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 just a check in.

Smoke Farm Residency

I've been named the first full-year artist in residence for the Rubicon Foundation/Smoke Farm.  The Smoke Farm is a couple hundred acres of farmland that is reverting and being restoring to something more like its western Washington rainforest origins (it was previously owned and operated by the Smoke family).  The land is currently used for artistic, educational and intellectual activities.  I will be making art about the land and what I find there as I explore and map the terrain over the next year.  I will also be working with the foundations educational programs to work with regional school children on projects at the farm. 
I am blogging my time at the smoke farm.
notesfromsmokefarm.blogspot.com

Center for Arts and History - Lewiston, Idaho

Sixty people turned out for the opening on August 16. It was a high quality audience and I enjoyed discussing the work and fielding questions. The exhibition was hung by curator Ellen Vieth, myself and my wife, Sarah.

Installation photos of The Wilderness Within - August 16 to October 7

Gallery I - maps, drawings, canoe paddles, specimen boxes and
nature and archaeology themed beadwork

Gallery II - mostly political themed work

Gallery III - video and maps

Exhibition Coming Soon!

'The Wilderness Within'
opens on July 15, 2011 at the Lewiston Center for Arts and History at Lewis and Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. The exhibition runs to October 7, 2011.

For the first month I will have a very large solo show using the three main gallery spaces featuring my beadwork and the "View from the Canoe Project", a multimedia reflection on altered waterways in the Pacific Northwest. The View from the Canoe includes video, photography, hand-surveyed hand-drawn maps, drawings and hand-carved canoe paddles. The entire show will include a broad range of themes - science to history to politics and nature in a variety of mediums. There will be something for anyone.

In mid-August, we will rehang "The Wilderness Within" to make room for "Confluence Project: Re-imaging the Columbia River with artwork by Maya Lin" in the main gallery. The Confluence Project opens August 26 and runs to Novemeber 4, 2011.

For more information - Lewiston Center for Arts and History website
http://www.lcsc.edu/museum/current_exhibits/default.htm
The Confluence Project -
http://www.confluenceproject.org/

Art Exhibitions in May

I have work showing in two galleries during the month of May.

The Time Between Memories
a group exhibition at West Seattle's ArtsWest gallery.
Zanetka Gawronski, Rebecca Deren and Emily Cooper with my work in the alternative media platform (AMP). I'll be showing a 9 minute video loop and fourteen hand-carved functional art canoe paddles from my View from the Canoe Project.
April 26 - May 21 with a reception on May 12 from 6 to 7:30pm.
artswest.org for more information

And, a custom four screen piece based on my video, 'The Drydocks', begins showing at the E4C gallery at the King County 4Culture space in Pioneer Square in Seattle. The E4C features the work of several artists, rotating all day long. The gallery turns on at 7am and runs until 10pm. The screens face the street and are viewed from the sidewalk.

There are also 4 View from the Canoe photographs on James St. between 3rd and 4th avenues. There up for a few more months and since they are 4 x 5 feet, or so, you can't miss them.

Forecast: Communicating Weather and Climate

Forecast: Communicating Weather and Climate
Washington State Convention Center
Downtown Seattle, WA
Curated by Lele Barnett

Monday April 24 to April 7, 2011
Public opening - April 24, 7 to 9 pm

The exhibit will feature the works of more than 30 regionally, nationally, and internationally recognized artists based in Washington or featured in Seattle art collections. Nine of the artists worked collaboratively with climate scientists.

The exhibit is a collaboration between the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and EcoArts Connections (EAC), which brings together science, arts, and other organizations to advance understanding of climate change and sustainability through performances, exhibits, talks, consulting, and other activities.

I was paired with climate scientist Cecilia Bitz from the University of Washington. Her specialty is Arctic sea ice. We created an anorak that fit Cecilia and then bead embroidered designs that were related to her research, thus clothing the scientist in her own work. The mantle on the shoulders is a map of the Arctic. On the hood are green house gas molecular models. Animals, including man, tumble from the map towards flames at the lower hem, which have within the stock ticker symbols for several major oil and coal companies. Plots and equations of special significance to Cecilia's work are located on the cuffs, sleeves, and front and back of the anorak.

I was quite lucky to be paired with Cecilia as I ended up with a partner that was not only a good scientist, but also a natural at bead embroidery. She made several of the components.

http://blog.ametsoc.org/uncategorized/art-and-science-to-reign-together-in-seattle/

http://www.ecoartsonline.org/

Showing in Seattle!

CoCA Pioneer Square Presents the 2010 Annual Juried Exhibition,

Memory Upgrade

From December 2, 2010 - January 1, 2011, CoCA Pioneer Square will present Memory Upgrade, a juried exhibition featuring work from 16 emerging as well as established artists in a wide variety of visual media, including 2d, 3d, and video.

Memory Upgrade explores the ways in which artists have responded to the global financial crisis by changing various aspects of their work. Considered collectively, these artists hint at the heightened importance of memory, history, and the role of the artist to affect social change.

Over 180 artists from across the county, Europe, and Australia submitted works for consideration. CoCA has presented the Annual since 1989, each time inviting an independent juror to select the work. For this year's 21^st anniversary of the show, CoCA is proud to have Juan Alonso as juror.

Over a career that spans 25 years, Alonso has received numerous grants, awards, and recognition from a wide variety of arts organization in the Seattle area, including the Behnke Foundation, PONCHO (2007 Artist of the Year), 4Culture, Mayors Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Artist Trust, Pratt Fine Arts Center, and Centrum. Born in Cuba in 1956, Alonso came to the Unites States at an early age, leaving behind his family to learn a new language in a foreign place.

There will be an opening reception on Thursday, December 2, from 6 – 9pm at CoCA’s Pioneer Square location located inside the former Elliott bay Book Company at 310 1^st Ave South in Pioneer Square. Juan Alonso will announce prizewinners at the reception and field questions via satellite from Miami / Basel Art Fair.

Participating artists include: Minh Carrico, Laura Castellanos, David French, Douglas Gast,

Sarah Gilbert, Harold Hollingsworth, Phillip Hua, Alma Leiva, Nia Michaels, Nate Orton,

Scott Schuldt, Patti Shaw, Garric Simonsen, Tereza Swanda, Kate Sweeney and Jillian Vento.