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Arts & Cultural Directory for Durham and the Triangle Region: Artists, Creatives & Cultural Workers

Jessica Campbell

Graphic Arts; Visual Arts: Graphic Arts, Illustration, Works on paper; Ui/Ux Desgign

JESS IS A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY ARTIST SINCE SHE WAS OLD ENOUGH TO PICK UP A CRAYOLA GLITTER CRAYON. NO MATTER IF THE MEDIUM WAS ILLUSTRATION, GRAPHIC DESIGN OR TRADITIONAL ART EXPRESSIVE COLOR AND EXPLORATION IS PRESENT. The process of learning, creating, and sharing art is her biggest passion. This was most clear to her while studying hospitality and tourism but skipping classes to go to art museums and filling out her watercolor sketchbooks in coffee shops. With Inspirations like Jade Purple Brown, Kel Lauren, and Shanti Sparrow and winning a design contest awarding me 1 year free of adobe from Relative Opacity. A few years later she is a proud self-taught freelance designer. Now is currently leading her way into a professional art career with the goal to inspire others to follow their creative dreams.

Greg Carter

Graphic Arts; Multi Arts; Teaching Artist; Visual Arts: Constructions/Collage, Graphic Arts, Illustration, Media and Visual Communications, Mixed Media, New Media/Technology, Painting, Sculpture, Visual Arts Instructor, Works on paper

