Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Call for Art - Hidden Haven Exhibition

Women Caucus for the Arts of GeorgiaCall for Art for  Hidden Haven Exhibition at the  Blue Heron Nature Preserve Gallery 

Open call 

Theme of the show- Hidden Haven

This exhibit’s goal is to celebrate what the Blue Heron Nature Preserve, the hidden haven, does to protect the natural habitats in the high density neighborhood of Buckhead, Atlanta, GA. 
The curator is the founder and executive director of the BHNP, Nancy Jones, who is an artist and was an art teacher for Fulton County Schools.

Application Deadline April 26th, 2016

Important Dates
April 26th -Application Deadline
May 3rd - Notifications
May 14th Artist drop off artwork 11 am - 1 pm 
              —(if artist lives out of town other arrangements can be made)
May 16th - September 9th - Exhibition Dates
May 21st - 6-8 pm - Opening Reception 
September 10th 9 am - 11 am —Artist pick up artwork



Submission Guidelines

- All art work must be 12 inches x 12 inches
- Artwork must address an element of the Blue Heron Nature Preserve
This could be the animals that live there, the trees, Nancy Creek, the birds, etc….
- All media is accepted  as long as it is in a 12 x 12 format
- Send all images attached with email with the “Hidden Haven” in subject box to sallyepp7@gmail.com 
- Send up to 5 images numbered 1 - 5
- In email include the list below 
1. Title
2.  Medium
3. Price of Artwork
Sales
60% of sales will go to artist, 20% to WCAGA, and 20% BHNP

Questions:

If you have any questions please email Sally Eppstein at sallyepp7@gmail.com or call at 678-642-5300

The Art of Nature an Outdoor Art Installation 2016-Metamorphosis Of Nature

WCAGA’s
The Art of Nature an Outdoor Art Installation 2016
  Title: Metamorphosis Of Nature

What 
*The WCAGA’s  Art of Nature is a six week long outdoor art exhibition featuring site-specific art installations inspired by the metamorphosis of nature to be located on the grounds of the Blue Heron Nature Preserve. Artists and artist teams are invited to submit proposals at no cost for WCAGA members and a 30.00 application fee for non-members to be paid through PayPal. From these proposals The Art of Nature will select up to 7-8 projects and award them a 200.00 stipend to create their work. 

*No power is available.

Who
The Women's Caucus for Art of Georgia (WCAGA) is a chapter of the National Women's Caucus for Art (WCA), founded in 1972 to bring women's issues to the foreground of the College Art Association (CAA) and beyond. The focus was and continues to be supporting, recognizing and educating established and emerging women artists, art historians, critics, curators, museum personnel and other visual arts professionals.

In 2000 the Women's Caucus for Art of Georgia began when a group of eleven women artist met and decided to form a local chapter of the national organization. They began with a "just do it" attitude and a vision which they set out to realize. WCAGA is now comprised of over one hundred artists and art professionals from Georgia and other Southeastern states. The majority of our members, however, are artists based in metro Atlanta who work in many different media: sculpture, painting, photography, collage, printmaking and more.

Where 
*Blue Heron Nature Preserve, 4055 Roswell Road, Atlanta, GA 30342

*Blue Heron Nature Preserve was started in 2000 by Nancy Jones who was a public school art teacher for many years. Nancy was saddened by all the development ebbing away at the nature she and her son use to explore as he was growing up. Working with the City of Atlanta she started with 7 acres to create the BHNP and now has over 30 acres of green space in the heart of Buckhead. There are many future plans for the BHNP including a bike path that will connect with Path 400 which will connect to the Beltline.

* Due to the size and accessibility of the Preserve the art installation will be located on the on the grounds close to the parking lot. 

  • BHNP is a public park and can be toured independently at any time during daylight hours

Guided Tour of BHNP

*Guided Tour Saturday January 23rd 4:30/ Rain Date Saturday January 30th noon
Please RSVP to sallyepp7@gmail.com

*Everyone to gather at the parking lot of the BHNP Building 

*Questions will be answered during the “Walk through the Preserve” and if you cannot make the walk please direct the question to sallyepp7@gmail.com

*The entrance driveway  is across from Pikes on Roswell Rd.

*This is a nature trail so please wear appropriate shoes.


Entry Procedure

Eligibility 
  • All artist

*Entry is free of charge for WCAGA members  and 30.00 for non-WCAGA  to be paid by PayPal. Link for PayPal payments will be activated March 1st. 
WCAGA offers many show opportunities, drawing marathons, book club, and art shares through out the year so please consider joining for all the opportunities for these extra benefits for 55.00.

