes writing narrative/creative nonfiction so exciting, such a motivating challenge.

Of course, if you’re writing memoir, you can’t always remember every detail of every event that may have happened years ago. In this case, I try my best to be as accurate as possible and challenge myself in my re-readings to pare away any embellishments I’m not sure I trust. But I also think readers know that memoir and creative nonfiction are not the same as reportage, and as long as the writing doesn’t betray the details of how a situation happened, to the best of my memory about it, I feel I’ve done my ethical duty.

Carolyn Shadid Lewis, filmmaker who employs hand-drawn animation in nonfiction films
In my films, I record oral histories with individuals who recount personal experiences of public events in history. Often, these personal experiences are tinged with sadness and pain, of individuals caught in war or brutal circumstances. Visualizing their accounts with stop-motion animation gives access to their stories. The animation allows us to momentarily imagine the invisible memories of the participants of the film, transforming the once solitary act of remembrance into a shareable experience.

I believe that animating oral history in documentary storytelling can protect the individual recounting the story, maintaining their privacy by creating an aesthetic distance between the speaker and the viewer. At the same time, animation also initiates a creative space for the viewer to actively employ their own imagination in the film, promoting an empathetic and tender response to the stories being told. Animation in non-fiction filmmaking allows for a poetic interweaving of imagination and memory.

Gregory Hischak, writer whose award-winning play The Center of Gravity reimagines the Wright Brothers
Truth in art is the artist’s intent – with the assumption being that the artist’s intent is to portray humanity from a newly lit angle. Intent doesn’t follow the book and sometimes you manipulate the truth to help a deeper truth emerge; you walk the slippery slope with only your intent for balance. I frequently populate my work with historic characters because it offers a baseline factual premise that an audience grasps and starts together from. From there expectations are twisted, facts become malleable but only in the pursuit of achieving another truth. All is fair in art, I say, and one should be prepared for detractors. That’s why I carry a mallet.

Matt Brackett, painter whose work (pictured above) explores the borders between the real and fantastical
My artwork tinkers with assumptions of truth and doubt. This is a result of an underlying influence of mine, the seductive suggestion of the unknown couched in familiarity. I find this is an elemental trait in all our lives, since perception and memory, our two modes of deciphering reality, are notoriously fugitive and faulty. Such gaps of uncertainty can be unsettling, but examined, can also yield enlightenment. It’s as tools in this latter pursuit that I try to build and use my paintings. In suggesting wonder or menace within the confines of a naturalistically-delivered image, I try to generate a potential narrative like a machine stores potential energy. I find with this power source I can map and remap my own interpretations of the memories or emotions that brought the image into being. When things are articulated just right, it’s a gift when others can find their own meaning too. And this is perhaps the phenomenon that comes closest to something really “true” in art: a kind of trusting covenant that emerges between an artist and a viewer through which all meaning in the arts is found.

Julie Akeret, documentary filmmaker who recently embarked on a fictional film project
Finding “the true” is kind of like going on a treasure hunt. Sometimes getting to the treasure you need a shovel. Other times it’s a pick. In documentary filmmaking, the shovel is a better tool. In fiction, I like the pick.

Carolyn Shadid Lewis’s quote is excerpted from a guest post in The Public Humanist blog.

Image: Matt Brackett, THE FAMILIARS (2011), oil on canvas on panel, 36×48 in.

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Artist Ellen Wetmore has curated a group exhibition of work by the Boston Sculptors, an artists’ cooperative founded in 1992. The University Gallery at UMass Lowell exhibition highlights the work of 30 members. The show includes works both installed in the gallery as well as outside.

1. Explain the idea behind the Boston Sculptors’ show that you’ve curated. How to fit 20 years of sculpture and 30 sculptors into 700 square feet and make it an educational experience about material and form.

2. Being a curator is like a) channeling Simon Cowell, b) being an organic gardener or c) flying a jet. Who’s Simon Cowell?

3. What’s the most surprising response you’ve ever had to your work?  “Too much cleavage”

4. The unauthorized biography of your life is titled:  She’s Just Too Damn Big.

5. Share a surprise twist in the Ellen Wetmore story:  I sometimes wish I was a surgeon. The money! The fame! The civic praise!

