Archive for category: General News

The Colby College Museum of Art announced today that Erica Wall will become the new director of the Lunder Institute for American Art. A creative, collaborative, and dynamic educator, curator and arts leader, Wall brings extensive community-building experience to Colby, where she will advance the mission of the Lunder Institute as a leading incubator and convener of scholarship and artistic practice in ways that evolve how American art is understood and how it is studied, taught, interpreted, and made.

Wall comes to Waterville from North Adams, Mass., where she serves as executive director of MCLA Arts and Culture at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Prior experience included founding a gallery that gave emerging artists the opportunity to exhibit their work, connected them with curators and patrons long-term, and enabled them to build an artistic community and a framework of support. She has also served as a museum educator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Crocker Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

She begins her new position with the Lunder Institute July 1.

Jacqueline Terrassa, Carolyn Muzzy Director of the Colby College Museum of Art, said that Wall will grow the Lunder Institute and further connect it with the field of American art and contemporary art more broadly, emphasizing principles of access and equity. She also will help Colby continue its effort to integrate and expand the arts across the campus, involving students in national and global conversations about art and the key questions of our time. With research, convening, and studio space in downtown Waterville at the Greene Block + Studios, the Lunder Institute is informed by place, and works in collaboration and in community as it seeks to expand who shapes American art and alters its contours, while demonstrating the value of art as a public good. 

 “I am thrilled that Erica will now lead the Lunder Institute and become a member of the Colby Museum’s senior team,” Terrassa said.

“Erica looks beyond the conventional to ask harder questions that have not been asked. She then partners responsively to create the proof of concept–programs and platforms that sustain artists, curators, scholars, students, educators, and others to not only see what is possible, but to forge relationships and pursue pathways that sustain their work and a life in the arts.” 

Wall will bring that same ethos and strategy to the Lunder Institute, Terrassa said. She will work in partnership with other museum staff, students, faculty, and peers across the College, and with partners in Maine as well as nationally and internationally, to propel and document new ways of understanding art history, new forms of artistic practice, and new models of teaching and curating American art.

Wall arrives at Colby during a time of artistic momentum on campus and in the community. The Greene Block + Studios opened last fall in downtown Waterville, the Paul J. Schupf Art Center is under construction and will open early next year, also downtown, and the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts will open on campus in fall 2023.

As part of its work, the Lunder Institute convenes artists, scholars, educators, and cultural producers at different stages in their careers. It hosts fellowships, workshops, and public programs and connects artists and scholars with faculty, students, and communities. Fellows, Distinguished Scholars, and Visiting Artists have included Richard Blanco, Phong Bui, Adriane Childs, Romi Crawford, David Park Curry, Torkwase Dyson, Theaster Gates, Adrienne Herman, Jessica Horton, Key Jo Lee, Maya Lin, Dread Scott, Sarah Sockbeson, David Hamilton Thomson, Veronica Perez, and many others.

Conceived as a research and creative arm of the Colby Museum, the Lunder Institute was established in 2017 through the generosity of Peter and Paula Lunder, longtime benefactors of the College, the Colby Museum, and the field of American art. It builds on the Colby Museum’s strengths which, since the founding of the museum in 1959, have included an emphasis on American art, the active involvement of living artists and scholars, its role as a broad resource in Central Maine and the field of art, and its commitment to research, education and access within the context of Coby’s liberal arts mission.

Wall said she was eager to begin her work with the Lunder Institute.

“I am excited and honored to lead an institute that provides the community the opportunity to engage in the discussions and explorations that celebrate, challenge, and illuminate the many layers of American art, its past, its present, and its future,” she said.

“I look forward to expanding my work as a collaborator, convenor, and community builder to create a national and global community around the amazing work the Lunder Institute has done and has yet to do.”

In her current position, Wall has been instrumental in building MCLA Arts and Culture into a nexus for artists, students, faculty, and community members. Its activities include artist residences, a contemporary art gallery in downtown North Adams, and arts-centered collaborations that have included partnerships with Williams College, MASS MoCA, the Clark Institute of Art, and Bennington College. She also has taught as an adjunct professor, continuing a teaching practice at the undergraduate and graduate level that spans more than two decades.

Lunder-Buck Internship Program on Art and Environment

The Lunder Institute for American Art and the Buck Lab for Climate and Environment seek one Research and Studio Assistant to work on a project related to the intersection between art and the environment. Throughout the spring semester, the RA will assist an American artist on a Residential Fellowship appointment for the Lunder Institute. This person will focus on the environmental impact of Maine’s Paper Industry through arts-based research.