*All submissions are due from  Tuesday March 1st - Tuesday March 15th, 2016 11:59 pm

*Art projects can hang from the trees, be on the ground, painted on selected walls, or whatever you can dream up. Damage to the environment is not allowed.
  • Because this is a public art and the art will not be 100% supervised it must be safely made for the general public.
*Up to Six (6) images for jurying: Up to 3 images of past work and up to 3 images of your proposed project. Images of your proposed project may be sketches, studies, renderings, photographs of assembled elements or complete projects if the project has been realized in an earlier incarnation.

* With submission, please include name, phone #, titles, and address. 

Email your submissions to sallyepp7@gmail.com

Selection Procedure
*Proposals will be judged based on originality, feasibility, execution, and innovation. 


Notification
*All submitting artists will be notified of their status on Sunday March 20th 2016 via email.

*The accepted artist will have the first check for stipend of 100.00 after a waiver has been signed and returned to sallyepp7@gmail.com.

*All artists are responsible for insuring their work.

  • After a proposal is selected, alterations or substitutions cannot be made without authorization by WCAGA/BHNP. WCAGA/BHNP reserves the right to remove any works from the exhibition based on special installation circumstances or discrepancies between the juried images and actual work.

  • All accepted work must remain on display through the end of the exhibition on June 4th, 2016.
Installation
  • All artwork must be installed between the dates of Monday the April 18th - Friday April 22nd, 2016
*More time will be allowed for any murals being painted.

  • While the WCAGA/BHNP has volunteer support for artists during the installation period, please remember that installation is primarily artist-driven. We will be able to help you troubleshoot should complications arise, but will not install or deinstall your piece for you.

*Opening Reception
Saturday April 23, 2015 @ 12:30 pm (Rain Date Saturday April 30th, 2015)


Deinstallation
  • Sunday June 5th - Tuesday June 7th


Event Timeline
Toured Walk through BHNP Saturday January 23rd 4:30/ Rain Date Saturday January 30th noon

Applications are open Tuesday March 1st -Sunday March 20th, 2016 11:59 pm 

Artist Notification Thursday, March 20th, 2016

Installation Period   Monday, April 18th -  Friday the 22nd (Earth Day)

 Anyone painting a mural can start at a time agreed by both parties.

Opening Reception Saturday April 23, 2015 12:30 pm (Rain Date Saturday, April 30th, 2015)

Exhibition Run Sunday April 23 -  Saturday June 4th 

Deinstallation Sunday June 5th - Tuesday June 7th


Final check of the 100.00 stipend will be sent out after the art is removed by the artist — June 8th - 15th, 2016

Monday, February 1, 2016

Interview with Artist Sandrine Arons


Sandrine Arons, Life(time), 2011


1.Who are you and what do you do, and what is your background?

My name is Sandrine Arons and I’m a photographer based in Atlanta. I was born and raised in Georgia but I’m a dual citizen of France and the US. I am as comfortable in the country as I am in a big city. I’ve found that both have their appeal and I can’t seem to live without either. Thanks to my French mother, I grew up bilingual and spent all my summers in France with family. 

I spent the majority of my adult life in academics. I have graduate degrees in Humanistic Psychology and French Literature and taught both French and English at the university level.  In 2004 I moved to Paris to teach at the University of Paris while doing dissertation research and that is where I met my husband and had my son. After my father died in 2008, I wanted to move back to the States to be closer to my mother and my friends. So I convinced my French/Moroccan husband to move back with me in 2009 at which point I decided to make a serious career change and pursue my passion of photography. I was very disillusioned with what academia had become and recognized that my escape has always been photography. I recently completed my MFA at SCAD and I feel like it is just the beginning of this great journey. I don’t think I actually missed the boat, I think I was just waiting on the right one.

2. What's integral to your art and or art career?

Time. Time is very important and I have to be able to find enough time for my project ideas.
Light. Without it I can produce nothing.
Travel. Travel opens my eyes and allows me to turn the page to a new vision of the world.
Observation. I think this is one of the most important ones for me. This is why I became a photographer.