Resume for Greg Carter Cell: 919-771-6720 E-mail: glcarte2@ncsu.edu TEACHING EXPERIENCE NC State University, College of Design, School of Art and Design, Associate Professor of Practice, 2013-present. Classes taught: Intermediate Illustration Studio – ADN 480. Studio format offered intensive study in one general design issue (book illustration), 2-D-Design – ADN111, 3-D Design – ADN112. Meredith College, Art Department, Adjunct Instructor, 2016 – present. Classes taught: 2D Design ART110, 3D Design, ART111. Visiting Artist, fall 2016. Classes taught: Introduction to Technical Theatre with Jenni Becker – stagecraft. School of Communication Arts, Raleigh, NC, Associate Professor, 2002 to 2013. Teaching full time and part time in the digital media program. Develop curriculum for each class. Courses taught: Creative Thinking, Personal Branding and Marketing, Corporate Identity Development, Conceptual Design, Digital Photography, Graphic Design 1 and 2, Advertising and Marketing, Flash Character Development, Dreamweaver Site Development, Print Portfolio Development, Web Portfolio Development. Durham Arts Council, Durham, NC, Instructor 2000 to 2002. Teach part time evening classes. Courses taught: Digital photography, Digital Image Manipulation. Curated show and produced catalog for, “New Day Dawning – Digital Image Makers.” Florida State University, Tallahassee FL, Adjunct Instructor 1987 to 1989. Courses taught: Foundation, Drawing 1, Drawing 2. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE TIZBI – Intelligent Software Solutions, Raleigh NC – User Experience Designer – 2012 – present. Developing interfaces and technologies for small to mid size companies focusing on the needs and limitations of end users of the product. Technologies include Mobile Apps, Web Apps, B2B web interfaces, SaaS solutions, and Interactive Voice Response Systems. TIZBI is a joint collaboration between US and European developers, with mediation handled by task-based project management portal (TizbiTrax®). BestThinking.com, Raleigh NC – Design Director – 2008 to 2012. Team developed the Internet’s most comprehensive site to create for authors on virtually any topic. The vision of open access to the world’s best thinking was born from a belief that the impact of knowledge, whether from acclaimed academics or weekend hobbyists, is directly proportional to the ability for knowledge to be shared, celebrated and improved. We believe that existing approaches, from academic journals to Internet publishing sites, fail to deliver the full impact of a thinker’s ideas. TOT Marketing, Morrisville NC – Lead Designer – 2004 to 2008. Lead design team in projects that include: multimedia web/kiosk/CD presentations with print collatoral, television commercials, web commercials, flash animations, email marketing, web sites, print packages. Materials developed include B2C, and B2B marketing and sales tools, media advertising, and media training. Image Associates, Raleigh, NC – Art Director – 1995 to 2004. Supervise all visual aspects for development of multi-media projects for mid-sized to large RTP corporate and private companies. Image Associates (IA) filled the role of “total solution” provider, where projects were developed in several parallel media simultaneously. Work aspects included: 1. Educational interactive multimedia cd-rom projects (dealing with pediatric health issues) 2. Web site projects (web site design, banners, flash animations, QTVR, site architecture, information flow), 3. print-based projects (from simple brochures and tear sheets, to monthly magazines and multi-folder rollouts with posters and cd-roms), and 4. Development of collateral materials (trade show booth design, corporate identity) and writing grant proposals. As IA was a small shop, I often had the dual role of art director and lead designer/illustrator. South Peak Interactive, Cary, NC – Animator – 10/1998-4/1999. “Imagynasium” was an interactive cd-rom game for children, property was purchased from Sundance Institute and fleshed out by SouthPeak. Responsibilities included cell animating characters (lip synching to soundtrack) in Director – creating new and revising existing. Software used included: MacroMind Director, SoundEdit 16. “Scoobie Doo screensaver” part of the cd-rom game of the same name. Eyebeam, Morrisville, NC – Production – 1993-1996, – Production Manager 1996-1997. Digital color pre-press service bureau. Partnerships with ad agencies, Research Triangle Park companies and designers in preparation of publications for print (i.e. hi res scanning and retouching, illustration, output to film and proofing). Supervisory responsibilities for production staff (work distribution, hiring decisions, all slide making responsibilities (including dark room management). Extensive client and printer contact. PRINT