6. What is the most misunderstood aspect of being a curator?  That it is a creative endeavor.

7. What are you currently reading?  The History of the Breast by Marilyn Yalom

8. If Louise Bourgeois were to walk into the University Gallery at UMass Lowell, what would she say?  Art is a guarantee of sanity.

Boston Sculptors 20th Anniversary Exhibition, April 2 – 26, 2012
Artist Reception and Gallery Talk with Gillian Christy: April 4, 5 – 7 pm
A Conversation with Nancy Selvage: April 23, 3-4:30 Gallery Hours: Mon – Thurs 10 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.; Fri 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Outdoor Exhibition continues through June 30
University Gallery at UMass Lowell

Representative works from the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Artists Fellowship program awardees Laura Baring-Gould, Rosalyn Driscoll, Beth Galston, Mags Harries, Sarah Hutt, and Julia Shepley as well as works by B. Amore, Caroline Bagenal, Kim Bernard, Benjamin Cariens, Gillian Christy, Murray Dewart, Donna Dodson, Laura Evans, Sally S. Fine, Peter DeCamp Haines, Ken Hruby, David Lang, Michelle Lougee, Joyce McDaniels, Nancy Selvage, Jessica Straus, Marilu Swett, Dan Wills and Andy Zimmermann will be on display. Outdoor works include Andy Moerlein, Margaret Swan, Hannah Verlin, Joseph Wheelwright and Leslie Wilcox.

Image credit: Photographs of Flower of Lowell installation by Hannah Verlin. Each flower has the name and work site of each of 5700 women working at the Lowell mills in 1836.

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O flames that glowed! O hearts that yearned!

The Massachusetts Poetry Festival is nigh upon us! It’s a schedule of events, workshops, performances, and readings, centered around a three-day (April 20-22, 2012) festival in Salem, MA. As Mass Poetry Fest Executive Director January Gill O’Neil put it in a recent blog post, “More than 85 sessions: poetry, panels, slams, music, visual arts, drama, and more. It’s Ekphrastic Fantastic! It’s Improbable! … I’m telling it all but I’m telling it slant. Can I get an iamb?”

Most iambically! Some ArtSake picks from the truly exceptional glowings and yearnings:

• Common Threads, a downloadable reading/discussion program featuring poets and poetry with ties to Massachusetts (including The Fire of Drift-Wood by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, quoted above). Don’t miss the Common Threads reading event led by Lloyd Schwartz (Sat, Apr 21, 1:30 PM).
• Improbable Places Poetry Tour, site-specific installation embedding poems in unexpected places: drink coaster, menu, living room, store displays…
• The Encyclopedia Show (Fri, Apr 20, 4 PM), a multi-genre poetic performance
• Hoop Suite (Sat, Apr 21, 12 PM), a performance created by Anna Myer (MCC Choreography Finalist ’11) combining dance, music, & poetry
• How to Be a Good Public Reader of Your Own Poetry (Sat, Apr 21, 12:15 PM), workshop by Patrick Donnelly (Poetry Fellow ’08)
• The State of Poetry (Sat, Apr 21, 4 PM), Richard Hoffman (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’02), Susan Rich, Joseph O. Legaspi, Jennifer Jean, & Charles Coe (Poetry Fellow ’96) discuss publishing, technology, craft, and social issues in poetry
• Bad Poetry Contest (Sun, Apr 22, 1 PM), back by popular demand, Steve Almond (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’08) comes to praise bad poetry, not bury it
• More events by past MCC awardees: Regie Gibson, DM Gordon, Michael Hoerman, Frannie Lindsay, Peter Jay Shippy, J.D. Scrimgeour, and Andi Werblin

The headline events will feature Robert Pinsky, Maggie Dietz, and Major Jackson (Fri); Joy Harjo, Nikky Finney, Wesley McNair, and Sherwin Bitsui (Sat); and Martha Collins, Frank Bidart and Stephen Dunn (Sun).

Go.

Image: Mass Poetry Fest 2012 poster, designed by Randi Giles.

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Five foot two, eyes of blue, oh what those five feet could do, has anybody seen my gal?

