Page 18 - the NOISE MAY 2016 Edition

iNSide THe ARTBOX
FROM LEFT: Elisa McKnight’s Sierra and Paul Reinshagen’s Burnt Worm Wood are works created while attending the 2016 ArtBox Institute.
StORy By
ClaSS OF 2016
AlliSON KliON
With little trouble, I could find myself deeply embroiled in a research project trying to Ronni Ann Hall, Ed Kabotie, Julia ‘Jai’ Miller, Angie Moline, Catherine Ryan, Jeanne
identify what makes an artist an artist, but I’d like to hone in on the more tangible idea of making a living as a working or professional artist. It isn’t easy in the cities with major art markets and hence major competition, and it isn’t easy in smaller cities like Flagstaff where there are fewer collectors and fewer opportunities to show your work. Choosing to make a living from creative pursuits, and to put what you make out into the world for others to offer their opinions requires incredible confidence and the thickest of skins. Going at it without understanding how the business of art works is even more difficult.
In 2014, the Flagstaff Arts Council launched the ArtBox Institute, a business training and professional development program for artists and arts professionals as a way to help bridge this knowledge gap. Originally the council proposed launching a program to provide studio space for local artists, but after consulting with Flagstaff’s artistic community they learned the artists’ primary concern was how to grow and develop their professional careers. now in its third cycle, the ABI curriculum covers “everything that you don’t learn in art school; essentially a semester of business classes tailored specifically for artists,” as described by FAC Artistic Director Travis Iurato. Between January and May, the seventeen students attended weekly sessions in diverse topics all oriented toward what comes after when they’ve finished their latest masterpiece.
An eclectic group, the ABI student body is diverse in both background, age, where they are in their professional careers, and the type of art they make. The youngest student in the group, Alexi Stoll, is a sophomore studying graphic design at nAU. Ceramicist Selden Wasson, who returned to making art after retiring from a career as a physical therapist, claims to be the oldest. Ed Kabotie, a Hopi-Tewa visual artist and musician, is already quite established in his career, while some of the other students have only recently begun to seriously make art. They are painters, fiber artists, photographers, illustrators, book artists, sculptors, musicians, ceramicists and custom fabricators.
The program began with an intensive session on visioning and goal setting from Jenean Merkel “Merk” Perelstein, a socio-cultural anthropologist and creator of the welcoming Abundance Blueprint. The students, at this point mostly strangers, all sat together in the auditorium of the Coconino Center for the Arts and shared their stories. Ms. Perelstein’s methods encouraged them to be open and vulnerable. In this session they were honest with themselves and each other about the fears and struggles they face as artists and individuals. The session allowed them to approach the rest of the course with concrete goals they want to accomplish, and cemented a bond between the students. Invigorated and inspired by this first session, they approached the classes on branding, financial planning, fundraising, documenting work, legal issues, business planning, event production, and life as a successful artist — with serious and deeply felt conviction. The artists find confidence in their abilities as artists, and push themselves to approach their careers with more focused, professional energy. For fiber artist Jeanne Trupiano, the classes have been more than just informational business courses. “For me, every single session has been inspirational. It pushed me to go home ... and think about new things I can do in my work and on the business side as well.”
The assignments in the classes consistently challenged the artists to become better at what they do with more business savvy. This means articulating to an audience what they do and why they do it, often for the first time. Mr. Iurato sees the students blossoming more with every session. “They’re stepping into themselves and finding their voice, and in the group they find a community of artists who are doing the same things and making the same transformations.”
A month into the course, FAC Deputy Director Elizabeth Vogler taught a class on event planning, which introduces the final project: planning, financing, marketing, and executing a pop-up group exhibition in a group-chosen venue in Flagstaff. The class was divided into two groups, which subsequently named themselves — Matter(s) Collective is Brittany Burgard,
Trupiano, Holly Troy and Gary Wood. CReATe.CeLeBRATe is Paula Andress, Diana Galindo, Greg Hill, Elisa McKnight, Paul Reinshagen, Nancy Ruby, Alexi Stoll and Selden Wasson. They also invited Mr. Iurato to participate in their exhibition. For both groups, the task of planning a cohesive exhibition with artists who know little about each other’s work proved to be challenging. Matter(s) Collective found a unifying thread in the theme of Mother nature, or
“Mama Terra” as their exhibition is called. CReATe.CeLeBRATe revels in the variety of disciplines and styles their group has represented, and uses their eclecticism to their advantage.
In speaking about planning the exhibition, Ms. Troy described the initial rush of wanting to plan an interactive, multimedia event, quickly tempered by a realization a project on that scale would prove challenging to accomplish over the course of two months, especially with a group of artists she has just come to know. Having performed in bands in new york, and organized art exhibitions before, she was familiar with the challenges any group would face. Though the artists in both groups have found camaraderie in common experience, they have had to successfully divide responsibilities such as securing a venue, finding sponsors, arranging refreshments, and designing publicity materials. They had to determine how to curate an exhibit that gives equal attention to all participating artists and expand beyond the path of their individual growth they’ve embarked on up to that point in the course.
My first introduction to the students of the ArtBox Institute was Matt Beaty’s web- literacy class on a recent Tuesday evening in a small spanish classroom at the Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy. I entered as Mr. Beaty was assigning homework, “There’s a lot of it, and you’re not going to like it, and you’re not going to like me,” he warned the class. The lights were dimmed for the projector, most of the students looked down at their notebooks, reviewing Mr. Beaty’s diatribes on the virtues and vices of various types of website building services, social media platforms, and e-commerce sites. A few offered protests: “I don’t even have a laptop,” one lamented. “I’m morally opposed to Facebook,” argued another. Mr. Beaty, with his topknot, heavy beard, thick-rimmed glasses and signature kilt, commanded the class with authority: “you don’t have to use any of this stuff, but you’re going to go through the steps to understand how all of it works.” with a hefty task ahead of them, the students dispersed, sharing their excitement and concerns about building a cohesive online presence over the course of a single week.
About two weeks have passed since Mr. Beaty’s seminar, and I scroll through some of the participants’ Instagram feeds — one strikes me in particular. Ms. Troy, unlike many of her peers, joined the social network service a few months after it was released in October 2010, and has shared, at last count, 1,106 photos and videos. The night of the first ArtBox session she posted a poignant reflection on the day’s experience beneath a photograph, nearly black except for a few small, warm-colored rectangles cutting across the darkness. she wrote, “Had my first day at ArtBox Institute. It was so cool to spend the day with a group of artists who want to take their lives to the next level. Grateful for how inspired I feel (and excited and exhausted), and for how at home I already feel with my cohorts and teachers. Merk Perelstein rocked! By the time I got home it was dark — but I still took stoney for a walk. These are the lights through the trees.”
Both groups are hosting opening receptions on Friday, May 6 from 5-8PM during the First Friday Artwalk, and will remain on display through May 30. Matter(s) Collective’s “Mama Terra” is at b.e. yoga Center, 9 n. Leroux street, and CReATe.CeLeBRATe is at Flagstaff Modern and Contemporary, 215 s. san Francisco street. flagartscouncil.org/artbox-institute.
| allison Klion wishes she attended more artBox classes. art@thenoise.us
18 • MAY 2016 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us