MEDIA Clients: Reebok, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Review Press, Bloomberg Magazine, Computer Reseller, Maclean Hunter Healthcare Magazine, AXCESS, Science Fiction Eye, Science Fiction Age, Realms of Fantasy, JUICE, Chic, TV Times, DB2 Magazine, CGA Magazine, National Post, The American Lawyer, Family Practice, Hospitality Today, Smart Reseller Profile/Portfolio: MacCreation #10(France) ’92; AXCESS Vols. #2, #3 ’94; Art Alternatives #6 ’94; Electronic Design Vol.13 (Australia) ’96. Gallery: PLAZM #7 ’94; Science Fiction Eye #13 ’93; Medford Electronic Art Calendar ’94, ’95, (Greece); Computer Artist #9, #14, #19, ’93-’97; Aldus Magazine (Annual Design Competition), Best of Category: GE Filters (Vol.6 #2 ’94); Verbum Desktop Color Book, ’95; Rockport Computer Graphics III, ’95; The Official KPT Tips and Secrets Book, ’96; Electronic Publishing Vol. 21 #12 ’97; Tattoo Savage (plus 2’x3′ folded poster) #14 Jan. ’98. Articles Written: “The Culture of 3d” Desktop Publishers Sept Vol.9 #6 ’97; “In My Studio”, Digital Imaging, Sept ’98 MULTIMEDIA Clients: Discovery Channel, SouthPeak Interactive, S4C, Mindjourney, Sony Ericsson, DHL, Samsung, Total Sports Digital Profile/Portfolio: New Media News (distributed nationally by Mind Extension Broadcasting) ’94; BLENDER (cd-rom magazine) Vol.1.3 ’95 (review in USA Today 7/6/95). Kai Power Tools 3.0 (a full portfolio on the CD in the digital masters folder within the supporting materials folder). Discovery Channel Online; Categorically Cool Site of the Day: Home Page 3/96 Magelleon 3 star site for home page; Prototype development of human interface for MetaCreations and Swim Studios. Digital Gallery: Wirehead ’94 (CD-ROM art gallery); Maxibition/New York MUG Digital Exposition-Best of Show ’94, Best of Category-Editorial ’96; SIGGRAPH – Digital Salon ’93;HOT-WIRED http://www.wired.com (Featured Artist) January ’95; NEC Celebration of Digital Art at MacWorld, January ’96; TRADITIONAL GALLERY EXHIBITIONS 2017 Solo Show “Table Totems” at Adam Cave Fine Arts Raleigh, NC National Juried Group Show “Shimmer: The Art of Light” exhibited in ART Light and Design, Carrboro, NC – Sarah Wolfe curator 2016 Solo Show “Visual Improvisations: Sculpture by Greg Carter” Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA Michelle Shulte curator Solo Show “Enchanted Arcana of Greg Carter” Meredith College, Raleigh, NC Lisa Pearce curator National Juried Group Show “Shimmer: The Art of Light” Carrboro, NC Sarah Wolfe curator Special Guest Exhibition “North American Body Painting Championships” by Living Art America Greesnboro NC – curators Scott Frey/Madeline Greco 2015 Solo Show “Enchanted Forest” at Adam Cave Fine Arts, included one night collaborations with Scott Frey/Madeline Greco, Crystal Bright, and Raleigh Little Theatre, Raleigh, NC Solo Show “Windows on Chapel Hill” Chapel Hill, NC Group Show “Kidsplosure” with Paper Hand Puppet Intervention, Raleigh NC Group Show “Frames” part of CI-6, sponsored by Cultural Initiative, at The Chop Shop, Charlotte NC Solo Show “First Night Raleigh” with local television and print interviews, http://www.wral.com/entertainment/out_and_about/video/14286354/ PNC Building Lobby, Raleigh, NC 2014 Group Show “Woodland Animals” Slow Boil Art Collective, Blake Street Studios, Raleigh NC Group Show “Battle Chasers” Stags Head Beer Garden sponsored by Oak City Hustle, Raleigh NC Two Person Show with Paul Friedrich, “High Plains Drifters” The Mahler Fine Art, Raleigh NC Solo Show Blake Street Studios, Raleigh NC reviewed in Au Courant Magazine: “This Journalist’s Dilemma” http://www.aucourantmagazine.com/gregcarter.asp 2013 Solo Show UpFront Gallery at Artspace, Raleigh Solo Show Frank Creech Art Gallery, Frank Creech Art Gallery, Smithfiled NC 2012 Group Show Cow Parade NC, “Grace’s Cow” sponsored by News and Observer, displayed at Memorial Auditorium, Raleigh sold at auction to UNC Children’s Hospital Solo Show Redhat Corporate Center, Raleigh Solo Show Remedy Diner, Raleigh Three Person Show, Carrak Gallery, curated by Marc Russo, Durham 2011 Holiday Window Display, Soho Clothing, Cameron Village, Raleigh “United for Robert” – art show and silent auction, organized by Sean Kernick Solo Show Atomic Salon, Raleigh 2010 Group Show Atomic Salon Raleigh Group Show DigitAll Arts Raleigh, organized by Marx Myth and Stacy Swisher-Smith 2004 “Raleigh Red Wolf Ramble,” Raleigh Cultural Resource Commission, “Beowulf” sponsored by Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, Best Overall Wolf 2000 “New Day Dawning,” Durham Arts Council, curator and exhibitor, dealing with the first generation of digital image making, catalog. 1996 “One Person Show,” Duke University Gallery (digital output and on-line multimedia), “Two Person Show,” 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, FL (digital output/in conjunction with visiting artist at Florida State University), 8/’96. 