Very soon after deinstalling her MFA Thesis installation work this past spring, Boo Gilder (MFA 2013) packed up and move back to her native Alabama, where she will be starting a one-year stint as the Arts Education Coordinator at the Coleman Arts Center in York, AL. Her position is part of the Americorps program, and some of the fun responsibilities she’ll be shouldering include creating curricula, teaching in their children’s’ program, and assisting with special projects.
One of the series of Gilder’s series Dirt Prints
“It happened pretty quickly,” says Boo. “I’ve just gotten back into town and am starting to get settled in. The people are nice, the projects are cool, and I am really excited about the work begin done here.” To read her blog on the day-to-day goings on at Coleman, click here.
Artwork being created by InterArts alumna Maggie Puckett (2012) is on the top of the “must-have” lists for many special collections. Her piece The Scream of the Arctic (pictured below) was recently acquired by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and her artists’ book Total Ocean Recall has been purchased by St. Ambrose University. These two new cultural institutions join a growing list of collections that have acquired work by Puckett, including Smith College Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Savannah College of Art and Design, UC Santa Barbara, and Occidental College.
Puckett’s work is also generating a lot of interest in the media, as evidenced by her recent interview in Chicago’s Proximity Magazine. The article focuses on Puckett’s ongoing projects Phyto-Paper and War Gardens, both of which can be viewed on her website. In addition, Maggie is scheduled to speak at the 2014 College Art Association conference in Chicago in February, where she will be talking about her ongoing work and how it fits into contemporary American landscape and environmental art. And, she’s also gearing up for the spring 2014 CBPA exhibition Social Paper, where she will be exhibiting an interactive community project as part of the show.
Laurie LeBreton (2010) is soon heading out to Upper Arlington, Ohio for the upcoming Trans-Fiber + Paper Exhibition at Upper Arlington Cultural Arts Commission. The Commission’s 3500 square foot gallery will be the site of this innovative exhibition, in which paper and fiber are the primary mediums. Curators Char Norman and Elena Osterwalder, both accomplished fiber artists and papermakers, have selected LeBreton’s work (pictured above) to include in the exhibition, which is scheduled to open August 27 and run through October 25. A reception for the artists will be at the show’s midpoint, on Friday, September 20, from 5:00–7:00 p.m.
For more information on the show and the Concourse Gallery, click here.
