EVENTS
Kolaj Institute in New OrleansKolaj Institute Gallery is an exhibition gallery, residency center, artist studio, library and archive. Located at 2374 Saint Claude Avenue, Suite 230, at the corner with St. Roch Avenue. Kolaj Institute also manifests in other locations and art institutions around New Orleans with the intent to activate community centered around collage.
CALLS TO ARTISTS
Artist Development at Kolaj Institute
At Kolaj Institute, our philosophy is that if we bring artists together, explore ideas and concepts, share knowledge, we can stretch and develop as artists. When we bring that knowledge and skill into our communities, we raise the standing of collage and contribute to the civic discourse. Kolaj Institute’s Artist Development Program is a collection of three core workshops for self-motivated artists, at any stage in their career, who want to develop and expand their collage-based artist practice and work towards professional goals, particularly in the areas of exhibitions and publishing.
Kolaj Institute Solo Residencies
Spring 2025 Deadline to Apply: Sunday, 29 September 2024
Kolaj Institute’s solo residencies in New Orleans are designed to provide artists, curators, and writers with dedicated time and space to work on a project.
Call for Submissions: PoetryXCollage
Submissions are reviewed on an ongoing basis
PoetryXCollage is a printed journal of artwork and writing that operates at the intersection of poetry and collage. Artists and writers interested in submitting should prepare 3-5 page spreads for consideration. Page spreads must conform to exact specifications and include a general artist narrative and a short page spread narrative.
CURRENT EXHIBITION
Advanced Wound Healing Techniquesat Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
16 August-6 October 2024
Bywater Second Saturday Gallery Walk: 14 September 2024, 6-9PM
Made in the months leading up to the artist’s 40th birthday, “Advanced Wound Healing Techniques” is a collection of collage made with personal photographs that were destroyed in a series of fires that took place when artist Robbie Morgan was 24 years old.
NEW VOLUME
PoetryXCollagePoetryXCollage is a printed journal of artwork and writing which operates at the intersection of poetry and collage. We are interested in found poetry, blackout poetry, collage poems, haikus, centos, response collages, response poems, word scrambles, concrete poetry, scatter collage poems, and other poems and artwork that inhabit this world.
NEW PUBLICATION
Magic in the Modern WorldTaking a broad view of magic and drawing from multiple histories, the book, Magic in the Modern World by Ric Kasini Kadour, proposes a way to think about magic in the 21st century, what it means to communities, and how it negotiates itself in systems of power. Generously illustrated, the book features the artwork of fifteen collage artists and dozens of historical images. The book asks, What role can artists play in nurturing and supporting magic traditions?
COLLAGE ARTIST MEETUP
Tuesday, 1 October 2024, 7-9PMAt Kolaj Institute, we reject the myth of the solitary artist and believe that artists are better in community with one another. In that spirit we invite working artists to join us for a monthly meet-up to get feedback on work, and network with one another. Find out who’s looking for folks to exhibit, meet other working artists, and get the low-down on the skinny of what’s up and up. The event is hosted by LaVonna Varnado Brown at Kolaj Institute Gallery. RSVP is helpful but not necessary. Artists are encouraged to bring artwork to share with the group. Questions? Send an email to info@kolajinstitute.org
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Current Issue of the Print MagazineIn the issue Editorial, “To Take Joy in the Joy of Others,” Ric Kasini Kadour asks how does one stay optimistic “in the face of a world that is increasingly divisive and at odds with itself. How do we stay positive and move forward when the world feels like it’s turning into a steaming pile of ….?” Helen Hartmann profiles Dutch Artist Anna van der Putte in “Cherishing the Beauty of Ephemeral Objects.” van der Putte’s assemblage, Yellow Stare Down, is on the cover. In “Migrating Forces,” Steve Bridgeman writes about how Charulata Prasada uses collage to explore culture, gender, and self. “Preservation Stations” reports on how Mark Vargo won a grant to make a series of collage-themed public sculptures that celebrate wildlife in Northern California. “My House Too” reports on how Danielle Cole is using collage to engage youth with history. Madeline Sorel shares her experience of the Kolaj Street Krewe Residency in New Orleans in “I Came for the Street Art, I Found a Community”. Anna Innocenti reflects on “the extraordinary impact of an artist residency” in “Evolving Collage Practice”. We review The Comfort of Crows, a new book by The New York Times contributor Margaret Renkl, illustrated by collagist Billy Renkl. In “Where Words Cannot,” Elizabeth Hazard considers S. Korey Steckle’s self expression through collage. Through artist portfolios, we journey to California, Iowa, Oregon, Virginia and Spain. We hope each issue of Kolaj Magazine takes you someplace you’ve never been.
