community art – Page 4

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April 22, 2021July 22, 2021, by Etty Yaniv

Leslie Kerby: Happy Place Project

Art Spiel Photo Story

In early February, the bleakness of winter got to the New York City based artist Leslie Kerby. She decided to reach out to friends near and far, as she had done during lockdown, this time asking them to send photos of the places around their house where they were able to find some solitude. She contacted everyone individually which opened up possibilities for longed for exchange. To her delight she received many beautiful photos. It took her a couple of days to figure out how she would paint from them. Ultimately, she decided on watercolor, acrylic, and mixed media collage on vellum, which enabled painting on both sides, while letting the light in. “It was a gift to visit with everyone in their home. A testament to the value of human connection,” she says.

NEW LINK to whole project

March 22, 2021March 3, 2021, by Etty Yaniv

Art Heals: LAZZARO_art doesn’t sleep

In Dialogue with Laura Mega

Laura Mega is wearing one of the 20 limited edition surgical masks she created. All proceeds went to Feeding America for Covid-19 emergency aide.

Laura Mega is an Italian visual artist based in Rome and New York. As everything around her in Rome became sad and empty when Europe was hit by Covid-19, she felt the need to connect with the outside world through the language she is most familiar with, art. As all the museums and galleries were closed, she thought —what if I video project the art outside, connecting people trapped at home around the world? In Laura Mega’s mind, ideas have no value if there is no one who believes and supports them. Her international project Art Heals, presented by LAZZARO_art doesn’t sleep, is a video projection exhibition offering an element of brief happiness.

March 12, 2021March 13, 2021, by Sophia Ma

Belonging to P.A.D. (Project Art Distribution)

A picture containing text, building, outdoor, scene

Description automatically generated — “Popular Jewelry” featuring Arkadiy Ryabin, Johanna Stroebel, Clarissa Hurst, and Ann Treesa Joy, on September 26, 2020, photo credit to Adam Golfer, image courtesy of P.A.D.

The artist-run Project Art Distribution (better known as P.A.D. or @project_art_distribution on Instagram) hosts day-long outdoor exhibitions on versatile packing 72”x80” pads. Set up in Soho, one of New York’s art and retail hubs, the padded surfaces become the metaphorical and physical exhibition space of the usual pristine white cube galleries. Unlike the current Soho rental clientele of luxury brands and gallery spaces, P.A.D. has no walls. Lacking barriers in more than one way, the sidewalk gallery provides the public, the artists, the curators, and the organizational collaborators a welcomed openness to art and discussion. The project creates an ongoing network that ever-expands its community.

July 16, 2020November 15, 2020, by Etty Yaniv

Center for Creative Works – Human Development

In Dialogue with Lori Bartol and Samantha Mitchell

Untitled (Herbies), by Doug Tan. Image credit: CCW/Virginia Fleming

Center for Creative Works (CCW) is a PA based unique professional art studio where artists with intellectual disabilities can access not only equipment and supplies but also dedicated mentorship, including help in promoting their work. Furthermore, it offers a
permeable space which prompts collaboration and idea sharing between CCW artists, artists outside of the studio, and community members at large. Lori Bartol, director, and Samantah Mitchell, exhibition coordinator, share with Art Spiel their vision for the organization and an insight into some of CCW artists’ work. Lori Bartol has recently revisited our discussion on how her team and artists have coped with the pandemic.

June 11, 2020November 2, 2022, by Catherine Kirkpatrick

Artists on Coping: Carmen Paulino

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.

Carmen Paulino is a visual artist who works on providing community art programming in hospitals, community centers, and senior centers around New York City. Raised in the El Barrio section of New York City, her love for the arts was inspired by the murals in her diverse neighborhood, and her father who performed as a musician in several traditional salsa bands. As a young child, she watched her mother and grandmother knit, crochet, and sew unique traditional quilts and patterns. These experiences inspired her to develop her own techniques and produce her own mixed media works that incorporate her own life experiences, visuals from her immediate surroundings, and the inspiration that comes from living in a diverse melting pot of cultures. Paulino works at the Creative Center of University Settlement House, and in 2019 was artist-in-residence at El Barrio’s Art Space PS 109.

June 4, 2020November 2, 2022, by Catherine Kirkpatrick

Artists on Coping: Jackie Neale

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.

Jackie Neale is a hybrid photographic artist creating storytelling installations in mediums ranging from alternative processes to low-fidelity recordings. Her process relies on community immersion to depict honest interactions in underrecognized communities and serving as personal testimonials as oral histories. She is the former Online Features Imaging Director at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, completing over 300 storytelling projects over 15-plus years. She is also a published author, and undergraduate Photography Professor at Saint Joseph’s University and the New York Film Academy. Neale has completed residencies in New York City, Philadelphia, Texas, Mexico, Calabria and Milan, Italy.

May 14, 2020August 19, 2021, by Melissa Stern

Artists on Coping: Rhonda Dee

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.

A person standing in front of a sign

Description automatically generated — Photo credit: ZakiP

Rhonda Dee is from Texas and currently resides in Australia. She holds a BFA, (CCA, Seattle), and MA, from Sydney College of the Arts. Her layered works explore the body as a site of transformation between human, animal hybrids and supernatural forces. Her works are in permanent collection at Macquarie University, Australia-China Arts Foundation, and Museu Brasileiro da Escultura, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Recently, she’s begun creating public artworks with disadvantaged communities. She features in Artist Profile, The Art Life, Torrens University Blog, Arts Hub Australia and is currently designing podcasts with Casula Powerhouse Art Centre, in response to COVID19.

May 3, 2020May 1, 2020, by Etty Yaniv

Artists on Coping: Tom Sarver

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.

*Tom Sarver with paintings from his 2019 series. Opening of Pretty Ugly at James Gallery, Pittsburgh.*

Tom Sarver uses an array of approaches, including puppetry, events and site-specific installation to explore social issues and social interactions. His work is often inspired by life in Pittsburgh, where he lives and works. He has been featured in several projects at the Mattress Factory, including an installation in a row house that he occupied for two years. His work in puppetry was featured in Paulina Olowska’s installation at the 2013 Carnegie International. His Art Olympics event series featured live-action art making and community interaction at venues throughout Pittsburgh. He is currently working on a drawing series documenting Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods.

November 9, 2014December 14, 2025, by Etty Yaniv

A Genuine Urge to Behold: ‘Meltdown’ by Kurt Steger

Opening night at ArtHelix, with partial view of Meltdown by Kurt Steger; photo courtesy of Vincent Romaniello

Suspended murky waterdrops on the verge of dripping from an icicle onto a sheet of paper prove to be almost hypnotic in Kurt Steger’s interactive project at ArtHelix. Utilizing elegant wooden contraptions made of a rotating large-scale low wooden table, a transportable tall crane-like sculpture, and a few low benches, Steger’s participatory performance evokes a genuine urge to behold the genesis of a fresh mark, from the first drip to the final circular tracing. The resulting drip drawings hang on the walls, mostly depicting circular forms that range from dark sepias to vibrant yellows and rusty oranges. Continue reading “A Genuine Urge to Behold: ‘Meltdown’ by Kurt Steger”