CALL TO ARTISTS

Collage & Illustration – The Awakening

A four-week, virtual/online residency with Kolaj Institute in October 2022
Deadline to apply: Sunday, August 28, 2022

During this project-driven residency, artists will collectively produce a series of collages that illustrate Kate Chopin’s 1899 novel, The Awakening. As a group, artists will analyze the story, discuss themes, uncover symbols, ask questions, and visually interpret the text for a 21st century audience. 

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 Awakening touches on 19th century feminist, identity, and societal themes that are still relevant today, such as;  What does it mean to be a woman? What are the expectations that society puts upon women? Are we bound to what we are born into? What does it mean to transform? What does patriarchy look like in 2022? 

Nancy Bernardo will lead the residency, facilitating the discussion of Chopin’s book. and speak about collage as illustration and how collage artists can engage with the marketplace for illustration. Christopher Kurts will serve as art director for this project and facilitate the collaboration. Heather Ryan Kelley will speak about “The Midden Heap Project” in which she made a collage response to each page of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake

Working digitally will be integral to the collaborative process but will not be a prerequisite for acceptance into the residency. We will speak about strategies for adapting your analog process to working digitally as well as what free and available resources exist. We also ask that artists who are already capable of using digital tools for collage support the artists who are learning new skills during the residency. For artists who plan to work with a hybrid analog/digital process, access to a scanner is invaluable.

WHO IS THIS FOR?

Collage Artist Residencies are intended for self-motivated artists, at any stage in their career, who want to develop their practice by exploring a topic or working method and collaborating with others to produce a final product. Residencies are open to any artist over the age of 21 from anywhere in the world. 

COST

The cost of the residency is $500 per artist; however, no artist will be turned away for lack of funds and the organizers will work with artists to build a financial aid package. 

HOW TO APPLY

Submit your application HERE.

RESIDENCY LOGISTICS

Dates: October 1 – November 2, 2022

SESSION DATES
Sunday, October 2nd, 1-2PM EST
Wednesday, October 5th, 4-6PM EST 
Wednesday, October 12th, 4-6PM EST
Wednesday, October 19th, 4-6PM EST
Wednesday, October 26th, 4-6PM EST

The residency will begin with an invitation to join the Slack workspace on Saturday, October 1st, followed by a one hour, online Meet & Greet on Sunday, October 2nd, 1-2PM EST. 

The Introduction and Orientation session will take place on Wednesday, October 5th, 4-6PM EST. 

Two sessions with guest speakers are scheduled for Wednesday, October 12th, and Wednesday, October 19th from 4-6PM EST. 

The final session will take place on Wednesday, October 26th, 4-6PM EST. The final deadline to complete the illustrations will be Wednesday, November 2nd. 

Artists are expected to attend all scheduled sessions and complete assignments. The group will individually and collectively produce a series of collage illustrations. By participation in the residency, artists grant Kolaj Institute, Kolaj Magazine, and Maison Kasini permission to publish the images in book form and in the promotion of the project and book. Any original work made during the residency remains the property of the individual artists with all rights retained.

APPLICATION PROCESS

The submission process asks applicants for:

• Contact information
• Artist Bio (50-250 words)
• Statement of Artist Practice (50-300 words)
• 5-7 images of artwork
• Statement of expectations
• Asks questions about your work and needs

QUESTIONS

If you have questions, send an email.


FACULTY

Nancy Bernardo

Nancy Bernardo currently lives in Rochester, New York and has been a practicing graphic designer for 22 years. She received her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has been an educator for 14 years. Bernardo’s work has been commissioned for book cover designs such as: Checking In/Checking Out (NO Books, 2010), New Orleans Review Art + Literary Magazine (2009-2014), Deconstructing Brad Pitt (Bloomsbury Press, 2011 and discussed in Kolaj 11) and History of Design: Beyond the Canon (Bloomsbury Press, 2018).

Bernardo has been recognized and awarded honors through Graphis Design Annual, Print Regional Design Awards, Design Observer 50 Books 50 Covers, HOW In-House Design Award, HOW Best of International Design and STA 100. Her work has also been exhibited in Rochester, New Orleans, Seattle, Chicago, New York City and in the United Kingdom. www.nancybernardo.com

Christopher Kurts

Christopher Kurts is a storyteller, artist, and the Coordinator for Kolaj Institute. Kurts is also the co-founder Christopher Kurts is a storyteller and artist in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the Coordinator for Kolaj Institute, where he has organized artist labs, residencies, workshops and forums which have often led to exhibitions and publications. In this role, Kurts acted as the Art Director for Kolaj Institute’s Oh, Money! Money! by Eleanor H. Porter, illustrated and interpreted by contemporary collage artists. His own work recently appeared in the exhibition, “Empty Columns are a Place to Dream” which debuted in August 2021 during the 53rd Annual Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival in Birr, County Offaly, Ireland. In January 2022, Kolaj Institute published a book about the project and the exhibition traveled to the Knoxville Museum of Art in Knoxville, Tennessee. Kurts is also the co-founder and lead organizer for The Mystic Krewe of Scissors and Glue, a group of creatives in New Orleans who meet monthly to collage, converse and foster community. Along with the Krewe, Kurts helped organize “Unfamiliar Vegetables”, a group exhibition for Kolaj Fest New Orleans in July 2019, which was later published as a book. www.christopherkurts.com

Heather Ryan Kelley

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Heather Ryan Kelley is a professor of art at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where she teaches painting and book arts. She holds a BFA in printmaking from Southern Methodist University and an MA in painting from Northwestern State University. In 2009 she established The Midden Heap Press, a press devoted to collage, printmaking, and artist books related to Finnegans Wake.

The first of the collages from The Midden Heap Project were shown in Charleston, South Carolina in 2013. As the project has progressed, it has been shown at Antenna Gallery’s Reading Room 220 in 2016; the University of Toronto’s Diasporic Joyce Conference in 2017; and, in 2018, portions of the project were displayed at the University of Antwerp’s Joyce Conference, in “Joyce in Art” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, in “Shelflife” at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in Lafayette, Louisiana, and in a solo exhibition at the Baton Rouge Gallery.

Kelley’s work based upon Finnegans Wake is in the collections of Cornell University, the New York Public Library’s Berg Collection, The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas, and the State University of New York at Buffalo. It has been featured on the James Joyce Quarterly, the James Joyce Broadsheet, and the James Joyce Literary Supplement.  www.heatherryankelley.com

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