TWO STATE ARTS ORGANIZATIONS PARTNER IN INNOVATIVE PROGRAM DESIGNED TO EXPLORE AND SHARE THE CREATIVE PROCESS

SECCA, UNCSA Unveil the Artist’s Studio

"Two state organizations that bring premier arts education and programming to Winston-Salem, the Triad and beyond are partnering in a first-of-its-kind collaboration designed to explore and showcase the creative process.

The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) have announced a new program series, The Artist’s Studio, which will support dialogue and understanding around contemporary art for the public, while creating unparalleled educational opportunities for students. Under the program, contemporary artists brought in by SECCA and UNCSA will work with students and faculty from UNCSA to create original new works while documenting the creative process.

“Guest artists from SECCA and UNCSA will be ‘cross-pollinating’ the different arts schools at UNCSA,” explains SECCA Executive Director Mark Leach. “From dance to music and visual arts to film, contemporary artists will be creating synergies between the disciplines of the studio – the space where the arts are incubated and take shape. We then will invite audiences to experience the artistic process as it unfolds in a culminating event, which will blend live performance with discussion.”

“The visual and performing arts have always informed each other,” says UNCSA Chancellor Lindsay Bierman. “The Artist’s Studio makes art more accessible by showing the live creation of original, modern works. In this case, the process is the performance."

The Artist’s Studio was conceived during the fall of 2013, when UNCSA Provost David Nelson and Leach were exploring how to bring together the resources and talents of their respective institutions in an innovative way. They credit UNCSA School of Dance Dean Susan Jaffe for the impetus.

“So many people in Winston-Salem are doing amazing things in the arts,” Jaffe says. “This is a way to look behind the scenes.”

SECCA Curator of Contemporary Art Cora Fisher became a valuable addition to the project’s realization late last year as initial planning of the inaugural program developed.

The Artist’s Studio will kick off with two collaborations during 2014-15. The inaugural collaboration is scheduled for September, when conceptual artist Neil Goldberg will work with UNCSA dance and film students and faculty, culminating with a ticketed public event at SECCA on September 21. The second collaboration is slated for winter.

For more information visit www.secca.org or www.uncsa.edu."

- A Press Release