Artist Access Grants (INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS ONLY)
Artist Access Grants (INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS ONLY)
Violin Making. Continued education in the 17th Century Cremonese tradition of violin making.
Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Tammy Mattonen: visual artists, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Kayla Aubid: Native American craft artist, writer, employee at MacRostie Art Center; Kathy Neff: musician, Director, Fine Arts Academy at the University of Minnesota-Duluth; Ron Piercy: jeweler, gallery owner; Emily Swanson: arts administrator at Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community.
Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Tammy Mattonen: visual artist, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Kayla Aubid: Native American craft artist, writer, employee at MacRostie Art Center; Ron Piercy: jeweler, gallery owner.
ACHF Arts Access
I hope to gain the confidence and skill to create instruments that can be tailored tonally and aesthetically to meet different professional musicians needs and to meet my evolving standards of excellence. Finishing the second stage of a violin has a huge effect on the tone and the ultimate aesthetic look of the instrument. Currently I have a very solid foundation of an instrument, but in the following months to come, learning how to shape the bass bar, set the sound post, carve the bridge, dress the fingerboard, varnish, etc, will determine the true quality of the instrument, both tonally and aesthetically. The first violin I made I had no control over the tone and very little control over the aesthetics. Over the past couple years, my knowledge of how I want the instrument to look and sound has increased, and I hope to be able to develop my skill to create an instrument that meets my new standards. I will rely heavily on critiques from William Scott for marks of success and failure, but I will also take my finished work to other instrument makers for evaluations. Once an instrument has been strung up, it can be played to fully determine the successes and failures of one's work, as well. And there is much that can be done to adjust the tone of a violin if it doesn't fully measure up, once played. This is a process that is almost as important as the actual building of the instrument itself: learning to hear the resonances and intricacies of the tone, both those desired and undesired, and learning how to remove more wood, or adjust the soundpost or bridge to manipulate the instrument into producing the desired quality of sound. There are many measures of success in this field, whether it be selling instruments, winning awards, being esteemed by peers, or satisfaction with one's own work. I hope that through the completion of this project I will be able to find success by being taken seriously by other makers, learning how to improve my next instrument, and feeling satisfaction in my own work and the rate of my own improvement from my last violin.
I have not yet achieved my artistic goals set forth in the original grant proposal. I have, however, set myself up quite well to do so once I am able to work with Bill Scott again. I was quite reliant on using Mr. Scott's tools and workspace regularly to be able to complete my instrument. Though I am still missing the guidance I would be gaining through working with him, I at least am well prepared structurally.
Other,local or private