Choreographers The American Dance Guild’s (ADG) 2012 Performance Festival is now accepting entries. The festival will take place at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 W. 55th Street (at 9th Avenue), New York City on September 6-9, 2012. Learn more.
Deadline: April 6, 2012

Fiber Artists Entries are now being accepted for a fine art fiber exhibition at Gallery 7 in Maynard called Seductive Surfaces. All textile processes including mixed media (some fiber must be included) will be considered. NO 3D work accepted. The juror is Erica Licea-Kane, Assistant Professor in the Art Department and the Director of the Towne Art Gallery at Wheelock College. Learn more. Questions: 978-897-9777
Deadline: April 12, 2012

Poets The Spoon River Poetry Review Editors’ Prize offers an award of $1,000 and publication of an original poem. Submit two copies of up to three poems (10 pages max.). $20 entry fee includes Spoon River Poetry Review subscription. Past winners include Nancy K. Pearson. Learn more.
Deadline: April 15, 2012

Western Massachusetts Artists The Second Amherst Biennial: Art in Expected & Unexpected Places is now accepting entries. The Biennial will take place this fall (Oct./Nov. 2012), all over Amherst, including sites on Amherst College, UMass & the Emily Dickinson Museum. They are looking for the best art created in Western MA during the last two years. Learn more.
Deadline: May 1, 2012

Artist Residency  The Distillery Residency is an 8 week free workspace-only residency running from June 18th to August 17th at The Distillery, a former rum distillery and arts building in South Boston, MA. Residents will be given a 240 sq/ft studio space to work in for the duration of their residency and will be provided a materials budget up to $800 depending on the scope of their project. Learn more. Questions: distilleryresidency@gmail.com
Deadline: May 1, 2012

MassArt Alumni The Menino Arts Center in Hyde Park, MA, will host a juried exhibition of MassArt alumni work during May 2012. The exhibition Post MassArt will feature artworks that speak to the various directions alumni have pursued since graduating from the college. The exhibition will be curated by Edmund Barry Gaither, Director and Curator of the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists (NCAAA). Learn more.
Deadline: May 1, 2012

Northampton-area Arts Projects In most cases, our Local Cultural Councils accept grant proposals once annually – in October. But the Northampton Arts Council has a special, locally-supported arts grant round this Spring. Reimbursement grants will be available to area writers, painters, photographers, sculptors, musicians, filmmakers, schools, and all other creatives and small arts organizations for projects held in Northampton, Florence, and Leeds. Learn more.  Questions: contact Sondra Peron.
Deadline: Wednesday, May 2, 2012 (in-hand by 4:30 PM)

Sculptors This summer, Beverly Main Streets will unveil an outdoor sculpture gallery on the sidewalks and in the parks of downtown Beverly MA. Sculptures will be on display from July 2012 through June 2013. Open to all sculptors. Stipend and low sales commission. Full color catalog and frequent promotional events to attract visitors. Learn more.
Deadline: May 11, 2012

Video Artists VIDEONALE is now accepting entries for their 14th VIDEONALE to take place in the Kunstmuseum Bonn. Single or multi-channel video work accepted. There are no restrictions on the subject, but the works submitted must be not more than 2 years old, i.e. they must date from 1 Jan 2010 or later. Learn more.
Deadline: July 6 2012

Image credit: Photograph of crab. US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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In April, past MCC Artist Fellowship awardees are a-bloom with news.

The Fourth Annual Massachusetts Poetry Festival (4/20-4/22) has an impressive schedule of poetry (including a host of events with past MCC-awardees).

Boston Sculptors Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary at U-Mass Lowell Art Gallery (4/2-4/26) includes works by the MCC-awarded Mags Harries, Hannah Verlin, Beth Galston, Rosalyn Driscoll, Sarah Hutt, Laura Baring-Gould, and Julia Shepley.

We were pleased to learn that a DVD compilation of animated films by the late Karen Aqua is now available. Also, two screenings (NYC and Arlington, MA) will take place on May 30, 2012 – one year after the artist’s passing.

Prilla Smith Brackett is in the 2D Small Works Salon at the Maud Morgan Arts Center (4/2-5/20) and in rethink Ink, a Mixit Print Studio retrospective at the Boston Public Library (4/12-7/31).

Patrick Donnelly reads from his new poetry book at Harvard’s Lamont Library (4/12, 5 PM).

In-depth article about Janet Echelman in Arch Daily.

Patrick Ryan Frank reads from his new poetry book How the Losers Love What’s Lost at a Boston University Creative Writing event (4/4, 7:30 PM) with Jorie Graham.

Pagan Kennedy is co-teaching an innovative, year-long Non-Fiction Career Lab at Grub St (apply by 4/25).

