2013

“This conference is a stellar way to build community.”
--Barbara O'Brien, Director, Kemper Museum of Art, keynote speaker 

 

The consensus was that Conference 7 was the best one ever.  We say that every year and, in fact, it's true. Each year builds on--and tops--the one before. Each year we learn better how to make a great Conference, and conferees have offered great ideas for how to make it better. We have implemented so much of what everyone has suggested--from better (and more) food to more exhibitions; from longer hours for the Hotel Fair to specific ideas for talks and demos. We have invited presenters who are at the top of their field professionally--museum shown, gallery represented, university tenured, regularly reviewed--so that each talk or demo is imbued with the professional experience of the presenter.

 

"It seemed an exceptionally rich conference for provoking conceptual thought, and establishing connections with innovative artists from across the country and beyond."

--Pamela W. Wallace, presenter and exhibitor

 

 

Toby Sisson leading the "content" session of Sunday afternoon's Raising the Bar: Toward Standards and Practices in the Teaching of Encaustic. Photos above and below: Cherie Mittenthal

 

Meanwhile, outside

 

 

We had a splendid Keynote this year in Barbara O'Brien, who brought a curator's eye to encaustic, and specifically to the work of Petah Coyne

 

Barbara at the podium

 

 

Our two Raising the Bar panels examined how we can personally and collectively elevate the medium.

. The Saturday morning panel, Raising the Bar: Encaustic in Our Practice, with Lynn Basa, Mike Carroll, Miles Conrad, Laura Moriarty, Graceann Warn and moderator Joanne Mattera, considered how we perceive and approach our careers

. The Sunday afternoon panel--more like a workshop, really-- Raising the Bar: Toward a Standards and Practices in the Teaching of Encaustic, was a two-parter that considered the essential elements in teaching the medium: materials, safety, content. We expect that the results of this panel/workshop will provide the germ of a publication by the panel/workshop leaders, Sara Mast, Cherie Mittenthal and Toby Sisson, for use at the university/art school level.

 

There were also demos and talks.

 



 

Lynda Ray (Richmond, Virginia) back by popular demand, demonstrating Texture and Pattern

Supria Karmakar (Ontario, Canada) who curated The Wax Book for Conference 6, giving a slide talk on The Altered Book in which she referenced the exhibition and its artists

 



 

". . . one of the best things about attending the Conference is the fact that you as the attendee can tailor the experience to meet the needs of your studio practice at that time."

Rehmer, A Tale of Two Conferences,  FusedChicago blog

 

 

.  Our Postcard Show, Going Postal II, sold 251 postcards, enough to fund 15 scholarships! Thank you, everyone who contributed with postcards, purchases or both! And an additional enormous thank you to Christine Aaron, who organized and installed the show with a small army of volunteers

 

One wall of postcards just before the first round of sales

 

 

. The Hotel Fair, three hours long this year, offered the opportunity for everyone to show (and sell) their work. Gallerists, critics and curators were among the visitors, and some acquired work for their own collections.

 

 

 

Kathleen Cosgrove welcoming a visitor at the Hotel Fair

 

Some numbers

. 210 conferees

. 28 states and five countries, with a huge Canadian presence

. 3 full days of Conference

. 3 full days of Pre-Conference workshops

. 5 full days of Post-Conference workshops

. 14 exhibitions

. 5 exhibition catalogs

. Book signing with 12 books and catalogs

. 3 hours of Hotel Fair (90 minutes per section) with no charge for artists to show and sell their work

. About 20 two-minute videos by participants in the Red show, curated by Adam and Marian Peck, owners of A Gallery

. 4 articles (one regional magazine; three local newspapers)

. 291 postcards sold, enough for 15 $500 scholarships to Conference 8

. 8 vendors, selling paint, panels, paper and tools--with kinds of discounts that are possible nowhere else

 

You called us "The Dream Team"
Cherie and Joanne 

 

 

Exhibitions

A range of shows--invitational, juried, curated, and gallery organized--took place on the Cape during the period of the Encaustic Conference and its Pre- and Post-Conference workshops. And because we wanted every conferee to have the option of exhibiting, we held a Hotel Fair and Postcard Show.

