All Discussions Tagged 'review' - crafthaus2024-03-29T02:10:40Zhttps://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=review&feed=yes&xn_auth=noDiversity Versus Inclusion | Alliance of Artists Communities Annual Conference in Portland, Oregontag:crafthaus.ning.com,2017-01-16:2104389:Topic:5613512017-01-16T04:28:39.308ZJessica Toddhttps://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/JessTodd
<p><em><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058801756?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058801756?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></em></p>
<p><em>The grand entrance - for some - of the Benson Hotel in Portland, Oregon, where the 2016 Alliance of Artists Communities conference was held.</em></p>
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<p>Perhaps the greatest take-away for me from the …<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.artistcommunities.org/"></a></span></span></p>
<p><em><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058801756?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058801756?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"/></a></em></p>
<p><em>The grand entrance - for some - of the Benson Hotel in Portland, Oregon, where the 2016 Alliance of Artists Communities conference was held.</em></p>
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<p>Perhaps the greatest take-away for me from the <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.artistcommunities.org/"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Alliance of Artists Communities</span></a></span></span> conference I attended <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/alliance-of-artists-communities-annual-conference-in-portland"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">last year</span></a></span> has been the recognition of the gap between diversity and inclusion. As an administrator at an artist residency, this is an ongoing area of concern and need for growth. While we have the tools (that we must choose to utilize) to increase diversity of race, nationality, economic status, sexual orientation and identity, disability, age, discipline, etc., the important word we often overlook is <b><i>inclusion</i></b>.</p>
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<p>Conference keynote speaker, performance artist <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="https://www.3arts.org/artist/Barak-ade-Soleil/"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Barak adé Soleil</span></a></span>, who also happens to be an artist-in-residence where I work, spoke to us about the politics of space. As a wheelchair user, he asked us simple questions: How were you welcomed into this space? Did you enter the hotel through the front entrance? Did you go up the five steps? Nod at the bell hop? Enter through the grand revolving door? Look up at the high ceiling with carvings and paintings before making your way to the reception desk? Or were you directed to the back of the building? Where you entered next to the dumpster? Where you weaved through service hallways and dodged housekeeping carts before finally reaching reception?</p>
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<p>That was all he needed to say – we all understood. In all honesty, prior to that moment I had never deconstructed word “accessible” and how it can be used without any regard to the feeling of inclusion. I continued to learn about this topic in the follow-up session, “Disability Access and Inclusion” with <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="https://handson.org/ourstaff"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Beth Prevor</span></a></span>, co-founder and Executive Director of <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="https://handson.org/"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Hands On</span></a></span>. As Beth pointed out, disability is the only category of diversity that we can and likely will all join at some point in our lives – all the more reason to address it. She underlined the points made by Barak – that in order to achieve equality, everyone must actually <i>feel</i> equal. An important component here is to communicate with the person who has the disability, to be clear about exactly what you mean when you describe access, and to work toward inclusive solutions with that person.</p>
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<p>The second keynote speaker, Cree singer-songwriter <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://buffysainte-marie.com/"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Buffy Sainte-Marie</span></a></span>, discussed the exploitations she experienced throughout her career, including unintentionally selling the rights to her hit song <i>Universal Soldier</i>. She encouraged us to provide even more support to the marginalized, to teach artists to protect their rights, and to remember that as well-intentioned gate keepers, often the solution is as simple as reaching out. She shared the lyrics of her song, <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTqV1pnQoos"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">My Country ‘Tis of Thy People You’re Dying</span></a></i></span>:</p>
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<p><i> "The past it just crumbled, the future just threatens;</i></p>
<p><i> Our life blood shut up in your chemical tanks.</i></p>
<p><i> And now here you come, bill of sale in your hands</i></p>
<p><i> And surprise in your eyes that we're lacking in thanks</i></p>
<p><i> For the blessings of civilization you've brought us,</i></p>
<p><i> The lessons you've taught us, the ruin you've wrought us</i></p>
<p><i> Oh see what our trust in America's brought us."</i></p>