1988 “Two Man Show,” Lee Scarfone Gallery, University of Tampa, Tampa, Florida, Dorothy Cowden, Director 1987 “Tallahassee Artist’s League Annual Juried Exhibition,” University Gallery, Bruce Dempsey, Juror “Annual Juried Exhibition,” Orlando Museum, Orlando, Florida, Jane Wilson, Juror “My Life as a Mammal (Parts of the Search),” four person invitational, LeMoyne Art Foundation, Tallahassee, Florida, George Cummings, Guest Curator (Catalogue) 1986 “Southern Fried Presents,” group invitational, Valencia Community College, Judith Page, Curator “Annual Juried Show,” Boca Museum, Boca Raton, Florida, Bonnie Clearwater, Juror “Greg Carter and George Blakely,” two person show, Contemporary Arts Center, Tampa Florida, Alecia Montes, Director “International Art Competition,” New York, NY, Holly Solomon et al, Jurors, Certificate of Excellence “Annual Juried Exhibition,” Loch Haven Art Center, Orlando Florida, Ned Rifkin, Juror “Small Works,” Valencia Community College, Orlando, Florida, Claudia Gould, Juror “Auburn Works on Paper,” Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, Keith Acehnol and Marilyn Symmes, Jurors (Catalogue) “Paper in Particular,” Columbia College, Columbia, Missouri, Ryo Watanabe, Juror 1985 “Tampa Triennial,” Tampa Museum, Tampa, Florida Paterson Simms, Juror (Catalogue) “Annual Juried Exhibition,” Loch Haven Art Center, Orlando, Florida, Patterson Simms, Juror “Tropicana All-Florida Exhibition,” Polk County Museum, Lakeland, Florida, Ted Potter, Juror “Alternative Biennale,” NEXUS Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, Georgia, Alan Sondheim, Curator “Southeast Works on Paper,” Florida Gulf Coast Art Center, Bellair, Florida, Richard Flood, Juror, Best of Show (Catalogue) “Day of the Dead,” Cameron University, Lawton, Oklahoma, Jack Mims, Juror PERFORMANCE / VIDEO / FILM 2016 “My Tarot is a Circuit: People as Storytelling Engines” CHAT Festival, UNC, Chapel Hill NC, Malina Chavez curator. Shimmer: The Art of Light, video installation Carrboro, NC Sarah Wolfe curator. 2012 Temple of Dreams, video for installation at the Carrack Gallery in Durham NC, animation by Mark Russo and students, images by Greg Carter, http://vimeo.com/46044441 1986 Critical Art Films, two 16mm films approximately 10 minutes each, with Steve Kurtz and Steve Barnes 1985 “Conversation with a Naked Angel,” 16mm film with Craig West and Steve Baker, approximately 15 minutes “Captain Bob’s Summer Fashions (From Soldiers of Fashion Magazine),” performance at 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, Florida, approximately 26 minutes “More Advice for the Lovelorn (Greg’s Big Wheel of Science),” performance at 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, Florida, approximately 20 minutes PUBLICATIONS 2015 In Medias Res, with the students of ADN-480 Illustration Studio of NC State University ISBN 978-1-329-81472-1, lulu.com. 2014 End of an Era, with the students of ADN-480 Illustration Studio of NC State University ISBN 9781493738069, lulu.com. 2013 Creation Stories, with the students of ADN-480 Illustration Studio of NC State University ISBN 9781493738069, Createspace.com. 2012 Dragon Moon: A Series of Dragon Tails, with Maureen Schlukbier (author), Black Kettle Press ISBN 978-1482047820. 2010 14 Cages, with Sean Urquhart ISBN 978-0-557-49126-1, Lulu Press ID# 11594300 2007 Cyberpig! Volume 1: The Extropian Years, Lulu Press ID# 11587702 eBook ID# 945410 The Unwanted Guest, Lulu Press ID# 11572160 1987 “Critical Art,” with Steve Kurtz, funded in part by a Grant from the State of Florida, Division of Cultural Affairs 1985 “The Evil City” (self-published 20-page booklet) “Great Party Lines for Educated Gentlemen” (self-published 20-page booklet) “Greg Wishes to Apologize For Not Having Written Sooner” AFFILIATIONS 2015 – present Adam Cave Fine Arts, exclusive gallery representation Raleigh, NC 2012 – present ArtSpace, Affiliate member, Raleigh, NC 1998 – present College Art Association, member 2001 – 2003 3 In A Box, Artist Representatives, Toronto Canada 1985 – 1990 Hodgill/Gillman Gallery exclusive gallery representation, Tampa, FL HONORS Best Overall Wolf, Raleigh Red Wolf Ramble, 2004 Florida Artist’s Fellowship, State of Florida, Division of Cultural Affairs, 1986 Certificate of Excellence, “International Art Competition,” New York, NY 1986 Best of Show, Southeast Works on Paper, Florida Gulf Coast Art Center, All-University Fellowship, Florida State University, 1985-1986 Magna Cum Laude Graduation, University of Minnesota, 1981 Honors Thesis Grant, University of Minnesota, 1981 EDUCATION M.F.A. Florida State University, Studio Art B.A. University of Minnesota, Psychology (Magna Cum Laude Gradution) B.A. University of Minnesota, Studio Art