This interdisciplinary internship program will mentor a student with an interest in Environmental Studies and Art or Art History. Duties will include research on Maine’s pulp and paper industry, conducting site-specific research in central Maine, and studio-based assistance. The project includes hands-on fieldwork related to environmental storytelling and industrial histories.

The RA will work 5 hours per week and report to the Lunder Institute’s Manager of Programs. Ideal candidates are rising sophomores and juniors, with an interest in archival research, art-making, material culture, and experimental ecologies. To apply, please send a cover letter addressing your interests and relevant experience, a resume, and a list of two references as a single PDF to Gabriel Chalfin-Piney. Applications submitted by January 25th will be given review priority.

Lunder Institute Research and Studio Assistant (RA)

The Lunder Institute for American Art seeks one Research and Studio Assistant (RA) to assist artist Julia Arredondo, Lunder Institute Residential Fellow, in her studio and with ongoing artistic projects. The RA will work 5 hours per week and report to the Lunder Institute’s Manager of Programs. The RA will collaborate with the artist on social media takeovers, content strategy and TikTok account setup. Ideal candidates are rising sophomores and juniors, with an interest in marketing for the creative industry with a focus on visual art and DIY media. Interested applicants will be working directly with the artist in her studio at the Greene Block in downtown Waterville—experience with Canva or Photoshop is preferred.

To apply, please send a short cover letter addressing your interests, relevant experience and favorite brands to Gabriel Chalfin-Piney. Applications submitted by January 28th will be given review priority.

The Lunder Institute for American Art has named Maine-based artist Sarah Sockbeson will serve as a Lunder Institute senior fellow and the recipient of the 2021–22 Alfonso Ossorio Creative Production Grant.

Established in 2019 supported by the Ossorio Foundation, the Alfonso Ossorio Creative Production Grant provides financial support to artists affiliated with the Colby Museum and its Lunder Institute to further their intellectual pursuits, research, and the creation of new artworks that expand the boundaries of American art.

Coming from a long line of Penobscot basket makers, she participated in the Maine Arts Commission Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, apprenticing with renowned Wabanaki basket weaver Jennifer Neptune. More recently, Sockbeson has benefitted from the mentorship of Theresa Secord, a Colby Museum governor and the founding director of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance. Sockbeson’s work is included in museum and private collections, including the Colby Museum and the Hudson Museum at the University of Maine at Orono. Known for her distinctive color palette, Sockbeson began her artistic practice through drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography.  Read more

This Friday, November 19, at 4:30 p.m., join us at the Greene Block + Studios at 18 Main Street in downtown Waterville for the third installment of Lunder Institute Open Studios program.

Get to know the art practices and tour the studios of Lunder Institute residential fellows Julia Arredondo, E. Saffronia Downing, Veronica Perez, and Adriane Herman.

This Lunder Institute Open Studios event is free and open to all.

Elm City Small Press Fest is a community event celebrating independent publishing in the Maine region. The event highlights contemporary print and publishing culture while activating conversations around creative labor and commerce as viable artistic practices. The goal of the fest is to inform attendees of contemporary creative publishing while stimulating and promoting creative economies in the area.

Join for two days of events:

Friday Kickoff Event:

4:30–6:30 p.m.: Open Studios with the Lunder Institute Residential Fellows
6–7 p.m.: Open mic and zine reading with piano accompaniment
7–8 p.m.: Live bands programmed by Colby student organizations

All events are free and open to all.

Organized by Lunder Institute residential fellow Julia Arredondo and Colby College Visual & Interdisciplinary Arts Librarian Fannie Ouyang.

In early October, Lunder Institute for American Art Senior Fellow Dread Scott visited Waterville for the first of his on-campus engagements with the Colby College community during his yearlong fellowship.

Scott delivered a lecture, titled “The Art of Liberation,” at the Greene Block + Studios, inviting audience members to explore important questions surrounding the economic, social, and governing ideas of America. His pivotal work Slave Rebellion Reenactment served as a starting point to address Freedom and Captivity, the 2021 theme of Colby’s Center for Arts and Humanities, as well as Incarceration and Human Rights, the focus of this year’s Oak Institute for Human Rights Program.