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<p>In the session, “Who Are We Serving and How?,” the conversation continued. Alliance Executive Director <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.artistcommunities.org/staff"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Lisa Hoffman</span></a></span> repeated the call that we need to pursue inclusion with more urgency; that if we do not take immediate and intentional action, then we are complicit. As institutions, we need to delineate our terms of diversity and inclusion, and we need to question notions of meritocracy. When we talk about improving our reach to certain communities, we must actually <i>go</i> to those communities and ask <i>them</i> how we can serve them better, and be receptive to their response. We need to question our staffing, our Euro-centric definitions of art excellence, the underlying paradigms in our structures, and the transparency of our processes. We need to be willing to shake things up when an entrenched norm has unintentional consequences.</p>
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<p>I spoke to Lisa afterward and thanked her for her urgent call, evident in her own speaking, but also in the programing of the conference. I am thankful that this push is coming from the top of the organization, as it is often challenging to push up from the bottom. This leads me to my own field of Jewelry/Metals and the greater Crafts field, which I fear has yet to address me and my peers with a similar call to duty. I have seen a lot of fantastic work out there addressing social issues, but we can all look around at our conferences and in our publications and see that there is an inequity of representation. We are predominantly white, college educated, middle class background, cis-gendered, and non-disabled.</p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b>We <i>must</i> begin to question – if nowhere else than at our conference this year in one of the most multicultural cities in the world, New Orleans – Who is included here, who is not, and why?</b></span></p>
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<p>One thing I have noticed is a tendency when addressing social issues to point to individuals and question individual action. But when there are such visible and palpable overarching disparities, that means something in the system, in the framework, is wrong. <b>To my fellow metalsmiths, jewelers, craft artists: It’s time to look at ours.</b></p>
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<p><b><br/></b> <em>Check out the other conference topics I covered: <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><strong><em><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/redefining-the-residency-alliance-of-artists-communities-annual" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Redefining the Residency</span></a></em></strong></span><em><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/community-engagement-social-practice-alliance-of-artists-1" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Community Engagement & Social Practice</span></a></span></strong>.</em><i><br/></i></em></p> Community Engagement & Social Practice | Alliance of Artists Communities Annual Conference in Portland, Oregontag:crafthaus.ning.com,2016-10-28:2104389:Topic:5584522016-10-28T17:46:48.124ZJessica Toddhttps://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/JessTodd
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058790258?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058790258?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><i>Postcard by Sharita Towne for the Exhibition</i> Our City in Stereo<i>, presented by Newspace Center for Photography in partnership with c3:initiative. Sharita spoke in the session, “Arts and Equity in the Neighborhood.” …</i></span></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058790258?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058790258?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><i>Postcard by Sharita Towne for the Exhibition</i> Our City in Stereo<i>, presented by Newspace Center for Photography in partnership with c3:initiative. Sharita spoke in the session, “Arts and Equity in the Neighborhood.” <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #3366ff;"><a href="http://www.c3initiative.org/sharita-towne--c3studio-residency.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3366ff; text-decoration: underline;">http://www.c3initiative.org/sharita-towne--c3studio-residency.html</span></a></span></i></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;">Community engagement and social practice are becoming more common in the art world and, frankly, have become something of a trend. The topic has been spoken about increasingly as an important initiative for artists communities, and I see it frequently in the practices of the artists-in-residence where I work. The craft community is seeing glimpses of it as well – in the Jewelry/Metals field, which I am most familiar with, at the <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #3366ff;"><a href="http://www.snagmetalsmith.org/conferences/impact-looking-back-forging-forward/home-2/"><span style="color: #3366ff; text-decoration: underline;">2015 SNAG conference in Boston</span></a></span></span> with the “Social Impact” presentations by Sam Aquillano (speaking about <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #3366ff;"><a href="http://designmuseumfoundation.org/boston/"><span style="color: #3366ff; text-decoration: underline;">Design Museum Boston</span></a></span>), <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #3366ff;"><a href="http://gabrielcraigmetalsmith.com/"><span style="color: #3366ff; text-decoration: underline;">Gabriel Craig</span></a></span>, <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #3366ff;"><a href="http://www.michaeljstrand.com/"><span style="color: #3366ff; text-decoration: underline;">Michael Strand</span></a></span> (a ceramicist), and Jason Talbott (speaking about <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #3366ff;"><a href="http://afhboston.org/"><span style="color: #3366ff; text-decoration: underline;">Artists for Humanity</span></a></span>). It’s a great trend – artists connecting with the community is an excellent vehicle for social change – but it’s one that can be not-so-great or even harmful when approached superficially or without careful consideration.