Candy Carver

Teaching Artist; Visual Arts: Painting, Visual Arts Instructor

Candy Carver is a North Carolina native that spent her formative years in Elkhart, IN, where she developed her abstract creativity. Working primarily with acrylic and various surfaces from canvas to vinyl, she creates vibrant, contemporary pieces that touch the soul and excite viewers. Her work can be found throughout the southeastern states and continues to gain recognition. Carver contributes much of her inspiration to her own love for excitement, color and beauty found in the human form.

Jude Casseday aka dejacusse

With over thirty years experience in theatre and music arts, Jude Casseday aka dejacusse (soundscape artist) offers soundscapes and music for parties, gatherings, installations, film and dance. Most recently, she created soundscapes for Justin Tornow’s Company Dance evening length art and performance installation in July 2018. Jude also works with Jody Cassell, dancer and storyteller, providing original music and songs for ADF Community Outreach programs for children. Jude writes about her life and work in the blog “Jude’s Soundlings (did you hear that?)” at WordPress.com. Examples of her sound work can be found at https://soundcloud.com/dejacusse/tracks

Malina Chavez

Visual Arts: Film, Mixed Media, Painting, Photography

Malina Chavez earned her MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts from Duke University. Her Google Street project 1949 Armistice Agreement Line explored the borders that separate Gaza and Israel and was the recipient of the 2013 SPE Jeannie Pearce Award for Innovations in Imaging. She currently lives in Chapel Hill, NC, and is a self-taught abstract painter and mixed-media artist working in contemporary abstract expressionism, color field painting, and informalism.

Surrayyah Chestnut

Graphic Arts; Multi Arts; Performing Arts: Music; Visual Arts: Illustration, Painting, Works on paper

Greetings all! My name is Surrayyah (sir-ray-yuh). I am an emerging visual and audio artist in Durham NC. My current focus is on contemporary visual art and DJ House/club music production. I wear many titles, as my life has many intersections. I consider myself to be a very multifaceted individual. I am an artist, historian, writer, community organizer, and musician, and No matter what sphere I enter, I make sure that I promote equity and equality throughout my work. Considering my history and experiences as a black queer person in America, I must promote Black/POC/Queer solidarity. As a radical Queer Black Feminist, I make it my duty to make marginalized people the focus of my work. Throughout my paintings, you will see me and all that I believe. My hopes, dreams, fears, desires, and miscellaneous fun. I hope to be able to paint a clear picture for you, so you can see who I am.

Mirelys Colon

Graphic Arts; Visual Arts: Graphic Arts, Illustration, Painting

I’m a freelance illustrator based near Raleigh, North Carolina. I graduated from UNC Charlotte in May of 2019 with a BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Illustration. I have some experience in screen printing, sequential storytelling, and conceptual design. I love comics, animation, and video games! My favorite genre is definitely fantasy. I love creating characters and telling stories. I hope to someday be a part of the media I read, watch, and play every day. I make fantasy-inspired art that incorporates diversity, body positivity, and Puertorrican culture. My biggest personal project right now is a graphic novel that I’ve been working on for over 12 years! It’s called ‘Meteozar’ and features a cast of diverse LGBTQ+ characters on a fantasy adventure.

Justin Cook

Visual Arts: Photography

Justin Cook is based in Durham, North Carolina but works everywhere. His long-term photographic essays tell stories about resiliency in communities living along the edges in America, often by focusing on environmental issues and climate change. He believes storytelling that not only shines light on these issues, but also investigates solutions is crucial to social change. Justin is a 2006 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He is an FAA licensed drone pilot. He is a multiple Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting grantee, and his work has been funded by The Solutions Journalism Network Climate Solutions Fellowship, The North Carolina Arts Council, The Puffin Foundation; and honored by The Magenta Foundation, Photolucida, POYi, The Society of Environmental Journalists, The Society of Professional Journalists, and American Photography. When he is not making photographs, you can find him hunting for fossilized shark teeth in eastern North Carolina.

