Southern Visions Quarterly - Fall 2007
PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT: THE STUDIOS AT KEY WEST TO HOST ARTIST RESIDENCY
published by the Southern Arts Federation
Link to Southern Visions website
The Studios of Key West, Florida (TSKW), an emerging organization at America's Southernmost point, will host the Faces & Stories, A Portrait of Southern Writers exhibit early next year. The exhibit will coincide with the 26th annual Key West Literary Seminar, a two-week gathering of well known writers, aspiring poets, published essayists, and other important literary figures.
TSKW invited exhibit photographer Curt Richter to participate in a two-week artist residency, in which he will set up a temporary portrait studio and capture the literary figures of Key West as his new subjects. Additionally, a lecture and artist workshop have also been planned, with Richter sharing his creative process and influences. We recently caught up with Eric Holowacz, Executive Director of TSKW, to learn more about this exciting project.
What about this particular exhibit seemed like a right fit for your community?
First of all, the images are extraordinary. Most were captured with an old school large format camera, under tungsten lighting, in what always seems like a quiet and contemplative moment. This is the magic of Richter's work. Secondly, the subjects and writers themselves are amazing. These are people who have built the Southern literary canon, whose books we read and keep, whose voices have influenced the 20th century American psyche, and who continue to do so. Key West is America's Southernmost point, and is rightly proud of its storied past and its extraordinary literary and cultural heritage. Of course this exhibition was the right fit.
What about this particular exhibit made you want to explore the possibility of public programming?
The Studios of Key West is a new kind of creative community, and we have attempted to absorb and synthesize the lessons of colleague organizations like the MacDowell Colony, Anderson Ranch, and Georgia's Hambidge Center. But beyond these role models, we intend to create a new mold that connects with our surrounding community, explores collaborations, and always seeks to connect people to the creative process. In a way, the idea of a residency by Curt Richter, to accompany his Faces & Stories exhibition, was an extension of our mission as a young, new, ambitious arts organization at the end of the American highway. This will become our first non-local visual art exhibition, and Richter will become our first visiting artist in residence.
What do you hope this residency will accomplish for the members of your community?
In short, we strive to make people's lives more creative, to express culture, to connect artists and audiences, and to celebrate our unique sense of place through the artistic process. For us, the public is an essential ingredient, collaborator, and guide. Key West is a small community made up of long-time residents, Cuban fishermen, famous novelists, families, free spirits, sun-tanned tourists, almost all walks of life. We exist fully within this island neighborhood, and in a very short time have been able to generate new ideas, collaborative projects and partnerships for and by all of the above. You could even say that in our effort to build a new kind of creative community, we are mimicking the artist's own creative process: trying this, adding that, tweaking things, distilling concepts, and seeking to discover the unknown.
Look for more information on this residency in the next edition of the Southern Visions Quarterly.
published by the Southern Arts Federation
Link to Southern Visions website
The Studios of Key West, Florida (TSKW), an emerging organization at America's Southernmost point, will host the Faces & Stories, A Portrait of Southern Writers exhibit early next year. The exhibit will coincide with the 26th annual Key West Literary Seminar, a two-week gathering of well known writers, aspiring poets, published essayists, and other important literary figures.
TSKW invited exhibit photographer Curt Richter to participate in a two-week artist residency, in which he will set up a temporary portrait studio and capture the literary figures of Key West as his new subjects. Additionally, a lecture and artist workshop have also been planned, with Richter sharing his creative process and influences. We recently caught up with Eric Holowacz, Executive Director of TSKW, to learn more about this exciting project.
What about this particular exhibit seemed like a right fit for your community?
First of all, the images are extraordinary. Most were captured with an old school large format camera, under tungsten lighting, in what always seems like a quiet and contemplative moment. This is the magic of Richter's work. Secondly, the subjects and writers themselves are amazing. These are people who have built the Southern literary canon, whose books we read and keep, whose voices have influenced the 20th century American psyche, and who continue to do so. Key West is America's Southernmost point, and is rightly proud of its storied past and its extraordinary literary and cultural heritage. Of course this exhibition was the right fit.
What about this particular exhibit made you want to explore the possibility of public programming?
The Studios of Key West is a new kind of creative community, and we have attempted to absorb and synthesize the lessons of colleague organizations like the MacDowell Colony, Anderson Ranch, and Georgia's Hambidge Center. But beyond these role models, we intend to create a new mold that connects with our surrounding community, explores collaborations, and always seeks to connect people to the creative process. In a way, the idea of a residency by Curt Richter, to accompany his Faces & Stories exhibition, was an extension of our mission as a young, new, ambitious arts organization at the end of the American highway. This will become our first non-local visual art exhibition, and Richter will become our first visiting artist in residence.
What do you hope this residency will accomplish for the members of your community?
In short, we strive to make people's lives more creative, to express culture, to connect artists and audiences, and to celebrate our unique sense of place through the artistic process. For us, the public is an essential ingredient, collaborator, and guide. Key West is a small community made up of long-time residents, Cuban fishermen, famous novelists, families, free spirits, sun-tanned tourists, almost all walks of life. We exist fully within this island neighborhood, and in a very short time have been able to generate new ideas, collaborative projects and partnerships for and by all of the above. You could even say that in our effort to build a new kind of creative community, we are mimicking the artist's own creative process: trying this, adding that, tweaking things, distilling concepts, and seeking to discover the unknown.
Look for more information on this residency in the next edition of the Southern Visions Quarterly.