Niho Kozuru is in Boundless Ambition at the Cambridge School of Weston (thru 6/18).

Jesse Kreitzer‘s documentary The Restoration Project will premiere in the 2012 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner!

Dawn Lane will be resident artist at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s Studio for Interrelated Media (4/3-4/5), where students will reconstruct Dawn’s common ground.

Rania Matar has a photography exhibit at Galerie Janine Rubeiz in Beirut and takes part in events at Fotofest in Texas, including book signings of A Girl and Her Room.

Mary Bucci McCoy is part of a two-person show (Distillation) at the Rhode Island College Bannister Gallery (4/5-4/25). Also, Mary and fellow Fellow Joe Wardwell both had lovely things written about them in the Boston Globe by critic Cate McQuaid.

Greg Mencoff is in the Traveling Scholars show at the SMFA.

Robert Oppenheim‘s show Dot by Dot will be at the Simmons College Trustman Gallery (4/30-6/1).

Monica Raymond‘s monologue Lindsay was performed in WA and a new play excerpt (soon to appear in Verse Wisconsin) performed in DC. Monica is organizing SWAN Day – Occupy Boston Women Artists at samson (4/4, 7 PM).

Matt Rich‘s Ghost Muscle solo show is at samson (thru 4/28).

Cristi Rinklin has a USA Projects fundraising campaign for an upcoming exhibition at the Currier Museum of Art. Read her ArtSake Q&A.

Nick Rodrigues has his Graduate Thesis Exhibition at the California Institute of the Arts this month.

James Rutenbeck‘s documentary Scenes from a Parish screens as part of the Lowell National Historic Park’s Folklife Series (4/11, 7:30 PM).

Jonathan Schwartz is part of the TIE Cinema Expo at ICA Boston (4/1, 4 PM).

Mari Seder recently exhibited work and presented her book Cuba: El Tiempo Suspendido/Time Suspended at Fotografico Alvarez Bravo Museum in Mexico, where she also teaches photography and photo collage workshops.

Tara Sellios recently shared a new body of photographic work, Impulses, on her website.

Elaine Spatz-Rabinowitz just finished showing at the Wentworth Institute and is currently participating in 2D Small Works Salon at Maud Morgan Arts.

Stephen Tourlentes‘s solo photography show Of Lengths and Measures is at Carroll & Sons (4/4-5/19).

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

Image: Prilla Smith Brackett, FAMILY PATTERNS #13 (2011), Drawing materials, acrylic, oil on panel, 96×108 in.

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Beth Kantrowitz is the former co-director of Allston Skirt Gallery, one of the most exciting venues in Boston’s contemporary visual arts scene until its closure in 2008.

More recently, Beth and fellow curator Kathleen O’Hara run Drive-By, an innovative Watertown art space whose fascinating exhibitions include “Portraits,” recently explored on ArtSake.

Ahead of Beth’s current curatorial endeavor, the public art project Move Me, we asked her our “Cur8or” questions.

Your project with artist Roberta Paul is called Move Me. Explain?
MOVE ME is a “pop up” public art project that will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the spring of 2012. The Cambridge Arts Council 501(c)(3), bkprojects and artist Roberta Paul will collaborate on this endeavor.

Inspired by Paul’s travels to the Serengeti, this multifaceted event investigates themes of immigration, national identity, and life transitions through the metaphor of animal migration. It will include a four-week gallery exhibition at the Cambridge Arts Council, as well as a two-week continuous “performance” in the streets.

At its essence, this is a project imbued with a sense of wonderment, inquisitiveness and self-reflection; it is about boundaries and borders, real and perceived.

Being a curator is like a) flying a plane, b) being a gardener or c) waiting for the subway to come?
Being a gardener: cultivating relationships with artists, spaces and viewers.

What’s the most surprising response overheard at a show you curated?
How did you know that the work you chose would work so well together?!?

The unauthorized biography of your life is titled:
Why Not….

Share a surprise twist in the Beth Kantrowitz story.
I worked as a social worker for many years.

What is the most misunderstood aspect of being a curator?
That every curator is or was an artist. A curator works alongside the artist or the artist’s work to understand and present in the best and most thoughtful way.

What are you currently reading?
Death of a Salesman

If Duchamp walked into your gallery, what would he say?
Where’s the urinal?