 

Invitational

Swept Away: Translucence, Transparence, Transcendence in Contemporary Encaustic

Cape Cod Museum of Art
60 Hope Lane, Dennis
May 18 to June 23

For a peek at the catalog online, click here.

 

The Cape Cod Museum of Art, on the campus of the Cape Cod Center for the Arts

 

 

Michael Giaquinto, Curator of Exhibitions, viewed the work of  numerous artists who have participated in Conferences 5 and 6, and invited 31 artists to participate in the show, which focuses on that most salient aspect of encaustic: light. Dennis is 40 miles from Provincetown. We'll have buses available on Sunday afternoon for the trip to and from the opening. Additionally, those driving to or from the Cape may wish stop in. Catalogs will be for sale at the Conference Book Signing.

 

Here's a 360 view of the exhibition in seven shots:

From left: David A, Clark, Nancy Natale, Laura Moriarty, Dawna Bemis, Michael Billie, Sara Mast . . .

Picking up from Mast: Paula Roland, Jane Guthridge, Milisa Galazzi, Donna Hamil Talman, Lisa Pressman . . .

Picking up from Pressman: Binnie Birstein, Lorrie Fredette, Jane Allen Nodine, Gregory Wright . . .

Picking up from Wright: Cecile Chong, Linda Cordner, Marybeth Rothman, Elena De La Ville

 

Continuing to another wall: Catherine Nash, Elise Wagner (top), Tracey Adams, Cherie Mittenthal, Lorraine Glessner, Toby Sisson . . .

 

Continuing from Sisson: Lynn Basa, two by Karen Freedman, Anne Cavanaugh, Lynda Ray . . .

 

Continuing from Ray: Howard Hersh, Joanne Mattera, and swinging back to David A. Clark

 

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Juried
Conference Juried show: Seven 

Juror: Shawn Hill

Castle Hill Gallery,Truro

 

 

As we have every year since the very first Conference, are holding a juried show.  This year the theme is Seven, appropriate to our seventh year as the first and only fully professional encaustic conference in the world. Juror Shawn Hill selected 42 artists, each represented by one work .

Clockwise from right: Kathleen Cosgrove, Wayne Montecalvo, Susan Delgalvis, Donna Hamil Talman

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Curated

Losing Ground, Gaining Perspective curated by Natalie Abrams

Gallery X, Castle Hill

May 30 - June 7

This is the first exhibition selected for the Conference Curatorial Program. Natalie has selected three artists--Lorrie Fredette, Laura Moriarty, Paula Roland and herself--to focus attention on the plight of the planet in poetic and inspirational form.

From Natalie's proposal:
"This exhibition brings together four very different artists who are exploring our planet and its systemic impacts: from the geologic foundation, to airborne pathogens, to society's impact on diverse ecosystems. When considered together, this body of work makes a compelling case for the role of beauty in helping us to face reality and enact change."

We encourage artist/curators to consider including their own work, as curating becomes an extension of their studio practice.

Clockwise from top left: Laura Moriarty, Natalie Abrams, Lorrie Fredette, Paula Roland

 

 

 

 

 

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Curated
The Calligraphic Gesture curated by Jane Allen Nodine

Tao Water Gallery

352 Commercial Street

May 31-June 8

 

Exhibiting artists are: Pamela Blum, Diana Gonzalez Gandolfi, Jane Guthridge, Deborah Kapoor, Sarah Rehmer, Pat Spainhour and Nodine herself.

The calligraphic gesture, shapes and arrangements, resonate across centuries and cultures. In this exhibit seven contemporary artists, all of whom use the encaustic medium, harness their unique, unrepeatable marks with the calligraphic gesture's long history of thought and expression.

Left: Deborah Kapoor; right: Jane Allen Nodine; below: Jane Guthridge

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Curated

Natura Viva: Flora, Fauna and Us curated by Debra Claffey

ArtCurrent Gallery

53 Bradford Street

May 30-June 16

 

 

 

Artist/curator Debra Claffey has selected 10 artists: Christine Aaron, Tracey Adams, Nancy Azara, Marilyn Banner, Fanne Fernow, Kay Hartung, Marty Ittner,  Jane Allen Nodine, Michele Thrane and herself.