</span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;">During the session in my previous post, “Self-Declared: Practice and Politics of DIY Artist Residencies in Portland,” our group discussed the difficulty of reaching the underserved members of our communities. I was particularly impacted by the words of <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #3366ff;"><a href="http://18thstreet.org/staff-and-board/"><span style="color: #3366ff; text-decoration: underline;">Betty Marín</span></a></span> of <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #3366ff;"><a href="http://18thstreet.org/"><span style="color: #3366ff; text-decoration: underline;">18th Street Arts Center</span></a></span>. Betty emphasized that effective community engagement should not necessarily come in the form the artist envisions – which often comes from a place of social, racial, or economic privilege – but rather should come from the underserved community members themselves. This may manifest in more practical ways, such as providing childcare for community engagement events, or by providing art education in the form of skill-building services to support career growth.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;">Her words opened my eyes to the meaning of social practice. I realized that artists who desire a practice of community engagement cannot decide themselves what the community needs or how they can best engage. The artist needs to invite the community members they wish to reach into the discussion, and allow <i>them</i> to define their needs and how they’ll best be served. That should be the starting point, and the rest should grow from there.</span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;">Another session I attended, “Arts and Equity in the Neighborhood,” expounded upon this theme. A major focus in the session was gentrification and how each of us are individually implicated. We were instructed to be honest with ourselves about the role we play, and to speak from “I” statements, rather than making assumptions about others’ experiences. It was pointed out that even an arts organization in a gentrifying neighborhood can play a negative role in the fact that it appeals to a comparatively wealthy white population, and that it is important for those organizations to partner and collaborate with existing community organizations that directly serve the original community in a constructive way. A reverberating quote from the session was, <span class="font-size-3"><b>“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,”</b></span> meaning that if members of the underserved population are not included to have a voice and an input – if you’re making assumptions about what they desire and need – then they are being <i>consumed</i>, meaning both drowned out and profited from.</span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;">This is so important to keep in mind, <i>particularly</i> when we have the best of intentions. If you are creating work or working in the realm of social practice – no matter how loosely defined – make sure you are either speaking from your own experience, or bringing those with the experience to speak for themselves. Be open to the fact that your initial ideas may not work, and that you may have to adapt or hand over control completely. If you can’t do that, then consider why you are making the work. If you’re making it for yourself, then make work for yourself and call it what it is. There’s room for that kind of work, too. But if you’re making work to benefit someone else, make sure it is actually achieving that goal.</span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;"><i>Check out the other conference topics I covered: <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><em><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/redefining-the-residency-alliance-of-artists-communities-annual" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Redefining the Residency</span></a></em></span></span><span> </span></strong>and<strong><span> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><em><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/diversity-versus-inclusion-alliance-of-artists-communities-annual" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Diversity Versus Inclusion</span></a></em></span></span><i>.</i></span></strong></i></span></p> Redefining the Residency | Alliance of Artists Communities Annual Conference in Portland, Oregontag:crafthaus.ning.com,2016-10-18:2104389:Topic:5577042016-10-18T01:04:43.346ZJessica Toddhttps://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/JessTodd
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058783063?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058783063?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><i>Photo by <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.ericamerylthomas.com/artist-in-residence-project/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Erica Thomas</span></a></span>, The ARTIST IN RESIDENCE sign is lit whenever someone at the house is doing creative…</i></span></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058783063?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058783063?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><i>Photo by <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.ericamerylthomas.com/artist-in-residence-project/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Erica Thomas</span></a></span>, The ARTIST IN RESIDENCE sign is lit whenever someone at the house is doing creative work.</i></span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;">The first standout theme from the <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/alliance-of-artists-communities-annual-conference-in-portland" target="_self"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;">AAC conference</span></a></span> that I will discuss is <i>Redefining the Residency</i>, a topic that can be applied to any arts discipline and one that I, too, have worked to <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/diy-artist-residency-in-residence-at-home" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">redefine in the past</span></a></span>. The session, “Self-Declared: Practice and Politics of DIY Artist Residencies in Portland,” presented five local artists discussing the ways in which they have reconstituted the parameters of an “artist residency” for reasons political, pragmatic, and artistic. Such alternative opportunities are especially important for artists who work in community engagement, experimentally, and/or with no intent of measurable outcome, for whom traditional residencies are not often a fit for their practice.