The MOVE ME project will travel through the streets of Cambridge starting with MBTA trolleys on April 9, 2012. Also, work from MOVE ME will exhibit at the Cambridge Arts Council gallery April 2-June 15, 2012, with an artist reception Friday, April 27, 2012, 6-8 PM. Learn about the project’s successful Kickstarter campaign.

Images: images from the MOVE ME project by Roberta Paul, in collaboration with Beth Kantrowitz and the Cambridge Arts Council.

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Puff away on these:

Call for Artists There are 4 Juried Exhibitions for 2012 season at Cotuit Center for the Arts. Learn more.

Visual Artists The Newburyport Art Association is accepting submissions for its 15th Annual Regional Juried Show. Brian Allen, Director of the Addison Gallery of American Art, is this year’s juror. Submissions can be online or by mailed CD. The show will run May 11-June 9, 2012, and there are monetary awards at the juror’s discretion. Learn more.
Deadline: Friday, March 30, 2012, 5 PM

Choreographers/Dancers The Mass Dance festival is looking for teachers of every style and level to participate and share their love of teaching with their festival participants. Learn more.
Deadline: March 31, 2012

New Puppet Plays The letter of intent to apply deadline for 2013 grants from the Jim Henson Foundation is April 6, 2012. The Foundation supports the creation of innovative, live works of puppet theater through Project grants ($5,000) for continued development of new works ready to be presented in the coming year; Seed grants ($2,000) to support pieces in earlier stages of creation; and Family show grants ($3,000) for new and innovative work specifically for children, families, and teenagers. Individual artists need a fiscal sponsor to apply. Learn more.
Letter of intent deadline: April 6, 2012 (postmark)

Participatory and Interactive Projects FIGMENT Boston is looking for participatory and interactive projects for their annual event. FIGMENT Boston will occur June 2nd and 3rd at the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The event is free to the public and yet non-commercial, independently produced by volunteer staff and artists. Learn more. Questions: BOSTONcuratorial@figmentproject.org
Deadline: April 7, 2012

Video, Sound, and Performance Work Grand Valley State University is now accepting entries for an exhibition/screening about the politics of food. Learn more. Questions: curatorialstudio12@gmail.com
Deadline: April 8, 2012

Visual and Craft Artists Applications are now being accepted for the annual The Boston Arts Festival. Learn more. Questions: john.crowley@cityofboston.gov
Deadline: April 12, 2012

Visual Artists The Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown is now accepting entries for their annual juried competition (May 4 – 28).  One work no larger than 5 x 5 feet (wall) will be accepted. Application should include a file containing copies of your contact information, resume, and bio, a description of the piece. A written description may accompany the piece. Support material may also include addition images, however only one piece may be submitted for evaluation for this exhibition. For more information and a submission form contact mike@schoolhouseprovincetown.com
Deadline: Digital submission April 13, 2012; mail submission April 27, 2012; in site dropoff is April 28 & 29, noon – 4 pm.

2D Artists  Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is now accepting entries for a call for art with the theme Nature for a juried art competition. Nature is considered to be anything that was not created by or has been substantially altered by man. Subjects that would encompass Nature would include geographical matter, natural objects, wildlife and natural environments. Learn more.  Deadline: April 28, 2012

Visual Artists The Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art is currently accepting entries for its 32nd annual juried fine art competition, A Sense of Place 2012. Open to all U.S. artists ages 18 and older working in drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, ceramics, sculpture, and mixed media. Juror: Nancy Solomon, director of Atlanta’s Solomon Projects gallery. Learn more.
Deadline: June 1, 2012 (postmark)

Visual Artists Call for entries to UNBOUND Vol II, the 2nd annual juried exhibit of unique works of art using ‘the book’ as a material or format. Presented by ArtisTree Gallery and Pentangle Arts Council, in conjunction with the Bookstock Festival in Woodstock, VT. Open to all 2D and 3D, installation, and assemblage artists who are working in New England or New York. Cash prizes awarded. Daniel Kelm, juror. Learn more.
Deadline: June 9, 2012

Image credit: Illustration of a boy on a bug from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

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Cristi Rinklin (Drawing Fellow ’10) is creating a mesmerizing installation for the Currier Museum of Art in NH, a transparent frieze mounted on floor-to-ceiling windows with walls of accompanying imagery. Here, she discusses the installation (called “Diluvial”), her campaign on USA Projects to support the exhibition, and her work and life as an artist with a flood of creative vitality.

