Wednesday, November 3, 2010

In the city

Like I've said previously, I'm trying to backtrack on all of the wonderful things that I've been exposed to since moving to the grand (and it REALLY IS grand) city of Rochester. Firstly, let me note that VSW is a really small program. There are only seven first year students. Because of its size, we have a lot of opportunity when it comes to flexibility and with that comes field trips. Woo! 

On a couple of occasions we have gone to the George Eastman House: International Museum of Photography and Film. Once to learn about the library and research center resources and another time to view a selection of unique photos for our advanced photography class. Our professor was able to choose a selection from the Eastman House collection in order for us to get an up close and personal look at some incredible works by the likes of Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Danny Lyon and John Pfahl. Woo!

October 1st - 3rd brought the Black Mountain North Symposium to Rochester. I was able to sit in on a panel discussion and get a good overview of the history of Black Mountain College. Brooklyn artist, Jen Bervin was a participant in this panel and for two weeks around this time was also an artist in residence at VSW. She and her cute little puppy Buttons were a delight to have in the studio and classroom. I learned so much from hearing her talk about her own work on a couple of occasions as well as her input during our book critique. Her own work is so INCREDIBLE. She is a poet and often works with textiles. Be sure to check out her website, HERE!               

Jen is also a weaver and during her time in Rochester developed a relationship with the Weaver's Guild of Rochester. On the morning before she left she took me and a couple other students over to the weaving school and introduced us to the instructor. Hopefully before the year is over I will be able to squeeze a weaving class into my schedule. There were great vibes in that place. I think weaving would be a lovely, therapeutic practice to learn.





Another noteworthy moment of the semester thus far includes the short residency of Dutch artists Theo Baart and Cary Markerink. They traveled to Rochester to photograph the city. Their interest is primarily in urban planning and design. During their stay they interviewed and photographed different inhabitants of the city of Rochester and were interested in hearing different perspectives on the city itself. 

Back in September I attended the world premier screening of a film created by two local Rochester filmmakers. The film was screened at the George Eastman House's Dryden Theatre. The Beast Pageant was delightful to watch - full of humor, mystery, complexity, and music! The hands of the filmmakers are present in every costume, prop and set. 

That is all I can muster for now. Much more to come!   

1 comment:

christine said...

Weaving is SO much fun. You'd love it. I was lucky enough to have a former hippie as my high school art teacher, and we did lots of things with textiles, clay, etc. She had 3 or 4 HUGE looms (like, the size of cars) and I loved working on them. It's a tedious process, but very therapeutic. I made a large area rug :) So fun.