We are thrilled to welcome you to the Museum for Art in Wood! Access to our exhibitions and permanent collection is free of charge to all visitors.

Prior to the opening of our “AllTURNatives Form + Spirit 2016” exhibition, we met with Albert LeCoff on Wednesday to discuss each resident’s work, specifically to help inform the acquisitions committee’s decision-making process. Each resident is requested to donate one artwork to The Center’s permanent collection. The discussion was lively and also gave us an in-depth look at the exhibition as it was taking shape under the expert hands of Karen Schoenewaldt.

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Albert decided Rebecca’s chair was a comfortable place to sit while we discussed Michaela’s work.

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Ashley, Katie, Rebecca, Amy, Michaela.

Rebecca and Amy, then Nuch’s work.

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John Thornton, videographer, recorded our conversations, and a video he is making of the 2016 Windgate ITE International Residency will be available on The Center’s website in a couple of weeks. Here we are discussing Katie’s Jewelry Box (aka “The Thing”).

Katie and Ashley, then Amy and Michaela.

 

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The glass shelves were perfect for Nuch’s Lunar Phases sculpture, which was selected by the Center for their permanent collection.

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The Center selected this sculpture of Amy’s for its permanent collection.

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From city to countryside, depicted by Amy’s unfolding landscape sculpture.

Amy included a piano-key wall lamp and a chair from her pre-ITE work.

 

 

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IMG_0968The wings move up and down when the trigger on the “gun” is pressed. Gun violence in America, especially when young children are accidentally shot, informed Ashley’s artwork during the residency.

 

 

 

 

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Michaela’s handmade journals, photographs, chest for drawers, and two chairs.

(Photos of Michaela’s Gordian Knots Series, courtesy Katie Sorenson.)  The sculpture with the red dot was selected for the Center’s permanent collection.

 

 

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The ring in the front, center, was selected by the Center for their permanent collection.

Rebecca’s table, wall shelf, and crown were pre-ITE, and she finished her chair during the residency. The flowing, graceful necklace (last photo) cast lovely shadows!

 

 

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IMG_0935The acquisitions committee selected Katie’s Flight on Wheels for the Center’s permanent collection.

Katie included several of her fantastical drawings.

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Boxes of all sorts!

 

 

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IMG_0865In addition to writing the blog, the “assignment” I gave myself as photojournalist was to make a representational piece of each of the other artists. I titled the series IMPRESSIONS.

IMPRESSIONS : Katie : Turning Fetish

IMPRESSIONS : Ashley : Embrace the Enigma 

IMPRESSIONS Series: Rebecca (Sophisticated Stranger), Nuch (Response to Devotions), Michaela (Blue Flow), Amy (Ghost Town)

She Sails, Letty’s ship, was selected by the Center for their permanent collection. I made this sculpture after having toured the Wharton Esherick Museum and hearing Mark Sfirri talk about Wharton’s wife Letty.

 

Professional studio photographs will be taken of each of the Residency artworks, so check the Center for Art in Wood’s website in a couple of weeks to view those images. Most of the artwork is for sale — if you see something that interests you, inquire — supporting these talented artists will help further their careers! 

 

What a fabulous summer with six amazing artists! In some ways, the work — the exhibition — may seem to be the event, however, it can more appropriately be viewed as the culmination of eight weeks of sharing work and play time together. We  bonded as a community, and each of us has stored up many fond memories.

Ashley returned to Australia to resume teaching classes that had already started. Nuch is touring California with family before flying back to Thailand. Katie drove directly back to Indianapolis and will prepare to teach classes this fall. After time spent at a friend’s wedding, Michaela made it to Maine. Amy had a short drive home to her country living. Rebecca lives in Philadelphia, so she was always “home.” I’m finally back in Indianapolis after teaching a one-day workshop at the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh on Monday.

A huge thank you to The Center for Art in Wood for their ongoing support of the Windgate ITE International Residency! We wish all the best to next year’s residency.

— Betty J. Scarpino, Photojournalist