ArtSake: Fascinating project. Did the concept of a transparent, frieze installation strike you all at once? Did it develop in steps as you continued exploring new media for your work?

Cristi: It’s kind of a long story, but I’ll try to sum it up as succinctly as possible. The first time I created a project similar to this was in 2005, when I was invited by Amy Schlegel from the Tufts University Art Gallery to create an installation for their sculpture court. Amy was familiar with my works on mylar that combined painting and digital prints onto translucent film, and she had seen a small, experimental project that I had done for “Boston Art Windows” in which I installed translucent digital prints into a storefront window that was illuminated from the inside, creating a lightbox effect. Based on that, she invited me to conceive of an immersive installation that would activate the walls and windows of the Remis Sculpture Court at Tufts, and Nuvolomondo is what came out of all that. I’ve always considered this one of my most ambitious projects that I’ve undertaken. As luck would have it, Nina Bozicnik, who is currently the Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at the Currier Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire had seen Nuvolomondo while it was at Tufts, and it really resonated with her. When she got the position at the Currier, she invited me to create a similar project for their space.

ArtSake: Why did you choose to use USA Projects as a way to raise funds for your Currier Museum of Art exhibition?

Cristi: I had never heard of USA Projects until the Mass Cultural Council brought it to my attention back in the Fall. In fact, before then, I had never even heard of crowdfunding! All of the MCC Fellows were invited to submit projects to USA Projects, and it just so happened that I was in the midst of developing Diluvial for the Currier, so I decided to give it a shot.

Watch Cristi’s introduction video to her USA Projects campaign

ArtSake: The title Diluvial references deluge geography but could also apply to the flood of visual experiences the work conjures. Did the “flood” theme steer the painting? Or was it a theme you discovered after the fact, naturally occurring in your painting, as it were?

Cristi: It all developed very organically. For some time, I had been working with abstract imagery based on the landscape that depicted forces of creation and destruction. I’m very fascinated (and frightened) by the chaotic and unpredictable power of nature, and over the past few years, the world’s population has experienced its catastrophic force on a dramatic scale. These ideas were present in my work over the past several years, and when I began developing imagery for Diluvial, I was looking a lot at the Hudson River School painters, and their attitude towards the American Landscape as this kind of sublime, grandiose, epic theater that was infused with spiritual significance. In my research, I found that several of these artists, such as Thomas Cole, and Asher Durand, believed that much of the Northeastern landscape was forged by the Great Flood. The term Diluvial, refers to this, but it has also come to refer to geological formations that were created by glacial shift. It was very serendipitous, because I had already begun developing the imagery for the central window frieze, and it depicted a lot of gushing waves and waterfalls, so when I discovered this information through my research, it all fell into place.

ArtSake: Speaking of titles, yours are always interesting – “Fumarole,” “Fierce Descent,” “Bound for Glory.” Is titling your work something you enjoy doing? Something that comes easy? Or do you labor over the titles?

Cristi: I labor over titles, and they never come easy. When I look back over them, I feel like some of them work well, and others I cringe over, but nonetheless, I feel like titles are important. The titles that you mention above come from some of the writings on the nineteenth century American naturalists and painters. They’re terms that give the landscape a dramatic sense of destiny and purpose, which resonates with me.

ArtSake: You’re married to another artist (Andrew Mowbray). What does it mean to be part of a family of artists?

Cristi: I think creative people are often drawn to each other, and being married to an artist seems quite natural to me. I have a lot of friends and colleagues who are also creative couples, so I think there’s definitely something to this kind of attraction. It luckily means we can share a lot of similar experiences and support each other in both our values and ideologies, as well as our practice. We have a young child now too, which has really changed our lives in unexpected, yet extraordinary ways.

ArtSake: What do you try to instill in the emerging artists you teach at the College of the Holy Cross?

Cristi: Work hard, don’t be afraid to take risks, be resourceful, and find your community. These will be the people who will inspire you and keep you going!

Cristi Rinklin’s USA Projects campaign for DILUVIAL will be active through April 27, 2012. DILUVIAL is at the Currier Museum of Art June 9-September 9, 2012.

Images: all images courtesy of Cristi Rinklin, who is represented by Steven Zevitas Gallery.