Laine Cunningham

Literary Arts; Teaching Artist; Ghostwriter

Laine is a three-time recipient of The Hackney Award. The Family Made of Dust, her debut novel, is set in the Australian Outback and considers how indigenous lives thrive despite oppression. Reparation is a contemporary novel of the American Great Plains. Her short prose has been published by Reed, Birmingham Arts Journal, Fiction Southeast, Wraparound South, As You Were, and the Q-4 edition of MacQueen’s Quinterly. She is the senior editor and publisher of Sunspot Literary Journal, a multinational publication seeking to change the world.

Sayaka Czt

Graphic Arts; Multi Arts; Teaching Artist; Visual Arts: Mixed Media, Works on paper

Sayaka is a Certified Zentangle Teacher and a teaching artist of Durham Art Council Creative Arts in Public & Private Schools (CAPS) program . She completed training in 2018 under Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas who are founders of Zentangle method to earn a certificate. Besides working on her own pieces, Sayaka teaches Zentangle drawing in Durham, NC.

Bree L. Davis

Media; Multi Arts; Performing Arts: Spoken Word, Theatre; Visual Arts: Film, Mixed Media, New Media/Technology

Durham Arts Council’s Ella Fountain Pratt 2019 – 2020 Emerging Artist: Film & Video For more about my work please visit www.breeldavis.art or www.socialmediaphobias.com. Thank you.

adé dé

Media; Multi Arts; Performing Arts: Actor/Actress, Artistic Director, Dance, Music, Radio/Television, Storytelling, Theatre, Vocal; Teaching Artist; Visual Arts: Constructions/Collage, Crafts, Earthworks, Film, Graphic Arts, Illustration, Mixed Media, Painting, Performance Art, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Textiles, Works on paper; genre fluid

Genre-fluid Afrosurrealist and Multimedia Healing Artist. https://www.afrosurrealistresearchbureau.com

John Dempsey

Visual Arts: Painting, Works on paper

John Dempsey’s studio is in Hillsborough, North Carolina. His studio focus is on large-scale, contemporary landscape paintings.

rodrigo dorfman

Media; Multi Arts; Visual Arts: Film, New Media/Technology, Photography

Rodrigo is an award-winning multimedia producer living in Durham, North Carolina known for his work documenting the Latinx community in the South. His short “One Night in Kernersville” won Jury Award for best short at Full Frame (2011). His documentary, “Tommy!” was recently broadcast on PBS stations across the USA through UNCTV’s Reel South program. His latest work, “NUEVOlution! Latinos and the New South”, a national touring museum exhibit based on his documentary work will be on display at the Atlanta History Center. He is an editor and cinematographer of the documentary “Always in Season” about the impact of lynching on four different communities and has just finished his latest documentary, “Obi-Juan Kenobi and the Taco Truck Avengers” and is working on “¡FIESTA! Quinceañera”, a digitial series for PBS/ITVS Storycast.

Max Dowdle

Graphic Arts; Visual Arts: Illustration, Murals, Painting, Sculpture, Visual Arts Instructor

Max Dowdle is a professional fine artist and graphic novelist working in North and South Carolina. Max trained in the atelier tradition at Charles Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy, where he also taught sculpture. His work resides in numerous public and private collections.

Laura Dreyer

Graphic Arts; Visual Arts: Illustration, Painting

Laura Dreyer is a visual artist and illustrator who creates classical and surrealist portraits, and delicate, rococo-inspired artwork. After her undergraduate studies in art and design, she studied classical painting, drawing, and anatomy at the New York Academy of Art and the Grand Central Atelier. She has created work for galleries, private collections, packaging, fashion brands, books, and more. Laura is now based in Durham, NC and is available for portrait commissions and freelance illustration.