This is the second of two Conference Curatorial Program exhibitions scheduled to take place this year. From Debra's proposal: "Biology grows on a fractal line. Leaf patterning and veining, tree formation, hives and shells all have a mathematical description to their form. It can be enormously intriguing to mimic, recreate, and in a sense, relive the form through line and color in a fractal way, using the organic growth of a wavering line and meandering color."

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We can expect to see an exhibition that moves beyond the usual incorporation of plants and flowers in wax with works that are not predominantly about the materials used, "though the materials are integral to the content."  A catalog will be available at the Conference Book Signing.

Read more here. 

Clockwise from right: Kay Hartung, Marilyn Banner, Nancy Azara, Christine Aaron

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Gallery-organized 
Seven Provincetown galleries have organized Conference-related exhibitions. If you have a smart phone, you may wish to download some of this information, though we'll have an info page in your Conference packet. And don't forget to check the More Exhibitions page for exhibitions and open studios in Boston.

In Provincetown



A Gallery, owned and directed by Adam and Marian Peck, has announced the artists for its thematic show, Red.  Some 29 paintings and five sculptures will be exhibited

May 29-June 9

 

Artists are: Christine Aaron, Tracey Adams, Susanne Arnold, Francesca Azzara, Binnie Birstein, Debra Claffey, David A. Clark, Dorothy Cochran, Linda Cordner, Helen Dannelly, Fanne Fernow,  Leslie Ford, Diana Gonzalez Gandolfi, Kay Hartung, Sharon Hayes, Ruth Hiller, Erica Konrad, Cheryl McClure, Mary Farmer, Howard Hersh, Rick Legge, Sherrie Posternak, Lisa Pressman, Theresa Spadafora, Pat Spainhour, Michele Thrane, Catherine Weber, Lelia Weinstein, Charyl Weissbach, Deborah Winiarski, Lisa Zukowski, and gallery artists Donald Beal, Kathy Cotter and MP Landis.  Click  here and here to see Debra Claffey's two blog posts with images from the show:  

Cockwise from left: Diana Gonzalez Gandolfi, Helen Dannelly, Lisa Pressman, Dorothy Cochran

 

 

 

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The Schoolhouse Gallery, owned and directed by Mike Carroll, will again present an exhibition of Conference Instructors.  Carroll describes the exhibition as "a comprehensive portrait of work by the people who are leading workshops and discussions at the conference."

May 29-June 4
Opening: Friday, May 31, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Hours and directions: www.galleryschoolhouse.com ; press release:

 

 

Kobalt Gallery will present a solo show of new work by gallery artist and Conference co-producer, Cherie Mittenthal, Mostly in the Mornings

May 28-June 7
366 Commercial Street

 

Rice Polak Gallery will feature two of its gallery artists who work in encaustic or oil and wax: Larry Calkins and Michelle Harvey. 

Painting: Larry Calkins

And More!

 

 

Ernden Gallery with represented artists: Milisa Galazzi and Deanna Wood

Milisa Galazzi painting, left

 

 

 

Bowersock Gallery presents Waxed, a group show with its with represented artists: Kim Bernard, Alison Golder, Catherine Nash, and introducing Earl Schofield.

 

Kim Bernard painting, left.

 

 

 

Julie Heller East Gallery with represented artists Heather Bruce and Carole Ann Danner, and conferee Greg Barnett

Greg Barnett at Julie Heller East Gallery

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Wellfleet

Left Bank Gallery, 25 Commercial Street, will present The Way In, an exhibition of gallery artists working in encaustic to take place during the run of the Conference

 

Gallery artists participating are conferees Dorothy Cochran, Linda Cordner, Carol Odell and Graceann Warn, and Julie Girardini. Left Bank Gallery presents The Way In in conjunction with the Seventh International Encaustic Conference. For more information: 508-349-9451.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clockwise from above: Graceann Warn, Linda Cordner,

Carol Odell