NEW PUBLICATION
Collage Saves The WorldWe are living in an explosively political time, faced with crises that are not only deepening individually, but becoming increasingly intersectional in relation to each other. There is a strong history of collage art being used to tackle complex socio-political issues during some of the most difficult eras, but how can it meet this moment and spark meaningful dialogues about our varied, contemporary issues? In November 2022, G. E. Vogt led twelve artists in a month-long virtual residency with the goal of creating work that examines complex socio-political issues that contemporary society is contending with, in order to spark meaningful dialogue and inspire deeper engagement. Each artist chose specific issues to explore through the medium of collage. Their artwork allows viewers an opportunity to reflect on various forms of racism, colorism, ableism, and sexism; the war in Ukraine; climate change and the importance of permaculture; beauty standards and women’s autonomy. Their work makes its way into the world in this book and as a traveling exhibition.
FUNDRAISER
A New Home for Kolaj InstituteIn January 2024, Kolaj Institute moved into a 1200 square foot space in the New Orleans Healing Center on the corner of St. Claude and St. Roch Avenues. The space serves as an exhibition gallery, residency center, artist studio, library and archive. We need your help to make it happen!
NEW PUBLICATION
The Awakeningby Kate Chopin, illustrated & interpreted by contemporary collage artists
The Awakening focuses on Edna Pontellier, an upper-class New Orleans woman, torn between expectations and desires. In the beginning of the novel Edna appears to live in a semi-conscious state, trapped in the mundane aspects of her life. As the story evolves, she encounters new people and experiences that create an awakening shift within her. Edna begins to view her world differently, and through this lens new relationships emerge while others become strained. In the end, Edna realizes that even if she has her own desires she is still trapped by her societal role.
The mission of Kolaj Institute is to support artists, curators, and writers who seek to study, document, & disseminate ideas that deepen our understanding of collage as a medium, a genre, a community, and a 21st century movement. We operate a number of initiatives meant to bring together community, investigate critical issues, and raise collage’s standing in the art world.
Kolaj Institute works in partnership with Kolaj Magazine to communicate, market, promote, publish, and distribute the work of the Institute. Kolaj Institute is the recipient of Kolaj Magazine‘s archives and collections.
Kolaj Institute is decentralized and works in partnership with a number of art venues and other organizations around the world to manifest its programs.
Publications from Kolaj Institute
Consider this: The book, not the gallery, may be the best place to experience collage. This sentiment has broad implications for how collage artists work and how their work is received by an art world whose orientation is decidedly fixed on the gallery wall. Can the book provide the functions that the exhibition has historically provided to artists? Unlike an exhibition where original work is on display, a book depends on reproduction for its distribution. Will the public accept a book as an experience of artwork or even as an object of art in and of itself? And if we accept the book as being on par with the exhibition, how does that affect how we think of the history of art publishing that has come before?
Kolaj Institute works with Kasini House to publish books that document and diffuse ideas that deepen our understanding of collage as a medium, a genre, a community, and a 21st century movement. Books are often the outcome of residencies, fellowships, and other projects.
What’s New In Collage
CALL TO ARTISTS Queer Women’s Artist Lab: New Orleans Kolaj Institute and Kasini House’s Art Meets History project are organizing a Queer Women’s Artist Lab: New Orleans, 18-22 November 2024.… [...]
CALL TO ARTISTS Kolaj Institute Solo Residencies Dates: One or Two-Week Residencies with dates mutually agreed with Kolaj Institute SPRING 2025 DEADLINE: Sunday, 29 September 2024 The mission of Kolaj… [...]
CALL TO ARTISTS Collage in Practice Workshop A four-week, virtual/online workshop with Kolaj InstituteSaturdays, 19 October to 9 November 2024, 2-4PM ET Early deadline to apply: Saturday, September 28, 2024Final… [...]
CALL TO ARTISTS Curating Collage Workshop A four-week, virtual/online workshop with Kolaj InstituteSunday, 29 September to 27 October 2024, 2-4PM EDT Early deadline to apply: Saturday, 14 September 2024Final deadline… [...]
CALL TO ARTISTS Collage Publishing Workshop A four-week, virtual/online workshop with Kolaj Institute Mondays, 11 November to 2 December 2024, 6-8PM EST Early deadline to apply: Sunday, 20 October 2024Final… [...]