October 6, 2015 | DoNArTNeWs

Spinning Yarns: Photographic Storytellers featuring Carol Golemboski (left) and Blue Mitchell (right)

Spinning Yarns : Photographic Storytellers

Written and photographed by Laura Storck

To spin a yarn: (idiomatic) To tell or create a story, especially one which is lengthy or far-fetched (Source: wikitionary.org). The twenty-three photographers featured in this show reach outside of the scope of this simple definition. They are masters of their craft as portrayed through the feelings provoked by the stunning narratives that each artist individually conveys to the viewer.

Rachel Girard Reisert, Still series, archival inkjet prints

Spinning Yarns was curated by Anne Leighton Massoni, UArts Photography Program Director, and Libby Rowe, a professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. After nearly five years as a traveling exhibition, this show is wrapping up and the photographs will be auctioned off to support student scholarships for the UArts Photography program. Eighty-one framed images are available for purchase.

Rachel Girard Reisert, Bee (from Still series), 2007, archival ink jet print

Several of the artists’ stories are personally moving, such as Joy Christiansen Erb’s series Portrait of a Mother, which explores motherhood, family, and illness. Rachel Girard Reisert’s Still series shines a light on a smaller universe that routinely takes shape in the backyard. Anne Massoni’s project, Holding Leighton, explores concepts of memory and evidence of experience and existence. And each amusing image that Andy Bloxham’s Beta series provides a limited glimpse into a larger anecdotal account.

Morgan Konn, Rebecca, Undergraduate Student, Art (from Her House, Her Clothes series), 2006, Lightjet Print

Using photography as their chosen art form, each artist’s narrative simply pulls the spectator in…further…beyond the image, and subsequently plugs both into an engaging dialogue. A new awareness can emerge, as well as a distinctive ending, all depending on the unique experiences and mindset of the viewer — thus the yarn has spun.

Morgan Konn_First Year Law Student (from Her House, Her Clothes series), 2006, Lightjet Print

All images can be seen and starting bids made here: www.paddle8.com/auction/uarts. However, I encourage everyone to see these photographs in person, if possible, on display at UArts’ Hamilton Hall. For me, the experience of tangibly engaging with each of these images in person is ethereal, intense, and penetrating.

Joy Christiansen Erb, Portrait of a Mother Series, 2010, archival pigment prints

The online auction is already taking place through noon on Friday, October 9th, with a live auction and closing reception from 6-8 pm. Auction catalogs can be purchased from Anne Massoni at amassoni@uarts.edu for $15. For more information, please visit: http://www.uarts.edu/spinningyarns.

Grace Weston, Fuji Crystal, Archive C-prints

Participating Artists:

Anne Leighton Massoni, Holding Leighton series, archival pigment prints

The University of the Arts, Hamilton & Arronson Galleries, 320 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19102, (215) 717-6300

Written and photographed by Laura Storck

Laura Storck Photography ARTIST. SCIENTIST. PHOTOGRAPHER. ROCK STAR.: https://laurastorck.wordpress.com/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/laurastorck/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/laura.h.storck

Twitter: @Laura_Storck

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Mimi Lien, 2015 MacArthur Genius Grant,

Philadelphia Festival of the Arts 2016

Congratulations! Exciting news about the Philadelphia Festival of the Arts (PIFA 2016) newly announced set designer Mimi Lien. September 2015 she was awarded a 2015 MacArthur Genius Grant alongside performing arts titans such as Lin Manuel Mirand. You may recall, Ms. Lien designed the 81-ft. tall replica of the Eiffel Tower that was in the Kimmel Center’s Commonwealth Plaza for PIFA 2013. She has also made contributions to the Philadelphia arts scene designing sets for the Pennsylvania Ballet, The Wilma Theater, and Pig Iron Theater Company.

Now Mimi Lien has been selected by The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts as the designer for the massive lobby exhibit that will serve as the centerpiece for PIFA 2016 (Philadelphia Festival of the Arts). The PIFA 2016 design will be a large-scale, interactive art installation that will be on display throughout the Festival. More details about PIFA will be announced in October and details about Lien’s design will be unveiled later this fall.

The Wall Street Journal on Mimi Lien:

“Mimi Lien, 39, is a set designer for theater, opera and dance in New York who draws on architectural training to create large immersive sets that wash over the audience as well as traditional scenes bounded by the proscenium. From pictures of decadence to those of stark simplicity, Ms. Lien’s sets amplify the work of those on her stages. For more information about Lien visit her website www.mimilien.com”

According to the MacArthur Foundation:

“The grant is a “no strings attached” award of $625,000 (paid in installments over five years) that is given directly to individuals rather than to support specific projects or institutions. In other words, recipients are not expected to produce specific work and are not evaluated by the foundation during the grant period. Instead, the award is “an investment in a person’s originality, insight and potential,” the foundation writes on its website. “The purpose of the MacArthur Fellows Program is to enable recipients to exercise their own creative instincts for the benefit of human society.”

PIFA 2016

April 8 – April 23, 2016

“A city-wide, 15-day celebration of art and community, PIFA 2016 showcases innovation and a breadth of local and international performances and installations. With events ranging from a living, participatory paper jungle to a jaw-dropping fire installation and everything in between, the festival will kick off with over 50 events across genres and will conclude with the celebrated PIFA Street Fair, providing an incredible day of fun and festivities for the entire family. From the expected, PIFA creates the unexpected. And from our own city, it takes us someplace wholly new. Visit kimmelcenter.org for more information.”

Thank you to Laura Krebs Miller, Vice President, Cashman & Associates for the content of this post.

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