Open House - Boyden Studio
Save the Date! Open House May 17, 2008
The Sitka Center will be hosting an open house for its Spring 2008 residents on Saturday, May 17, 2008 from 1-4 p.m. The event will feature ceramists Robin and John Gumaelius, writer Kim Griswell, musician Judith Linsenberg, and installations artist Claudia Borgna and will include open studios, exhibitions, readings, and refreshments.
Visitors reflect on Patricia Wheeler's work during the March 2008 Open House
Resident Work Shines at March Open House
The March open house at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology fell on a rainy weekend for the central Oregon coast, but inside, the exhibitions shone. The event served as the culmination of the work for the group of spring artists–in-residence at Sitka Center. Attendees enjoyed an ample spread of refreshments and an excellent program of 2D and 3D visual art, film and readings.
Resident artist Christopher Headley mounted an exhibition of his photos that featured ceramic kangaroos in multiple sites near Sitka Center. This entertaining series was accompanied by another work related to the site, the Three Rocks, which were comprised of three ceramic forms covered in layers of fish and wildlife in a whimsical reference to the three rocks in the mouth of the nearby Salmon River. Also by Headley were a series of ceramic heads covered in imagery of fish and sea life that gave a very surreal impression to the viewer, and a looping slideshow featuring photographs of his work.
Resident Patricia Wheeler was not able to be physically present at the open house, but her exhibition was exemplary of her passion and intensity. Wheeler had to leave abruptly during the week of the event due to a family medical emergency. In her absence, the other residents rallied to ready her work for the show. The Edelman studio was hung as a gallery space to display many of her large format abstract paintings, which she completed while at Sitka. The open house featured two screenings of her video piece, entitled, Hear My Song – Kathy Kelly: Peace Warrior. This video was filmed using the paintings as a background and poetically conveyed the life and work of peace activist Kathy Kelly. To add to the heroic nature of her exhibit, the screening of the film was made possible by a determined effort to burn the not-yet-completed file to disc while en route to the airport on the day of her sudden departure.
Writer-in-residence Carol Gigliotti gave two readings from the book she has been working on while at Sitka, entitled Wildness and Technology: Creativity and Animal Life . The first reading was from Chapter One, - Wildness . Her second reading was from Chapter Three and entitled Code 1 Informatics 1 Animals. Dr. Gigliotti took questions afterwards that led to passionate discussion. She worked diligently during her residency on the Wildness and Technology chapters of her book. Sitka's setting afforded ample opportunity to observe and relate with wildlife such as deer, elk, and seals, and such experiences richly informed her work while she was here.
The open house is a unique opportunity to interact with our artists in residence, tour their studios and share in their work. Our second group of spring residents is scheduled to arrive early next month. The public will get the chance to celebrate their work in the second spring open house, scheduled for Saturday, May 17 th . Please save the date!
Siletz Valley School students at Sitka Center
Siletz Students Come to Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
An enthusiastic group of 6 th graders from Siletz Valley School livened up the Sitka campus during a visit on March 14 th . Sitka Artist in Residence Christopher Headley, and his partner, Irena Blonder, from Melbourne, Australia, played host to the group. The students explored the campus and got an exclusive preview of the exhibition of ceramics, photography and paintings that that were set up for the open house the following day. The students were eager to find out how the work had been made, and Chris welcomed them into his sculpture studio for a demonstration.
Christopher Headley demonstrates mold-making
There he showed them the process of making a mold that he used to create the ceramic kangaroos featured in his series of photographs. The students were very excited when resident Headley gave each of them a kangaroo to keep. Irena provided a morning tea and snack, and then the group settled into the Edelman studio to view the film, “Rabbit-Proof Fence.” The issues brought up in the film about aboriginal children in Australia will be incorporated into an upcoming unit on Indian boarding schools with the Siletz students. Sitka Center would like to thank resident artist Patricia Wheeler and teacher Joe Scott and the rest of the people who collaborated to make this experience possible for the students and resident artists.
Carol Gigliotti Gives Public Lecture
Sitka resident writer Carol Gigliotti presented a talk at the Lincoln City Cultural Center on Thursday evening, March 20 th . She spoke to an enthusiastic and engaged audience, though a rare spring snowstorm made attendance difficult. Discussion ensued afterwards. Sitka Center for Art and Ecology would like to thank Dr. Gigliotti and Elizabeth Black at the Lincoln City Cultural Center for coordinating this event.