Action Greensboro announces first Spark Fund Micro-Grants

 

GREENSBORO - Action Greensboro is excited to announce its first two Spark micro-grant recipients. This June, Action Greensboro announced the creation of the Spark Fund, aimed to support unexpected, fun and exciting projects in downtown Greensboro with an effort to create buzz and community involvement.

"Action Greensboro was thrilled to receive twenty-five Spark Fund proposals. Our staff and Operating Group were faced with making some tough decisions during the selection process as we received outstanding proposed ideas and projects." said Cecelia Thompson, Executive Director of Action Greensboro. "However, the two selected projects very much exemplified the creative spirit and ability to showcase of a long-term impact on Downtown Greensboro."

5K micro-grants will be made to the following projects:

Pop Up Denim Museum: Evan Morrison, of Gate City Dry Goods and Hudson Hill, and Zeke Vantreese, of Home State Apparel, will design, curate, and build a pop-up Denim museum that highlights Greensboro's incredible history as a driving force in textiles especially denim and flannel. Funds will be used to assemble vintage samples of denim, large historical photographs, design and build displays, procure printed materials to distribute, signage, and advertising. The museum will launch concurrently with the National Folk Festival and will be located in downtown Greensboro.

"I am thrilled that we will be able to showcase Greensboro's textile history during the National Folk Festival." said Evan Morrison of Hudson Hill.  "It has been a vision of mine to have a denim museum here, to educate, celebrate, and respect the numerous businesses and employees in this area where textiles were once king.  Zeke and I have talked about how just about everyone owns a pair of jeans, but not everyone knows our history as the denim capital of the world, among many other titles in textile and garment production, so this is our chance to build that footprint and permanently brand Greensboro a textile Mecca."

Light. Art. Activate: Octoberlight Designs and Greenhill will partner to bring excitement, energy and creative place-making to the corner of Davie Street and Friendly Avenue by utilizing projection technology. Using three window panels in the gallery at Greenhill, Octoberlight will install projection equipment and translucent window film to be used as a projection surface. The windows will become activated with energy from the projections of moving images from exhibitions, scenes from Greensboro, short videos and text. The projections will relate to Greenhill and the Greensboro Cultural Center. The installation will be in place by September 10th.

"Scott Stephens, of Octoberlight Designs, and I could not be more pleased to be a recipient of a SPARK grant.," said Laura Way, Executive Director of GreenHill. "Our project is about place-making: We want to activate the corner of Davie and Friendly Avenue-using light and projections to give Greenhill and the Greensboro Cultural Center a sense of destination. Right now people pass by and don't know what happens in our space or the building-this will help us make our mark and get people's attention. The projections will be on Greenhill's front windows, and will be vibrant, bold, creative, and highly visible to pedestrian traffic on Davie, heading East on Friendly and throughout Center City Park, as well as to those at the traffic light at Davie and Friendly."

The next deadline for the first Spark Fund micro-grant is January 13, 2016. The application is available online at actiongreensboro.org.

Action Greensboro was established in 2001 by local foundations to work with the business community, local government, and the community at large to develop and expand the economic and community environment of Greensboro. The Greensboro Partnership serves as the principal economic and community development organization in Greensboro, North Carolina.

For more information about Action Greensboro, call (336) 379-0821 or visit www.actiongreensboro.org.

- a press release

GREENHILL RECEIVES PNC GRANT FUNDING TO GROW FREE FAMILY NIGHT PROGRAM

"(Greensboro, NC) Greenhill has been awarded over $7,000 from PNC to expand the reach of free Family Night.  Having served 3,000 children and families in 2014, Greenhill is looking to increase this number by 25% to serve an additional 750 annually.  Greenhill recognizes the need to reach more community members through the Family Night programs and with added funding from PNC, it will be able to provide an additional staffing and art supplies to support and guide increased numbers of children and families. 

Family Night is a long standing tradition at Greenhill. Since 1996 Greenhill has offered Family Night, a program which provides children and families free access to ArtQuest and The Gallery on Wednesday’s from 5-7 PM. Comprised of four interactive studios, the ArtQuest studios are active, social spaces where families can make art and share ideas, create one-of-a-kind paintings or work with clay or new and unexpected materials at the hands-on exploration table.  The Art Works Studio contains large painting easels, table-top projects, and a clay station; the Scrap Lab offers and array of recycled materials to make the old into something new and creative, the Imagination Station is geared to the youngest visitors and offers books, blocks and puppet making with a puppet stage for children to present their own stories; and the NC Art Studio is an open space for drawing and other activities.  

