Professional Development and Mixers

WRITING A COMPELLING ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Your artist’s statement is a key part of a successful creative practice: it’s the document that frames what you do, and why, and it helps meaningfully connect audiences, including curators and collectors, with your work. What you write in your statement may become part of a residency/grant application, an exhibition wall label, a press release or a presentation, so it’s important to create a compelling text, and to know how to tailor it for different contexts.  In this session, we’ll explore the characteristics of a good artist’s statement, and workshop our own in small groups. We’ll also talk about refreshing and reworking your statement as your practice develops and changes over time.

Facilitator – Amy Halliday

Amy Halliday is a curator, educator, writer, and arts consultant from South Africa who currently splits her time between the Bay Area, USA and Bristol, UK. She has an MA in Teaching from Smith College, an MA in Art History from University College London (UCL), and is passionate about the role of contemporary art and curation in critical engagement and social change. She is also a mentor on the Upward & Associates team, offering guidance and concrete tools to help artists meet their professional goals. 

https://www.amyhalliday.com/

@amy_s_halliday (Instagram)

ARTIST MIXER WITH ART ACITIVITY

Join other East Bay artists in the first of three networking events held in Oakland. These networking events are a low-key way to get to know other artists from a variety of different backgrounds, practices and stages of experience. Connect to other artists, build community and learn a new art medium during a fun art activity.

Artist Facilitator – Lauren Ari

Lauren Ari is an artist and educator based in Richmond, California. She holds a Masters in Fine Arts from U.C. Davis after undergraduate study at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her primary focus is on drawing and sculpture. Lauren’s work is in the permanent collections of the Legion of Honor Achenbach Foundation and the De Young Museum.

“Lauren Ari’s art roars out of the deepest part of her psyche and arrives with great tenderness into the world. It is fiercely honest, playful and provocative. She speaks directly what is still unfettered in all of us, our wild, free, animal selves.”

— Poet Alison Luterman

@thelaurenari (Instagram)

ARTIST MIXER WITH ART ACTIVITY

Polyhedra Party – Faceting Experiences

For centuries people have been captivated by the geometric shapes known as polyhedra. These beautiful forms can be a spherical canvas for personal expression or be admired for their fascinating symmetries. In this workshop we welcome you to draw your own story on the facets of a polyhedron or to use the patterns designed by Stacy Speyer from her 3D coloring books, Cubes and Things. Once your 2D pattern (called a net) looks done to you, it is easy to cut it out, fold, and tape it together to make your own polyhedron!

Artist Facilitator – STACY SPEYER

Stacy Speyer is an artist, educator, and author, with a MFA from CCA. After many years of creating large scale installations of hand woven and hand dyed sewing thread, her artwork shifted towards geometric forms. Entranced by the beauty of mathematics, Stacy has taken a bunch of college level math classes and is very passionate about sharing the joy of easily accessible math through her Polyhedra Party workshops. She currently works as a graphic designer, illustrator, and math festival leader for the fun mathematical activities at Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival.

http://polyhedra.stacyspeyer.net/

GRANT WRITING FOR ARTISTS

Writing grants can be hard—sharing your idea and asking for funding requires planning, advocacy, and strategy. ARTogether, Oakstop and Oakland Art Murmur are pleased to present a free online grant-writing workshop led by choreographer Hope Mohr. 

The workshop will cover the elements of a strong persuasive narrative; budgeting; tips for writing about evaluation and outreach; and strategies for a sustainable grant writing practice.

The workshop is perfect for artists who are looking for funding for their next idea, project, or performance.

Facilitator – Hope Mohr

Hope Mohr (she/her) has woven art and advocacy for decades as a choreographer, curator, cultural worker, attorney, and writer. As a dancer, Mohr trained at S.F. Ballet School and on scholarship at the Merce Cunningham and Trisha Brown Studios in New York City. She performed in the companies of dance pioneers Lucinda Childs and Trisha Brown. Her choreography has been presented by 18th Street Arts Center, ICA San Francisco, 836M Gallery, Baltimore Museum of Art, Highways Performance Space (LA), di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art (Sonoma), Moody Center for the Arts (Houston), SFMOMA, ODC Theater, Counterpulse, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. In 2007, she founded Hope Mohr Dance (HMD). In 2020, she co-stewarded the organization’s transition to a model of distributed leadership and a new name: Bridge Live Arts. As a licensed California attorney, she provides legal support to artists and arts organizations. www.hopemohr.org

ARTIST MIXER WITH ART ACTIVITY

ArTime: More than just a drawing exercise, this activity will help artists remove blocks and free up more space for your practice. Using intuition and speed you’ll engage in an interactive activity drawing from prompts, memories, imagination and your immediate surroundings. 

Artist Facilitator – Eli Africa

Eli Africa is a multimedia artist living in El Cerrito, California. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Visual Communications from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, and a Master of Arts degree in Multimedia Communications from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. His creative experience spans from being involved in classrooms, outreach programs, museums, design houses, live events, websites, and educational online videos. 

elicreates.com

Professional Development and Mixers are funded through sponsorship by Community Bank of the Bay

Facilitator and Program Development supported through partnership with Upward & Associates