Yinan Du

Graphic Arts; Media; Multi Arts; Visual Arts: Crafts, Graphic Arts, Illustration, Mixed Media, Painting, Photography

Hi, I am Yinan Du, a multi-media artist who is interested in using diverse media to interpret and portray the world I am living in. Through a variety of media-animation, performing arts, abstract drawing, experimental film, illustration, sound design- I aim to find a communal ground for theses media to communicate with each other and by employing them altogether I can generate a more wholistic depiction of the theme my works want to explore. In general, creating is a reconciliation process between me and the world, which reassured me that I am co-existing with my surroundings. Themes of my works vary; however, they are all grounded in the goal of exploring how things come to be in this way and my reflection on the meaning of existence in the world. Religion, philosophy, and science are the three major disciplines through which I find inspiration from.

Susan Emshwiller

Literary Arts; Performing Arts: Actor/Actress; Teaching Artist; Visual Arts: Constructions/Collage, Film, Painting

SUSAN EMSHWILLER was raised in Levittown on Long Island, N.Y., by writer Carol Emshwiller and sci-fi illustrator, avant-guard filmmaker Ed Emshwiller. Susan got her BFA from Syracuse University in painting and printmaking, and her Masters from California Institute of the Arts where she studied film, mentored by Alexander Mackendrick (“Man in the White Suit,” “Sweet Smell of Success”). In Los Angeles, her “day job” for many years was set decorator, working with David Mamet, Michael Apted, Graeme Clifford, and notably with Robert Altman on “The Player”, (in which she is a featured actress) “Short Cuts,” “Kansas City,” and “Cookie’s Fortune.” She has written and directed several plays including critically acclaimed and award-winning “Brushstokes,” inspired by paintings of Edward Hopper. Her play “Dominoes” is was published by the Dramatists Play Service. And “Defrosting Popsicles” by Playscripts. Susan has written many screenplays on spec and for hire; most notably— co-writer of the Academy-Award winning film “Pollock” for actor/director Ed Harris. She has written and directed short films, PSAs, music videos, and commercials. Susan’s feature film, “In the Land of Milk and Money,” a wild social satire, garnered awards and rave reviews at festivals in the US and internationally. and can be seen on Netflix. Emshwiller has published several short stories including in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Independent Ink Magazine, Gone Lawn, Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Magazine, and Black Heart Magazine. She has taught play and screenwriting in Los Angeles and now teaches screenwriting at North Carolina State University.

Gabriel Eng-Goetz

Gabriel’s studio is based in Durham, North Carolina USA. His work explores the cultural history of identity, including his own as an Asian American born and raised in the South, and our human connection to the natural world. Outside of creating his own artwork, Gabriel works with Durham’s community to showcase and uplift the area’s vibrant and diverse art scene by producing/curating events and working as a youth mentor.

Henryk Fantazos

Graphic Arts; Visual Arts: Painting; copper engravings/etchings

Biographical Note In one of his poems Salvatore Quasimodo called the night I was born – the eighteenth of January 1944 – the darkest night of the war. The little town where I was born was in the Nazis bloody hands, then the Russians’. The homicidal scowl of Stalin declared that our town was never to be part of Poland again. Providence agreed with Stalin, and we had to move to settle in Upper Silesia, an agglomerate of coalmines, steel works and other heavy industries that produced unrestricted clouds of acrid, fetid smoke. Greasy soot covered every blade of grass. My father was a watchmaker and a jeweler. My mother took care of three children. I escaped trice from two kindergartens and solidified an indestructible sense of being special. I painted and drew from the time I was a small child. In 1963 I went to study painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Poland. Unfortunately for me, any sort of verisimilitude in painting was believed gone, due to invention of photography (as if the invention of television could have killed literature), so the only available instruction was in paint dripping, happy smearing, and closing the ranks of obligatory modernism. At that time, I had just arrived at the conviction, central to my art, that modern art is a worthless, dead-end barbarism invented by dilettantes bent on obtaining the cheapest uniqueness. Horrified by the size and stature of my opponent, I was allowed to work alone in my room at the dorm for the remaining five years, groping and blundering through the glorious past of Western culture, like a rooting warthog, nervous and unappealing. In 1969, I became a professional artist, and I painted hundreds of paintings, organized many one-man shows and participated in international exhibitions all over the art-collecting world. In 1975, I came to New York and was granted political asylum. It became clear to me that the contact sport of an artistic career demanded a twenty-four-hour-a-day dedication to giving pleasure to the softer parts of Manhattan. I could not do it. I am too arrogant to swallow all the cheese cubes, to fork-lift the mountain of well-wishing cards, to dip my tongue in honey and lick my passage to importance. The following year I went to live and paint on a remote farm in West Virginia. Those eight years were a time of Dionysian rejoicing. I painted, I tended a garden, and I looked very intimately at nature. They were the most shackle-free days imaginable. Every day stood like a portal of existence, ready to answer the question of what is worth doing in this tall cathedral of freedom. For about 35years now I have lived in Hillsborough, North Carolina, dividing time and attention between painting and copper engraving.