ArtQuest facilitator Sam Jordan explains “On Family Night I enjoy seeing the families having fun while really getting into their art. The parents get involved with their kids and become immersed in the creations they come up with together.” Adding, “It feels like a little community of its own with our regular visitors as well as new-comers every week. I see a lot of different cultures come together and there's a lot of laughter and comradery.”

In addition to the ArtQuest’s extended hours and free admission, The Gallery at Greenhill also has extended hours from 5-7 PM on Wednesday evenings. While The Gallery is always free and open to the public, the Wednesday night evening hours offer a time of flexibility for families to participate and engage with the exhibitions.  Parent and Greenhill Board member Kess Thongteum described how the experience in a gallery setting translates to her children at home: “The Gallery is full of intangible benefits that I don't often think about. My girls spent an hour this morning putting together their own gallery. They put together several different pieces then announced the opening and even decided their gallery hours. I thought too funny. I know exposure to art is important, but the entire gallery experience, although difficult to quantify, is also so valuable.”

Benefits of participation in the arts cannot be understated. Studies show that underserved students who have access to the arts in or out of school also tend to have better academic results, better workforce opportunities and more civic engagement. Surveys taken over a month indicated 90% of Family Night participants attend because it is free of charge, exhibiting the need for Family Night.

About the PNC Foundation

The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (www.pnc.com), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. Through Grow Up Great, its signature cause that began in 2004, PNC has created a $350 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life. For more information, please visit www.pncgrowupgreat.com or follow www.youtube.com/PNC.

About Greenhill

Greenhill is located at 200 North Davie Street, in the Greensboro Cultural Center.  Greenhill promotes the visual arts of North Carolina by engaging a broad community of artists, adults and children through dynamic exhibitions and educational programs while providing a platform for exploration and investment in art. For more information visit www.greenhillnc.org."

- A Press Release

GREENHILL ANNOUNCES JONATHAN BRILLIANT ON-SITE

Jonathan Brilliant working on his installation for

Stick, Stack, Show (2011) at the Center for Visual Arts in

Richmond, VA ©2011 Jonathan Brilliant

"(GREENSBORO, NC) Greenhill announces the 2015 summer exhibition, Jonathan Brilliant On-Site, on display June 19 – August 30, 2015. Curated by Edie Carpenter, the exhibition is the first major exhibition in the Triad of the constructed environments of Raleigh-based artist Jonathan Brilliant known for his labor intensive installations.

Brilliant’s installation at Greenhill will be a modification of his coffee shop themed installations entitled “Have Sticks Will Travel: World Tour,” a marathon series of site-specific installations that have taken place in 13 galleries over 18 months, in three countries, and on two continents. Brilliant has utilized repurposed materials sourced primarily from coffee shop culture – composing his palette from disposable wooden stir sticks, iced coffee straws, paper cup sleeves and plastic cup lids. He explains, “In this ongoing series of work, I now continue to explore my sense that the coffee shop and related consumer environs are more organic and nurturing than the ‘real’ natural environment.” At Greenhill, Brilliant will develop a focused site-responsive work centered on the unique features and architecture of The Gallery at Greenhill. The installation, containing between 30,000-50,000 stir sticks woven in place entirely with tension and compression with no adhesive, creates an uncanny sculptural environment for the viewer, resulting in a unique experience for onlookers where they are quite literally immersed in an environment created from nothing but the repurposed materials from everyday life.  While on site he will create a dynamic and engaging installation reflecting his interests in the effects of labor, performance and materials applied to an exhibition space.

During the first ten days of Jonathan Brilliant On-Site, visitors will observe firsthand the construction and evolution of Brilliant’s immersive environment during open artist “residency hours”.  The open artist residency hours (12-2pm each day from June 23-27, 2015) give the artist the space and freedom to create something unexpected not only for himself but for Greenhill audiences as well.  The site-specific work will be constructed in at least one-half of Greenhill’s expansive 7,000 square foot gallery, with its high ceilings, bamboo flooring, abundant natural light and a front window looking out on a public city park.

