Creative resident and visual artist Kim Kopp was interviewed recently by fellow artist Counsel Langley over on our Visual Arts site.The result is a fascinating look 'behind the scenes' of an artist's process. Read the whole thing.
March 14-April 12, visual artist Kim Kopp is presenting an exhibition at the Fetherston Gallery in Seattle entitled "Pathways and Echoes," with an artist reception Friday, March 14, from 5 to 7 pm.
Port Townsend visual artist Julie McHugh will present an open studio on Saturday, February 9, from 4-6 pm in the upstairs of Building 205. She will show photographs and photo intaglio prints.
McHugh uses a “simple” film camera, and develops and prints her own work. After taking a photo itaglio workshop taught by Marsha Slomowitz and Jay Haskins of Corvidae Press, she discovered the most satisfying physical form for her work to take: water-based inks on high-quality natural-fiber paper.
“My main artistic interest has been taking black and white portraits, landscapes and still lifes with a special interest in capturing nature’s gifts,” McHugh says, “whether it be a tree, a child, or an artful scene created by someone.”
McHugh has shown her work in multiple solo and group shows, won the Merit Award from the Northwind Arts Alliance, and had her images published in many newspapers and
magazines.
"I strive to capture the essence of moments, individuals, landscapes, objects, and scenes which are beautiful or interesting to me," McHugh says. "I try not to disrupt what occurs naturally or to perfect it, simply to document, the only manipulation being subtracting the color and minimizing the depth of field. Sometimes, I add color back with pencils. It is interesting to see how things appear in linear time, in print--what shows through and transfers, visible or not, and what is missed or what happy accidents occur. It provides an avenue through which to study myself and the magical, mysterious gift of life and our world."
Novelist Debra Magpie Earling is in residence at Centrum until February 15. Born in Spokane, Washington, Earling grew up in Montana as a part of the Bitterroot Salish Tribe, and she is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation in Polson, Montana.
Growing up, Earling heard stories about her Aunt Louise, the woman who would later become the focus of her novel Perma Red. At eighteen, Earling became the first public defender in the Tribal Justice System on the Flathead Reservation in Montana. After two years of working in the Tribal Justice System, she left the state to go to college.
Earling attended the University of Washington in Seattle, where she became interested in writing. She achieved her Bachelor of Arts in English, which she completed in 1986 with Phi Beta Kappa honors, graduating magna cum laude. As a Ford Doctoral Fellow, she studied at Cornell University in New York from 1988-91, where she graduated with a Masters in English. She went on to earn her Master of Fine Arts in Fiction in 1992 at Cornell. From 1991 to 1998, Earling held positions in both Native American Studies and Creative Writing at the University of Montana in Missoula. Currently, she is an associate professor in the English Department there and teaches fiction and Native American Studies full-time.
Although Earling has published many short stories, Perma Red is her first novel and has been receiving critical acclaim and awards ever since its release in 2002.
Earling is also an avid speaker for Native American writers, and she is often a guest at college writing symposiums around the country. She has an article appearing in the upcoming March issue of Experience magazine exploring questions of language and identity.
Originally artists Sean Edwards, Jim Hobbs, Maria Glyka, Lisa Peachey, Ellie Reid, and Daniel Whibley were drawn together because of their overlapping interest in working with space, place, and site. Be it pragmatic and rational, poetic and futile, or historic, and cultural, they each use their artistic practices to investigate how they relate to, and experience these terms.
For their residency at Centrum, they have created new, individual works, which are either inspired by, or are incorporated into the specific location and architecture at Fort Worden and the surrounding area.
Their works will be shown in Batteries Quarles and Randol, situated along the main gun line, as well as in their studio—Building 205 (upstairs). Quarles and Randol are the bunkers up past Memory's Vault. The installation will be open from 11am-5pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You can access this area through the gate near Copper Canyon Press and bear to the right at the first opportunity. We'll have signs to get you to the gate.
ADA Volunteers will be on hand Saturday from 3-4 pm to guide installation viewers.
There will also be artists in studio in Building 205 on Saturday from 3-5pm to show work in an Open Studio. They will discuss—through dialogue and through the works themselves—how they deal with and are affected by the notions of space, place, and site.
“My time at Centrum was time invested in an inspirational environment, which opened up new doors, new possibilities, and new ways of thinking about my work.”
“Centrum means living at the center of things: of wild lilacs, passing deer, low tides, madrona trees. The landscape and weather are always changing, so that the artistic life is idyllic, but always dynamic, as well.”
“My privacy during my residency time was scrupulously honored. I felt so physically nurtured by the environment here that I had tremendous energy and focus for my work.”
“The natural setting is an endless source of nourishing delights. Goldfinches flit about, a flock of humming birds are like grade schoolers on the playground, chipmunks sound like claviers, and white-crowned sparrows sing their heart out on a log near the lighthouse.”
“I found the resources, space, and time I needed to reconnect with my work.”
“I felt very supported here as a visual artist and writer. During my stay I was able to take a Nia class, see Leo Kottke, visit art galleries, and browse the poetry selections of Copper Canyon Press.”
“There is absolutely nothing that could have made my time here more complete, fulfilling, or joyous.”
“Centrum and Fort Worden, the beach, the forest, the bunkers. All of it fed my sense of peace and creativity. In the stillness I was able to do what I never seem able to do at home: sit and think. I intend to
take this meditative quiet back into the swirl of my everyday life. I loved the fact, also, that there are so many people milling about and yet its so quiet and peaceful. It’s as if Fort Worden has space for us all, and all that we hope to accomplish.”
“My residency time could not have been better. The park is beautiful, the town is charming and yet artistically thriving, and my window overlooked the Bay. During my time there I was able to complete two short stories and begin work on a novella.”
The Centrum Creative Residency Program
Centrum Creative Residencies are open to individuals or groups—to artists, thinkers, activists, performers, and to anyone committed to new work, new ideas, personal transformation, and/or social change. A residency can involve active engagement with other Centrum programs, artists, and communities, or serve as a reflective retreat.
Print, painting, and rehearsal studios are available for rental, including a non-toxic print studio featuring a 30” American French etching press. Recording studio time can be arranged at Fort Worden’s Synergy Sound Studio. In addition, Copper Canyon Press—one of the nation’s premier poetry-only presses—is in residence at Fort Worden under Centrum’s auspices.
Residencies are awarded on a space-available basis, in week-long blocks. Residents are also encouraged to think about how the public might engage with their residency.
Criteria for selection includes the strength of the written application, strength of the work sample, current resonance of the work, and potential benefit to you at this point in your career. The weekly residency fee is $300.
Please direct all inquiries and proposals to Sally Rodgers at 360-385-3102 x128 or sally(at)centrum.org.
Perched on the northeastern tip of the Olympic Peninsula, and located in the Victorian seaport and arts community of Port Townsend, Fort Worden State Park features an unmatched combination of natural beauty and historic interest. Reconnect with your art on 450 acres of sandy beaches and wooded hills with trails and abandoned gun emplacements, all framed by stunning views of the mountains and straits.
Port Townsend, which has long been home to writers, musicians, visual artists, and artisans, is two hours northwest of Seattle, including a 35-minute ferry ride. The historic downtown features a broad array of unique shops; uptown contains some of the best-preserved Victorian mansions in the country, many of which serve as bed & breakfasts. The combined energy of the arts, marine trades, and history make Port Townsend an inviting getaway.
[Juggler Thomas Arthur performing to music]
Thomas Arthur is a Centrum performer. Enjoy! (Learn more about Thomas at www.thomasarthur.net)
