I hope this update finds you well and safe. Many thanks to those of you who took the time to respond to my request for your thoughts regarding the information in the September Update. Your feedback is helping me to move forward in these uncharted waters.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH . . .
Ninth Wave Studio has been active since the last September Update I sent out. We successfully launched both a physical presence and virtual presence for our Equinox Exhibition curated by Maryellen Hains and Anna Z ILL. We have been receiving visitors to the gallery rooms by appointment only. Also, this exhibition is the first to have a video aspect where the artists present their work to a virtual audience.
With the assistance of Elizabeth Kerlikowske we added an Ekphrastic Art component to the Equinox Exhibition with sixteen Southwest Michigan poets engaging with the Equinox Exhibition artwork. These poems and videos of the poets reading their work are available for viewing at nwsvirtualgallery.com.The videos have also been posted on Ninth Wave Studio's Facebook Page.
Another first – we have launched our first "only virtual" exhibition of the paintings of emerging SW Michigan artist, James Schlage in mid-October.
Scheduled to open on December 4, 2020 is Ninth Wave Studio's 6th Annual Group Exhibition. This will be both a physical exhibition and a virtual exhibition. Physical visits to our gallery rooms will be able to be made by appointment only. I'm encouraging the artists to participate in video presentations for our virtual gallery.
THINGS THAT ARE COMING UP . . .
I have just proposed a new concept to the Photosynthesis Project Group to consider based on a topic discussion we had in our meeting last March regarding an Ekphrastic Event & Exhibition. I believe the project is workable while we continue to social distance. I’m calling the project “VOICES” – which combines both artwork and ekphrastic poety. I just sent out the info yesterday and have heard from six interested participants.
In February of 2021 we will have our second "only virtual exhibition" of the paintings of emerging artist, Anna Barnhart.
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS . . .
Now that I have had the opportunity to learn some video editing techniques and to learn my way around creating and maintaining a virtual gallery presence for Ninth Wave Studio I feel confident that adhering to the following bulleted items will help us to stay successful:
Moving from the commitment of having 6 exhibitions a year down to 3 or 4 – with each exhibition lasting 2 or 3 months.
Maintaining our relationship with the Arts Council by sending them photos and information in order to be included in their Virtual Art Hops.
Enforcing a mandatory compliance on the participating artists to submit the following by a given deadline: 1) emailed good quality photos of their artwork that are prepped correctly (300 ppi, width 1460 pixels); 2) an emailed document with info of artwork titles, media, dimensions and prices; 3) an emailed document with their artist statement and 4) participation in a video where they describe their work (this could be optional).
COVID-19 has led to the cancellation of our 2020 scheduled workshops, artists' salons, our artist residency, and our travel abroad trip – actually everything with the exemption of our exhibitions. Because it is evident that we cannot look forward to having this pandemic behind us anytime soon – I would like to ask each of you to respond with your thoughts and ideas of how we could and should proceed. It would be greatly appreciated – I look forward to be hearing from you.
Stay safe and healthy,
Linda
Our 12 Member Advisory Board
Lorrie Abdo
Don Ashcraft
Susan Badger
Mindi Bagnall
Tanya Bakija
Mark DeYoung
Maryellen Hains
Anna Z Ill
Beth McCann
Dave Middleton
Vicki VanAmeyden
Randy Walker
Ninth Wave Studio
Mary Louise Haynes House
213 West Walnut Street
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
The mission of Ninth Wave Studio is to promote, support and nurture the ingenuity and individual growth of the artists of Southwest Michigan by providing collaborative opportunities for exhibitions, creative events, experimentation, practice and dialog.