“Brilliant has developed a specific construction technique that allows him to create airy woven walls of wooden sticks held together uniquely by tension and compression; meandering suspended paper pipes; and target-shaped geometric wall reliefs that evoke manufactured reiterations of Jasper Johns paintings,” explains Carpenter. His environments appear new-age in their responsiveness to site yet project a strong traditional craft-based sensibility in their elegant construction. Though his woven stick structures are Brilliant’s most well-known art form, he states that “…central to all my work is an interest in patterning and mark-making fused with the use of pre-consumer manufactured materials and the use of rhythm and repetition …”

Brilliant incorporates elements specific to each site in the conception of his work and in The Gallery at Greenhill, housed in the former front offices of the old News and Record building, the artist was particularly taken with the ceiling’s decorative plaster egg and dart moldings and the four concrete columns that divide the gallery.  He will use the moldings as inspirations for patterning and printmaking and use the columns as support for his monumental tensile structure.  Greenhill’s exhibition also includes works on paper and smaller assemblages with large mono-prints made from ferrous metal objects and crates enclosing 3-d structures.

According to Brilliant, “The creation of this work entirely in situ is grounded in my belief that the gallery space may be in direct conflict with the space where art is normally created and conceived. In order to dissolve these boundaries I try whenever possible to create my work in the place where it will be experienced. This act ensures that the audience will encounter my work in the same context where it was created.”

Laura Way, Executive Director explains, “Greenhill, has presented an exceptional range of exhibitions in the past 41 years, but rarely do exhibitions include site-specific, installation-based work that has this level of artist response to the environment and audience engagement.”  Once constructed, the work will be the center-point to myriad activities for adults and children and families through ArtQuest, Greenhill’s education program. ArtQuest Summer camps have been developed to take advantage of the installation’s sense of fun and whimsy as well as the art, science and engineering that it took to construct. Brilliant will lead an artist talk and conduct a teen workshop. The actual deconstruction at the end of the exhibition will be as lively and interactive as the construction. Greenhill envisions a contest to find identify the lucky one who gets to pull the right stick that sets the entire installation a tumbling down.

“How audiences interact with art, and how they define art is shifting and evolving as quickly as one can capture an image on Instagram, and it is incumbent on Greenhill to embrace changing realities of how art is viewed, received and perceived. With this residency for Jonathan Brilliant, Greenhill will establish a defined practice within its artistic program of incorporating an active audience participatory exhibition model into the curatorial matrix,” Way said. For more information about the exhibition visit www.greenhillnc.org/jonathan-brilliant-on-site.

MORE ABOUT JONATHAN BRILLIANT

Residing in Raleigh, NC, Jonathan Brilliant received his B.A. in studio art from the College of Charleston and an M.F.A. in Spatial Arts from San Jose State University. He has received numerous fellowships to artist residencies and communities including: McColl Center for Visual Art, The Ox-Bow School of Art, The Vermont Studio Center, and The East/West Project in Berlin Germany. He is a recent recipient of an individual artist grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the South Carolina Arts Commission 2011-2012 Visual Arts Fellow.

ABOUT GREENHILL

Greenhill is located at 200 North Davie Street, in the Greensboro Cultural Center.  Greenhill promotes the visual arts of North Carolina by engaging a broad community of artists, adults and children through dynamic exhibitions and educational programs while providing a platform for exploration and investment in art. For more information visit www.greenhillnc.org. 

ASSOCIATED PROGRAMMING

On-Site Insight Artist Talk

Annual Meeting, Thursday June 18, 2015 from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm

Installation artist and guest speaker Jonathan Brilliant will have a conversation about why nonprofit visual art organizations are critical to the creative development and career path of the artist. 

Jonathan Brilliant On-Site Artist Residency, June 23-June 27 daily from 12:00 to 2:00 pm

Follow on-line or participate in person in the construction of Jonathan Brilliant’s immersive installation made from disposable coffee products. During "open studio" hours the artist will be available to answer questions, demonstrate construction techniques and share his progress with the public.

Hands-on Activity Station in The Gallery, June 19 – August 30, 2015

Throughout the exhibition visit our hands-on activity station in The Gallery where people of all ages can explore the same coffee house materials used in the exhibition. 

Teen Workshop, Monday June 22, 2015 from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm

Work with Jonathan Brilliant from 11:00 am -12:00 pm on his gallery installation; have lunch and move to the studio to explore a “pressless” printmaking process involving ferrous metals and simple household products such as vinegar to capture "rust prints".

Open NC Art Review, Saturday, July 25 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm

North Carolina artists are invited to present 15 works to Director of Curatorial and Artistic Programs Edie Carpenter and Director of Programs Lynn Sanders-Bustle.