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Thirty years and counting, there’s no stopping Boston’s hip hop, b-boying master, Lino Delgado. At the end of March, The Floorlords will present a play about the history of hip hop at Wellesley College. It’s a great chance to learn about this dance form as well as speak with some of the dancers in the Q & A session.

How did you come to be one of the original members of the Floorlords? I came from another group called the New York Puppeteers and they were called Mass Break team. We started dancing on the street together. My group was breaking up at the time. They wanted me to be a part of their group. I said let’s start something new. They came up with the name and it was history.

What’s the most surprising response to a performance you’ve ever received? Being in Japan and people just trying to buy me everything, sneakers, sweatshirts, giving me their glasses because I said they were nice. Being able to start a global family called Flava Squad. Helping the city put on the Peace Hip Hop Festival. Doing our first performance of Floorlore: The History of Hip Hop.

Over the last 30 years, what excites you as you see the development of hip hop/break dancing? My family, friends, and girlfriend still being a part of the group and traveling working together build a legacy.

 What are you currently listening to? J. Cole, Common, Nas, and the classic 90′s hip hop and R & B.

Who was the most exacting performer you ever had the opportunity to work with? Busta Rhymes, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, SuperNatural.

Non-dancers would like to know, does it really hurt to spin on one’s head? Not really when you’re in the hype, but if the floor is not a great floor, then yeah.

 The unauthorized biography of your life is titled: Loving my passion: dance.

Floorlore- The History Of Hip Hop Theatrical March 30, 2012, a free event at the Jewett Auditorium, Wellesley College , March 30, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.

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For beings with and without cloven hoofs:

Boston-Area Fashion Designers in College Entries are now being accepted from college students in the Boston Area for the event On The Verge-Boston: Where Fashion & Music Converge! Sponored by Karmaloop and eMuse. Learn more. Questions: ETremblay@eMuze.com
Deadline: March 23, 2012

Call to Artists Queens College Art Center has an open call for artists working in all disciplines on the theme of Amulets, Nazars and Evil Eyes for a group exhibition, Amulets, Nazars & Evil Eyes: Artists Looking Forward. Learn more. Questions: frances.chan@qc.cuny.edu
Deadline: March 23, 2012

Playwrights, Game Designers, Performance Artists, Musicians, Media and Visual Artists Submissions are now being accepted to The Brick Theater’s forth annual Game Play festival, taking place from July 6-28, 2012 in Brooklyn, New York. This year’s festival will feature cutting-edge works that lie at the intersection of video gaming and performance. Learn more. Questions: gameplay@bricktheater.com
Deadline: March 30, 2012

Choreographers/Dancers The Massachusetts Dance Festival (MDF) is now accepting application for their annual event. MDF welcomes all those living, working and contributing to the Massachusetts Dance Industry to apply. Learn more.
Deadline: March 31, 2012

Photographers Call for applications for the 38th Annual Light Work Grant in Photography. Learn more.
Deadline: March 31, 2012 (postmark)

Call for Visual Artists Entries are now being accepted for exhibitions at The Nave Gallery: Alter-Ego II: Images Made with Toy Cameras or Alternative Photographic Processes (non-digital photography) and The Big Bad (2D and 3D visual art including video and installation on the theme of “the big bad”). Learn more.
Submission Deadline: April 1, 2012 (Alter-Ego II) and August 25, 2012 (The Big Bad)

Massachusetts Media Artists The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and Boston Cyberarts are now accepting entries for a media art display on the Marquee outside the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. The 80-foot-tall Marquee offers more than 3,000 square feet of display area on 7 screens, providing full-motion video. They are looking for ten 30-second videos, animations or computer generated work, using the entire Marquee in colorful and creative ways. The technical specifications are outlined in their guidelines. All selected artists will receive a $500 honorarium. Learn more.
Deadline: April 2, 2012

Call to Artists The Danforth Museum in Framingham is now accepting entries for their annual Off the Wall juried exhibition. Artists may submit up to three works created within the last five years. Work in all media is encouraged. Applicants must be Museum members with membership valid through August 5, 2012. Learn more.
Deadline: April 4, 2012

Western MA Visual Artists The Amherst Public Arts Commission (APAC) is now accepting entries for the 2012 Amherst Biennial: Art in Expected & Unexpected Places (Oct./Nov. 2012). Learn more.
Deadline: May 1, 2012

Image credit: Portrait of John van Cortlandt, oil on canvas, 1793, from the The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.

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