MEET OUR COMMUNITY
4 -Day Art Workshops continued.... Renewed Ready-to-Wear DATES: Tuesday, July 12–Friday,
artists at the time, but the art community evolved. Fewer young artists were interested in the process, and the successful ones were aging out, and there were fewer craftspeople learning the trade. It’s a different time, and people are less interested in investing in a process that is so labor and material intensive. Fortunately, Kalamazoo has a dynamic arts community, and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts has kept a metals program running for years. After landing there and taking over as Head of their Sculpture Department, I have been able to continue teaching the art of bronze casting to new generations. The labor-intensive aspects of the process lead to a strong sense of teamwork and individual accomplishment. I can’t stress enough the importance of regional arts organizations. Access to affordable arts experiences not only helps support budding creatives; it allows a network for working artists to work within—supporting themselves and each other through a form of creative mutual aid. You are bringing the visual arts to the Kalamazoo County Juvenile Home this summer. Could you speak about how that project came to be and why arts education is important? I took over that project last year when the previous arts educator retired. My aim is to continue the values of aesthetic education, which I feel is a necessary way to connect them to the arts and encourage them to speak their stories. None of these kids have escaped trauma, and that trauma is often exacerbated by the carcel system. The arts are an opportunity to not only express their inner world, but sculpture teaches teamwork, dimensional comprehension, responsibility, and trade skills. Do you have a website or social media handles that you’d like us to publish? Out of respect for my emotional health I have been in a steady retreat from social media. And although it’s in my career’s best interest, my website has languished. I can, however, be found enthusiastically by email: brentharrissculpture@gmail.com.
22
July 15, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. FACULTY: Gurtie Hansell TUITION COST: $205 What we wear shows the world so much of who we are. For many, fashion acts as ornamentation, or even armor. Unfortunately, the fashion industry—and fast fashion in particular—is destroying Mother Earth. The clothing and materials we need to adorn ourselves already exist in the world. With a little creativity, we can reinvent and revitalize our looks (and a bit of ourselves). We will explore ways of sourcing “upcycled” and “deadstock” materials. We will hold our own clothing swap to pool materials for creating and renewing ecofriendly wearables, then enhance those found garments with inks, dyes, stitches, and appliqués— learning new painting, sewing, and printmaking techniques along the way. The experience will culminate in a fashion show collectively produced by the group on the final day. Let’s frolic!
Cutting, Collage, Cut-Outs & Cut-Ups DATES: Tuesday, July 12–Friday,
July 15, 2–5 p.m. FACULTY: Tessa Paneth-Pollak & Lauren Russell TUITION COST: $185 This workshop, led by an art historian and a poet, will explore cutting as a technique of shaping, composing, and editing in both visual art and writing practices. It will introduce participants to the history of cutting as an artistic process through specific historical examples. In conversation with these examples, we will perform daily experiments with distinct subtractive and separative
courtesy of Brent Harris