First Friday, Friday August 7 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm

Join us for First Friday and live music by the Piedmont Regulators from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. The Piedmont Regulators is a high energy string band from Hillsborough, NC. While mainly focused on music made around the 1920's, their style is influenced by a wide range of artists, from Appalachian Old Time to New Orleans Jazz, from Texas Swing Bands to Memphis Jug Bands. They guarantee every performance a visceral experience that will have you toe tapping, knee slapping, and hand clapping for more.

Jonathan Brilliant On-Site Closing Party, August 26, 2015, 5:30-7:30 pm "

- A Press Release

GREENHILL ANNOUNCES DANIEL JOHNSTON & HIROSHI SUEYOSHI: SCULPTURAL CLAY EXHIBITION

Daniel Johnston with his large pots in process. ©Daniel Johnston

"Greenhill announces the 2015 Spring exhibition, Daniel Johnston | Hiroshi Sueyoshi: Sculptural Clay, on display May 1 – June 10, 2015. The exhibition brings together two ceramic artists who come from different parts of the state: Daniel Johnston from Seagrove and Hiroshi Sueyoshi from Wilmington. Johnston and Sueyoshi are nationally recognized ceramic artists with distinctive styles.

In Daniel Johnston │ Hiroshi Sueyoshi: Sculptural Clay “visitors will see remarkable examples of wood-fired, wheel-thrown stoneware and hand-built porcelain and clay by nationally recognized ceramic” explains Edie Carpenter, Director, Curatorial and Artistic Programs at Greenhill. Working in distinctive styles, Johnston and Sueyoshi are combining clay traditions from East and West to create works that reference the vessel as a functional object, but are ultimately representational or sculptural forms.

Johnstons’ monumental jars are created from hand-dug local North Carolina clay and ash glazes evoke the tradition and history of the storage vessel. He is one of the newest “large-pot” ceramicists living in the Seagrove clay community to come to the national forefront and will present a site-specific installation for thirty large jars designed for Greenhill’s space. Johnston explains, “Visitors will enter a 60-foot long tunnel to view my jars.  They will experience light playing through the tunnel’s interior and perceive the monumental jars aligned in a series reflecting their production on the wheel. The architecture of the structure is built from the same wood that feeds the crucible where the pots were created— and evokes the design of the groundhog kiln of the American South. At the end of the corridor one last jar, I select, and will be displayed on a pedestal in a seamless cube, resembling a modern gallery space.”

In a separate part of The Gallery at Greenhill, works never before seen of Sueyoshi’s will be on display including his clay “stones”, which are handmade versions of the stones of the “dry landscapes” of 14^th century Japan.  Sueyoshi, who has worked as artist in residence at Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington’s Pancoe Education Center for the past nine years, will present a condensed version of his recent retrospective exhibition there, “Matter of Reverence”,  covering four decades of his production in hand-built porcelain and clay.  The bowl or vessel is reiterated in many different ways by Sueyoshi in works that suggest architectural structures or plant forms, often combining textured exterior walls with smooth interior surfaces washed in saturated colorful glaze.  In an interview in The Living Tradition, North Carolina Artists Speak Sueyoshi states that for the most part his forms always “leave something open so you can see inside” (2009, The NC Pottery Center, p. 165) leaving a visible reference to the vessel. 

The exhibition opens to the public on Friday, May 1, 2015 from 5:30 – 6:30 pm.  The first hour is time reserved for Greenhill members and sponsors to engage with the artists and curator.  Starting at 6:30, the public is welcome to join.  Free and open to the public. For more information on becoming a member of Greenhill, visit www.GreenhillNC.org/Join.

ADDITIONAL ASSOCIATED PROGRAMS

Artist Talk: Wednesday, May 20 from 5:30 - 7:30 PM

Daniel Johnston and Hiroshi Sueyoshi will each speak for 45 minutes and answer questions about their works.  Free and open to the public.  Refreshments

First Friday, June 5 from 6:00  - 9:00 PM

Join us for First Friday and live music by the Diego Hillbillies from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The Diego Hillbillies, an Americana band, play a mixture of tunes from many genres played like only hillbillies can! The band features William Hicks on mandolin, Charlie Murphy on bass, and Frank Fratoni on guitar and vocals. First Friday free and open to the public. Cash Bar. 

