ST[ART] RESIDENCY

St[art] is a residency program in Calgary run by the Calgary Allied Arts Foundation (CAAF) - a non profit foundation that encourages development of art and culture in Calgary and assists with the acquisitions of works of art for the City of Calgary.

St[art] was established in 2006 and was developed in response to the scarcity of studio and exhibition spaces available for visual artists in the City of Calgary. The residency gives artists and designers, both emerging and mid-career, the opportunity to work and exhibit in a studio on a short-term basis. The early success and popularity of the program based on studio space at Art Central in downtown Calgary encouraged CAAF to expand the program to a second studio space. This is in an historic warehouse at 319 - 10 Avenue SW, which has become a haven for many artist's studios.

St[art] @ Art Central, the first studio space to be offered by CAAF, has been offered since July of 2006. Residencies in the space are offered on a one-month or two-month basis depending on programming requirements submitted by the artist. Although not large in size, it offers residents an excellent opportunity to work on small-scale pieces. At the same time, it provides them the opportunity to connect with other artists as well as members of the public on an ongoing basis. First Thursday a monthly event in downtown Calgary offers the residents an excellent opportunity to stage their own exhibition and to gain crucial exposure. Since its inception, st[art] has seen the number of applicants for the space exceed programming availability.

St[art] 4Five was created to offer artists a larger working space for a longer time period. Although not as visually accessible to the public, it provides residents an excellent opportunity to make contact with other working artists as well as allowing the option for exhibition openings. Residencies in the space are offered for three-month periods. St[art] 4Five began operating in July 2009.

Submissions for each st[art] space are juried once a year. Applications submitted before the deadline date of Oct 31st are considered for residencies within the January-December period of the year following. Members of the st[art] committee review each submission and select successful applicants based on merit of proposal and programming requirements. Each residency allows for a monthly stipend of $500 as well as an exhibition allowance per residency of $100.

Click here for a pdf with full program and submission details.

Diana Un-Jin Cho

st[art]@art central resident July 4, to August 7, 2010.

INVITATION

Fibre Works by Diana Un-Jin Cho
Thursday August 5th, 2010
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Art Central Studio Loop

PROJECT PLAN

Chogakbo is a form of Korean patchwork originating from the 14th century when Korean women used up their scraps of silk, cotton, ramie, or linen from making clothes to make wrapping cloths and covers. These cloths were used for wrapping many things including precious articles, clothes, and for covering tables of food. Chogakbo was made by sewing remnants of small pieces of cloth together with a multitude of crossing lines not unlike quilting.

My focus during the residency will be on studying Chogakbo designs and reinterpreting them on a series of canvas and cheesecloth using similar colour schemes and designs. In each piece, I will be creating an abstract image with simple geometric shapes and patterns utilizing Korean mulberry papers, cotton, and silk threads. My goal is to produce visual simplicity and vibrancy reminiscent of Korean patchwork and to fill the space with small patches of colours.

For more information, please visit http://www.dianaujcho.com.

BIOGRAPHY

Diana Un-Jin Cho is a fibre artist. She received a BFA from the Alberta College of Art and Design in 2007. Spending her childhood in Korea then immigrating to Canada, her art is an attempted reconciliation of two dramatically different aesthetic traditions, one of which has a particularly rich textile tradition. Her recent artwork presents rhythmic juxtapositions of hues and lines inspired by the fourteenth century Chogakbo quilting in Korea. She enjoys working intuitively with both new and recycled materials to create sometimes harmonious, sometimes disjointed assemblage of emotive forms and colours to evoke the varied experiences of her life. She currently lives and works in Calgary, AB.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My work is defined as the interplay of colour, pattern, and texture. Colour has always been a driving force in my work. I enjoy the relationship between colours and the effect it has on emotions. In each piece, I tend to use a wide range of bright, solid colours in order to create an intense colour relationship. I am also interested in producing a visual energy that is created by abstract patterns and uneven texture. On the one hand, I am playing with my materials; I am manipulating colours, and textures within a piece to evoke the senses and the emotions while on the other hand, I am subconsciously revealing my cultural background, creating a hybrid of Eastern and Western aesthetics.

Brandy Dahrouge

st[art] 4Five resident April - June, 2010.

INVITATION

Photographic Works by Brandy Dahrouge
Friday, June 4th, 2010
7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Graycon Building, Studio #504
319 - 10th Avenue SW Calgary
[5th floor, above Untitled Art Society]

The work I am developing during this residency examines the influence of the past on the present in the changing urban environment of Calgary and my experience with it. How is evidence of the city's architectural past treated? What role do these structures play in the cultural psyche and current development of Calgary?

I set out to capture evidence of former and current structures coexisting side-by-side. I documented many old structures that are being used in a "modern@quot; way, reflecting the changing nature of the city. Additionally, I captured those historic structures that are on their way out - making room for new development. To better illustrate my ideas around this confluence or past and present, I used a combination old and new photographic technology. I looked at the present through a lens of the past, by placing a homemade pin hole lens on my digital camera.

For further information, please visit my website http://www.brandydahrouge.com.