ASPEN ART MUSEUM
SUMMER 2024 EDITION
18
Engagement
STRONG TIES Every year, the Aspen Art Museum’s Artist Fellowship supports local artists, providing mentoring, resources, community and a public platform to Roaring Fork’s finest. Kelsey Boyd reports.
in 2019 when Harvey oered her a job at his gallery. Pao is now writing poetry based on her dreams—a signicant divergence from her visual practice. The voices of 26 fellows in six years argue that there is an exponential possibility for artists to sustain and grow a practice when there are oppor- tunities to shift away from the isolated and individualized characteristics of creative work. The fellowship at the Aspen Art Museum highlights what can be accomplished when contem- porary art museums leverage their strengths of knowledge-building and resource-sharing with their local creative community.
toward work presented at the conclu- sion of the program. “My nal work was titled West Wing Patterns of Power ,” shares Marilyn Lowey, a 2019–20 fellow. Before she was a visual artist, Lowey was a theatrical lighting designer, illuminating the stage for Neil Diamond, Cyndi Lauper and the Pope. But once, when scenery props didn’t arrive for a show and Lowey was faced with an empty space, her metaphoric light bulb went o, “light was telling the story.” West Wing Patterns of Power began as a theatrical replica of the White House Oval O¡ce, but Lowey eventually edited the room down to the two-tone herringbone ¢oor lit by the three iconic windows. She credits studio visits and conversations with her colleagues during the fellowship for shaping the nal work. “It is an incubation period,” says the museum’s School, Youth and Family Programs Manager and artist, Sabrina
Piersol of the fellowship. Actualizing a concept requires support, especially when an artist is experimenting with new ideas or material. In the crowded day of an artist sustaining a practice in the valley, it is surprisingly rare for them to receive meaningful feedback from peers or have a centralized place for dialog. Each year, the fellowship concludes with a well-attended public presenta- tion. 2022 fellow Paul Keefe was investigating opposing realities by the end of his fellowship, like the Mandela eect and other discrepancies in human recollection. Keefe decided the best way to present this concept was to produce a prerecording of himself that humorously interviewed Paul Keefe live in front of an audience. “It’s an opportunity to try something dierent,” shares artist Nori Pao, a 2023 fellow based in Carbondale. After many visits to Anderson Ranch as a resident artist, Pao moved to the valley permanently
When artist Sam Harvey arrived in Aspen in the 1990s, he encountered a cadre of artists doing wildly experi- mental and interesting work. Despite having very little money, in 2005 he partnered with fellow artist Alleghany Meadows to open Harvey/Meadows Gallery. They both knew the artistic community from working at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and Meadows had a space at a local farmers’ market selling ceramics, so, as Harvey shared, regarding prospective collectors, “we had a foothold.” Many years later, the business partnership ended and the space was renamed Harvey Preston Gallery, but Meadows remained as a represented artist and Harvey contin- ues to guide the gallery. Creatives arriving in Aspen today encounter the same artistic vibrancy, but varied pathways to exhibiting in commercial venues. While the town has enjoyed the benets of recent cultural investments, limited commercial space has narrowed the scope of galleries and project spaces. Local artists turn to nonprots like The Art Base and Red Brick Center for the Arts to exhibit, and are extending both living and work- ing spaces across the greater Roaring Fork Valley. “To be an artist is a ton of work,” said Harvey. “You have to make the work, let people know about the work, and go to events where you can meet people to talk about the work. It’s a contact sport.” Artist Teresa Booth Brown agrees. When approached by the Aspen Art Museum to propose ways the institution could support local artists, she “came back with a list!” The concept she put forward for a fellowship encouraged direct engagement between artists and the museum’s community while oering a suite of programs that were not available elsewhere for artists. In 2018, the Aspen Art Museum Artist Fellowship welcomed its rst cohort. The museum connects fellows to visiting artists and curators, such as artist Doug Aitken and curator Chrissie Iles, organizes studio visits, provides professional development by Brown, who is now Director of Education and Community Programs, and pays an honorarium that most fellows put
Below Aspen Art Museum’s 2023 Artist Fellows: Nori Pao, Savanna LaBauve, Brian Colley, Brad Reed Nelson, Chris Hassig and Annie Bell. Photograph: Amy Gurrentz
Kealey Boyd is a writer and art critic. She lives in Denver.
Read more about our learning programs, including our summer workshops, on our website: aspenart museum.org/learning
To learn more about our fellowship program, visit: aspenartmuseum. org/learning/ artist-fellowship
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