Adult Workshop | Clay Rattles: Make a Joyful Noise, May 7 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm or 6:00 – 9:00pm

Lynn Sanders-Bustle, Ph. D, Director of Programs at Greenhill, will be instructing this adult workshop. Lynn will share her experiences working with clay and other three-dimensional processes and will present a brief history of clay rattles. Participants will tour The Gallery and learn hand-building techniques and strategies which will be used by participants to create a one-of-a kind rattle. Lynn fondly remembers where her fascination with clay began, Lynn has taught ceramics and other three-dimensional processes to others. Sign up online at www.greenhillnc.org/adult-workshops.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Daniel Johnston’s 2010 “Large Jar” project utilized Thai techniques to produce one hundred large 34-40 gallon pots in as many days. The physical experience of forming the hundreds of pounds of clay used in the project took on a heroic dimension comparable to descriptions of Abstract Expressionist painters’ battles with their paint.  Johnston has been recognized by invitations to speak at the Smithsonian Institute’s Freer Gallery and the acquisition of major works by the Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte.  

A native of Japan, Hiroshi Sueyoshi studied at Tokyo Aeronautical College and served as apprentice to potter Masanao Narui in Mashiko before coming to North Carolina in 1971 to help design and build Humble Mill Pottery in Asheboro where he has worked for more than four decades. On his Eastern heritage Hiroshi has stated:  “Some people say, ‘Oh, your work is very Japanese influenced.’ And sometimes Japanese friends come here and see my pots and say, ‘Very much westernized.’”  (The Living Tradition, p. 161)  In recent years Sueyoshi has looked more closely at his Japanese heritage and his retrospective exhibition included two installations reflecting a restrained Zen esthetic:  "Empty Bowls" a meditation on the Japanese tea ceremony, presented 68 stoneware soup bowls, each marking a year of Sueyoshi's life.  "Rock Garden," featured stoneware "rocks" some resembling natural forms and others figures of the imagination, arranged in a configuration resembling a Japanese Zen garden. Hiroshi Sueyoshi’s works have been exhibited nationally in private, corporate and institutional collections, including the Renwick Gallery in the National Museum of American Art. In 2006 he was honored with the North Carolina Living Treasure award. "

- A Press Release

CALL FOR ARTISTS 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships Poster Competition

ATTENTION NORTH CAROLINA ARTISTS Greenhill and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships are looking for an original artwork portraying the spirit, athleticism and grace of figure skating for the official poster of the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships taking place at the Greensboro Coliseum from January 18-25, 2015.  The winning artist will receive $3000 for reproduction of their work on the poster as well as royalties from sales during the Championships. Second and third place entries will receive $750 and $500 respectively.  A People's Choice award of $750 voted by the public will also be awarded. Entries are due by September 30, 2014 CLICK HERE to submit your entry Rules for Submission: 1.  Eligibility: The competition is open to current residents of North Carolina (temporary or permanent) or out-of-state residents who have earned a degree from a North Carolina college or university.  2. Artworks must be 2-d.  All media (painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, fiber art) are accepted. Photography is excluded. Do not include typography or illustrated text in your artwork. 3. All submissions must be an original design by the entrant, not an adaptation of another artist's design, and conceived for reproduction as a 40 x 30 inch poster. 4.  Artists may submit up to two entries in the form of jpeg digital images. There is a $10 fee per entry. Submit online at:  www.greenhill.slideroom.com Please address any questions to:  edie.carpenter@greenhillnc.org 5. All submissions must be received by September 30, 2014. 6. Entrants must agree if they are selected as one of the 40 semi-finalists, to exhibit their work at the Coliseum from January 18-25, 2015 and prepare their work for display. 7. Semi-finalists will be notified by October 15, 2014. 8. Drop-off of semi-finalists' work at the Orientation Room, Greensboro Cultural Center, 200 North Davie Street, Greensboro, NC 27401 for juried review:  December 11, 2014. 9. Notification of winning design and 2nd and 3rd place entries:  December 15, 2014. 10. Awards conferred during a ceremony at the Greensboro Coliseum on January 16 or 17, 2015 (to be announced). 11. Works picked up at Greenhill, 200 North Davie Street, Greensboro, NC 27401 on January 28 and January 29, 2015. 12. The winning artists give Greenhill and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships the right to use their artwork, or part thereof, in any publication, advertising, or promotional materials.   For more information on the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, please visit the website at www.northcarolina2015.com.