Quick Start Grants
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Cultural Heritage
To complete my first solo show since 2010 of primarily new works. I hope to engage viewers in local history and to increase my regional recognition. Measurable outcomes will be the number of new online followers, reviews of my work in the media, number of art sales, and invitations to be in future art shows and events. For my own artistic development, the grant will allow me time to hone existing skills and expand into new areas. I will be able to revisit painting as well as experiment with digital photography. Part of my return to painting involves questions of style and determining when a work is 'done.' My work before graduate school was pop influenced, with bold solid areas of color and hard edges. In my Master of Fine Art program I deconstructed my process into a more 'painterly' approach rather than a graphic design one. Since having children I found collage better suited to the small snippets of time I have, and I look forward to returning to large-scale painting. I will keep a record of local media, blog, and other mentions or reviews of the work. I will note the number of new followers of my blog and twitter accounts, and visitors to my website. I will likewise track any invitations to future art shows or collaborations, keep a sign-in/comment book at the opening reception, and note any income such as art sales, jobs or commissions deriving from this opportunity. Red Herring may also keep door counts which I can tally during the month of the show to estimate an overall number of viewers; owner Bob Monahan estimates 1,000 new visitors within a month period, plus regulars. After completing several new paintings I will gain insight into my current working process, and what direction my continuing work might take. My working theory is that line and edge are still graphic elements important to me, while color uniformity is not so critical. I've taken this approach in collages previously. Rather than smooth areas of color, I envision more variation, possibly including increased texture with use of a palette knife. I am also re-using some older canvases, and exploring letting various aspects remain or show through - this fits thematically with the layers of local history I depict.
Eighty attendees of the opening reception, with additional audience count for the closing reception/artist talk scheduled for April 2nd (the show was extended). Fourteen new never-before displayed artworks. Two offers to purchase work, with price to be determined. Two radio interviews (KUWS and KUMD) with a third radio publicity spot provided by Annie Dugan, Director of the Duluth Art Institute, on her KUMD radio show. Annie Dugan also invited me to be in the upcoming "Hat-Trick: A Celebration of Hockey and Art" in April at the DAI, featuring nationally recognized artist Tim Cortes. There have been two local newspaper articles about the exhibition so far, with photos of artwork included (Labor World, with a readership of 16,000 according to the editor, and Duluth Reader Weekly). Two other local writers are submitting article proposals about the show to the Budgeteer and MNartists.org. One new artist website was created (Robatoms.com), and two new Twitter followers added.
Other, local or private