</span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.ericamerylthomas.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Erica Thomas</span></a></span> defined her declaration to become an artist-in-residence in her own life, resisting existing patriarchal structures and including in her practice her roles as wife, mother, and coworker, merging life with art. (Erica lists her marriage on her CV as an ongoing collaboration, 2012 to present.) Her audience for her work fluctuates from one to hundreds or thousands, but her practice is constant and exists in every aspect of her life. Erica pointed out that while her practice works in opposition to what typically defines institutional support – and that though, by definition, she must remain autonomous – her practice would benefit from funding, performance space, and conversations with a collaborative audience.</span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://taryntomasello.com/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;">Taryn Tomasello</span></a></span> shared her experience creating a renegade residency on <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="https://orgsync.com/13029/events/1449278/occurrences/3289485" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Ross Island</span></a></span>, an island in the Willamette River (which bisects the city of Portland) that is part city-owned forested riparian zone, part quarry, part toxic land fill. Taryn, with her husband and children in tow, camped without permission on the island and completed ephemeral projects she documented in photos and video. She investigated ideas of displacement and ownership of land, while allowing her work to exist in communication with her ongoing residency in motherhood. Taryn brought in other artists to join her on the island, and a catalog and several exhibitions have resulted from the residency.</span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://efitzgerald.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Emily Fitzgerald</span></a></span> began a self-declared residency at the Hollywood Senior Center in Portland after frequent visits with her grandmother revealed to her a community in need. Her practice is based around artistic research and storytelling, working with the residents to use photography and writing to learn about each other. The collective developed a printed book, performed readings in various locations, and <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://efitzgerald.com/filter/Projects/Being-Old" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;">created an installation</span></a></span> that made the Center’s public space more humanizing. In another project, Emily <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://efitzgerald.com/filter/Projects/Some-Time-Between-Us" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">grouped high school students</span></a></span> with the Center’s residents and had them write about the role of dependency in their lives and ask each other questions about their respective generation and life experience. This led to individually responsive work in the form of writing and drawing. Often, these social energies are not considered “art” in the context of the institution. The self-declared residency allows for them to be.</span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;">Katy Asher and Ariana Jacob put a name to their project – the <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/ResidentResidency/about/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Resident Residency</span></a></span> – in which they gathered fellow artists to create work in their own communities. Often, residencies bring in artists to an unfamiliar neighborhood to have impact there, but Katy and Ariana envisioned a residency where artists create impact in their own neighborhoods without having to leave home. Each artist developed a “residency” within his or her respective <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="https://www.portlandoregon.gov/oni/28385" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Neighborhood Association</span></a></span>, groups already doing social practice-esque projects throughout Portland. The Neighborhood Associations provided a platform and a source of funding for projects such as community gatherings and project catalogs. However, the artists found it challenging to create subversive work inside the parameters of the Association’s vision, and struggled to reach underserved or peripheral members of each neighborhood.</span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;">All of the speakers expressed frustration with finding funding for their projects after they had occurred, rather than before, when the funder holds stake in the outcome. They are hoping to spread the word about the value of self-declared residencies to their communities, funders, and art institutions. (A representative from <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.americansforthearts.org/by-topic/united-arts-funds" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">United Arts Funds</span></a></span> shared that her organization is one to reach out to for such funding.)</span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;">For me, what resonated is that you do not have to wait for an institution such as a university, gallery, museum, funder, etc. to grant you lines on your resumé or venues for your work to develop or be shown. You can create your own opportunities and they are just as valid, and just as resumé-worthy. Too often we wait for acceptance or permission to do what can be done on our own.</span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;" class="font-size-3"><b>My charge is this: Think, declare, and do for yourself as an artist, and soon the institutions will catch up with <i>you</i>.</b></span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;"><i>I would be remiss not to plug my December 2015 Crafthaus article <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/diy-artist-residency-in-residence-at-home" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">“DIY Residency: In Residence at Home”</span></a></span></strong>.