Serena Fenton

Visual Arts: Jewelry, Mixed Media, Printmaking

I make jewelry with tiny enamel-on-copper paintings. Long, long ago and pretty far away, I was an architect, working on buildings in big cities (New York, Baltimore and Seattle). I actually did a lot of construction management. Then computers got graphical interfaces and I fell in love. Drawing illustrations on a Mac+ with a brick for a mouse. It was a beginning in digital arts. Trying to figure out how to make a living, I spent several years in Information Architecture, teaching computer science and design at the university. I discovered enameling on metal while doing a 9 week work-study program at John C Campbell Folk School. What sould be better? Fabulous studio space in teh mountains with great people and incredible meals 3x a day. I came home to my painting studio, no kiln, but a fair amount of space. I taught myself to torch enamel without burning the house down. I took a metalworks basics class at the local community center. Then covid hit. Back to the internet.

Laurel Ferejohn

Literary Arts

I am an independent editor of fiction and memoir. I’m also a writer, winner of the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize, and recipient of an Emerging Artist Award from the Durham Arts Council. My short work appears in several literary journals and anthologies. I am completing a novel. Website: laurelferejohn.com / Editorial Freelancers Association profile: https://www.the-efa.org/memberinfo/laurel-ferejohn-12220/

Rick Gardner

Graphic Arts; Visual Arts: Crafts, Illustration, Mixed Media, Painting, Printmaking, Works on paper; Woodworking

Rick Gardner and Mark Bell met in 2013 through a career transition networking group. They discovered they were both passionate about their hobbies, Rick about dogs and Mark about woodworking. Together they collaborate to create original cartoon dog art to support homeless pets through rescue groups, shelters and other non-profits. For Rick, dogs bring joy, happiness, unconditional love, and a passion to capture these feelings and share them with others. Mark looks to bring out the beauty in the wood, celebrate its texture and grains, and enhance the dog art creations of Rick. Rick’s influences include James Thurber, Charles Shultz and numerous modern day graphic artists. Mark’s influences include his background growing up in the suburbs of Detroit and Boston as well his professional experiences in Germany and Switzerland. Together, their collaboration is called Binky & Bell. The Binky and Bell name came from Rick’s first dog, “Binky” and Mark’s last name, “Bell”.

Maria Geary

Teaching Artist; Visual Arts: Mixed Media, Visual Arts Instructor, Works on paper

With the knowledge that we are all connected to the creator, the door of creativity and possibility are wide open With that said, it is with purposeful intent that I create, so I can keep a deep sense of being connected. With each brush stroke, mark, or line of stitching, I am allowing myself to be free of worry, fear, and doubt. I admit that this is at times is most trying, as my inner voice is always at war with what I have been called to do. The war rages on as I complete the work knowing I must allow myself to be both vulnerable and courageous. As an early riser, I use the stillness of the dawn to prepare me for the day. Just as we allow our cars to warm up when first starting them, my morning routine gently eases the transition from rest to toil. It is a part of my creative practice that greatly affects my mood and even decision making. As I begin, I sometimes think of the transition period (regardless of medium) and use it to inform the colors and shapes for inspiration. As the work develops, the dance of color, thought and daily scripture reading play back and forth in my mind pushing forward until a finished piece is in view.

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