During his visit, Scott spent time with Muna Brown ’23, who is serving as his student organizer during the 2021–22 academic year. As part of her internship, Brown is collaborating on a year-long research and practice project surrounding the topic of fugitivity as it relates to the Scott’s ideas and the Arts and Humanities theme of Freedom and Captivity.

The following is Brown’s reflection on her initial encounter with the artist:

When applying for the position of student intern under Dread Scott, I looked forward to establishing a productive method of research and communication. Before working with Dread, most of my art came from a place of personal feelings. Which isn’t wrong. But, I had yet to experience what it was like to conduct outreach with a community before producing any artworks. This is what I valued most from my time with Dread. The conversations with students, faculty, and staff about who they are and what they experience is crucial if you’re going to create something for them. For us. Another thing that I took from my time with Dread was broadening my perspective on who and how can take part in the revolution. In my conversations with him about audience, he helped me understand the significance of making your statement but also making space for everyone. What I mean by this is that yes something may be a critique of the institution, but how are you allowing the subjects of your critique to participate in the work? I want to point out the wrong but also push you to change this wrong. And in order to do so I must talk with you not at you.

Image: Muna Brown ’23 watches as Dread Scott speaks at the Green Block + Studios. Photo by Coco McCracken.

Presented by the Colby Museum’s Lunder Institute for American Art

Dread Scott imagines a world free of oppression and exploitation, with resistance and liberation at the forefront. During this talk, the artist will present a range of work from the past 30 years that addresses themes of American identity and patriotism, including the criminalization of Black and Latino youth and the continuum of resistance against murder by police connecting the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s with contemporary Black Lives Matters organizing.

Scott’s art allows audience members to explore important questions surrounding the economic, social, and governing ideas of America. His pivotal work Slave Rebellion Reenactment will serve as a starting point to address Freedom and Captivity, the 2021 theme of Colby’s Center for Arts and Humanities, as well as Incarceration and Human Rights, the focus of this year’s Oak Institute for Human Rights Program.

Capacity is limited to 50 in-person attendees and 800 virtual attendees. Register here.

The Lunder Institute for American Art’s programs in 2021–22, including Dread Scott’s Senior Fellowship, are made possible through the support of the Lunder Foundation, Peter and Paula Lunder Family, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ossorio Foundation, Alice Kang P’21, and OhSang Kwon P’21, the Oak Institute for Human Rights, and the Buck Lab for Climate and Environment.

Biography

Dread Scott makes revolutionary art to propel history forward. His work is exhibited across the United States and internationally. In 1989, while he was a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, his art became the center of national controversy over its transgressive use of the American flag. President George H. W. Bush called his art “disgraceful,” and the entire US Senate denounced and outlawed this work. He became part of a landmark Supreme Court case when he and others defied the new law by burning flags on the steps of the US Capitol.

Cristin Tierney Gallery will present Dread Scott’s first solo gallery exhibition in 20 years entitled We’re Going to End Slavery. Join Us!, opening September 17th, 2021. The exhibition features large-scale performance stills and flags from the artist’s 2019 community-engaged performance project Slave Rebellion Reenactment.

Scott’s work has been included in exhibitions at New York’s MoMA PS1, the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Jack Shainman Gallery (New York), and Gallery MOMO (Cape Town, South Africa). His performance work has been presented at BAM in Brooklyn and on the streets of Harlem, New York. His work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Brooklyn Museum. It has been featured on the cover of Artforum magazine and in Vanity Fair. The New York Times selected his art as one of “The 25 Most Influential Works of American Protest Art since World War II.” He is a 2021 John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, recipient of the 2021 Public Art Dialogue (PAD) Award for achievement in the field of public art and the inaugural Frieze Impact Prize, in partnership with the Art for Justice Fund, also in 2021, recipient of the Creative Capital Grant, and has received fellowships from Open Society Foundations and United States Artists. He works in a range of media from performance, photography, and video to screen-printing and installation.

Scott plays with fire—metaphorically and sometimes literally, as when he burned $171 on Wall Street and encouraged those with money to add theirs to the pyre. His work asks viewers to look soberly at America’s past and at our present. Writing about a recent banner project, Angelica Rogers wrote in the New York Times, “…it was difficult to look away from the flag’s blocky, capitalized type. ‘A Man Was Lynched by Police Yesterday.’ It shouted the words so matter-of-factly that I felt myself physically flinch.”