</i></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><i>Also check out the other conference topics I covered: <strong><span><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><em><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/community-engagement-social-practice-alliance-of-artists-1" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Community Engagement & Social Practice</span></a></em></span> </span></strong>and<strong><span> <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><em><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/diversity-versus-inclusion-alliance-of-artists-communities-annual" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Diversity Versus Inclusion</span></a></em></span><i>.</i></span></strong></i></span></p> Alliance of Artists Communities Annual Conference in Portland, Oregontag:crafthaus.ning.com,2016-10-14:2104389:Topic:5575192016-10-14T20:16:50.724ZJessica Toddhttps://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/JessTodd
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3" style="color: #333333;"><strong>Alliance of Artists Communities Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058783420?profile=original" target="_self"><span style="color: #333333;"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058783420?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></span></a></span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;">Last week I attended the…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333;" class="font-size-3"><strong>Alliance of Artists Communities Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058783420?profile=original" target="_self"><span style="color: #333333;"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1058783420?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"/></span></a></span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;">Last week I attended the <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.artistcommunities.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Alliance of Artists Communities</span></a></span> annual conference in Portland, Oregon, with my organization, the <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/residency" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;">Rauschenberg Residency</span></a></span>, a program of the <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Robert Rauschenberg Foundation</span></a></span></span>*. The Alliance is an international association of artist residencies who gather annually to share advice, network, and advance the field together. I’d like to share what I learned as a residency administrator, but also as a contemporary craft artist and metalsmith and how it can be applied to our field.</span></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;">The conference opened with what would become major overarching themes of the week – seeking out balance and equity in the field; redefining “excellence”; and highlighting the gap between access and inclusion. The Alliance’s new Executive Director, Lisa Hoffman, began with a call to all of us to improve the inequities still thriving in the residency field as a whole. <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/elizabeth-woody" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Elizabeth Woody</span></a></span>, a Native poet from Portland, opened with an acknowledgement of the people on whose land we were gathered – including the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, and Chinook <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="https://www.portlandoregon.gov/oni/article/505489" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Indigenous people</span></a></span> who were colonized and displaced by Europeans. This introduction was repeated frequently throughout the conference – something I think we should all strive to include in the gatherings in our own towns and cities. Writer <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.corporealwriting.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Lidia Yuknavitch</span></a></span> followed with a moving reading about the talented students she has worked with as a professor at the <span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://www.mhcc.edu/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;">Mt Hood Community College</span></a></span>. She shared a message that excellence can come from the “bottom” up – from people who have spent time in jail, from the homeless, from illegal immigrants – and that it is our responsibility to keep an eye out for their talents and not to pass everyone through a lens that only celebrates those from a certain background, a certain level of education, or a certain aesthetic. We, as human beings, are all pieces of each other and it is our responsibility to lift each other up.</span></p>
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<p><strong><span style="color: #333333;">Over the next several posts, I will work through what were for me the highlights of the conference, thematically:</span> <span style="color: #333333;"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><em><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/redefining-the-residency-alliance-of-artists-communities-annual" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Redefining the Residency</span></a></em></span></span><span style="color: #333333;">, <em><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/community-engagement-social-practice-alliance-of-artists-1" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Community Engagement & Social Practice</span></a></span></em>, and <em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><a href="http://crafthaus.ning.com/group/mfaguidebook/forum/topics/diversity-versus-inclusion-alliance-of-artists-communities-annual" target="_self"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;">Diversity Versus Inclusion</span></a></span></span></em><i>.</i></span></strong></p>
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<p><span style="color: #333333;"><i>*<em>This article was written by Jessica Todd in her personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect the view of the Rauschenberg Residency or the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.</em></i></span></p>