3. What themes do you pursue and what medium do you use?
Sandrine Arons, Myself as Madame Roland, 2015  

Whether in my art or in my academic writings, I have always focused on the theme of autobiography.  My psychology thesis was about the personal journal and self-growth and my dissertation in French literature was about self-reconstruction through personal writing.  When I began my studies in photography I had no intention of continuing with the autobiographical theme, but apparently it is what feeds my creativity.  For my thesis work I developed a project around my own life and multicultural background entitled “Frontiers”.  In many ways this series is an autobiography and I’m sure that the years I spent absorbed in that subject are at the origin of the work.
I use a camera (all sorts), lights (strobes or sun), people, places, things and I use the computer ALOT! I spend a pretty good amount of time on Photoshop.  That’s about the closest I get to painting or drawing because when I use the pen and tablet I am painting onto my image, through my image and around my image. For me that’s my favorite time…that’s the canvas where I create.

4. What makes you angry, what makes you happy?

I think that what makes me the most angry is injustice. I have a strong sense of fairness. Whether it be social, political or within my own home I need things to be just and fair and even. I become very passionate and angry when I see or feel that something is not balanced and I’ll be the first to point it out. I do not like it when I feel someone is being taken advantage of.

Sandrine Arons, Through the Wall, 2011
What makes me most happy is definitely being with people I love. I cherish the times I am surrounded by friends and family.  I will always try to find any reason to celebrate something as an excuse to have the people I love around me.  Celebration, for me, can mean anything from a big party to lunch with a good friend. 

5. Who and what inspire you in your work and or in your life in general?

I wouldn’t say that any one person inspires me.  I am inspired by a certain way of thinking or creating that is exemplified in certain artists, writers or philosophers. Although there are many, my biggest influences are especially women who have inspired me to create and feel comfortable in my own skin. Any time I read works by Anais Nin, Helene Cixous or Simone de Beauvoir all my senses seem to wake up. If I feel like I’m in a creative, psychological or intellectual rut, I know I can pick up any one of their texts and feel inspired again. They are like a breath of fresh air for me. In fact, I would say that literature in general is my biggest inspiration.  More so than visual art interestingly. I think that is why much of my work is multilayered and symbolic. I like each piece to tell a story or else be a starting point for someone else’s story. 

Sandrine Arons. The Painter's Hand, 2012
Outside of that, I am inspired by details. By that, I mean that when I get the chance to block out all the excess (noise, thoughts, stress, etc…) and be present with the details that surround me such as the rustling of the leaves in the wind, the way light hits a certain object, the creaking sound of trees in the woods, my dogs little footsteps on the hardwood floor, the way my son’s breath sounds when he sleeps or the way a line curves on someone’s face…the list is endless. These things inspire me by giving me a sense of calm and peace. Removing all the excess helps clear my head.

6. What superpower would you want?

This is actually a more difficult question to answer than I had anticipated! My first thought was a superpower that would allow me to eat everything I want and stay thin. But, seriously I think that the superpower I really wish I had would be to have limitless energy. There is so much I want to do but often energy fades and I find myself frustrated because I can’t manage to get it all done. 

7. What is your favorite artists and or other person?

Spending all my summers in Europe as a child meant that I was lucky enough to visit all the greatest museums and contemplate great works of art from a very young age. Living in Paris also gave me the opportunity to visit the Louvre as much as I wanted and one thing I realized is that no matter how often I would return to the Louvre, I always went back to the same hall to see the great Dutch and Flemish works. I guess it isn’t that surprising that these would be my favorites since photography, in some ways, borrows from them. The source and presence of light is so important in some of these paintings that it makes sense that a photographer would be moved by the artist’s ability to reproduce light with such brilliance.  Works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Borch and Rubens probably explain my love of portraiture and definitely influence my way of making portraits. In fact, my most recent series is directly linked to my fascination with those portraits in that I have appropriated portraits throughout history and turned them into self-portraits (back to my autobiographical influences). After spending hours upon hours staring at those paintings, I decided to become part of them. But even beyond the portraits, I love Bruegels landscapes and Mignon’s strange still life paintings. They are all very photographic to me. 

I also have an affinity for some surrealists such as Magritte, Dali and Man Ray. My “Frontiers” series has a surreal quality that was certainly influenced by their work. 

I also love the paintings of Frida Khalo and the conceptual projects by Sophie Calle. In terms of writers, I mentioned them in my influences, but I forgot to mention one of my favorite writers and artists, Antonin Artaud. There are so many others, but these are the ones at the top!

8. What advice would you give to other artists?

Because it is not until recently that I have finally called myself an artist, it is hard to give advice to others on the matter. I suppose I would tell emerging artists to meet other artists.  I have found that connecting with other creative people really motivates me. 

9. Contact details:
email: sandrinemonique@gmail.com
web: www.sandrinearons.com
Dodho Magazine: http://www.dodho.com/frontiers-by-sandrine-arons/