WORKSHOP DETAILS

DECEMBER 5-7, 2003 | MID-ATLANTIC ARTS FOUNDATION | BALTIMORE, MD

"Before the workshop I had always avoided goal-setting, since it seemed somewhat contradictory to the spontaneous live-in-the-moment spirit of art-making. Now I feel it is a part of creative living, a way to make paths so you can go somewhere in your life."
    — Mid-Atlantic Artist/Participant

Overview

The Creative Capital weekend Professional Development retreat in Baltimore, hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, included artists from seven of the nine states in the region served by the Foundation Ð Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Washington DC, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The Foundation invited applications from artists who had been awarded a Mid-Atlantic fellowship.

Highlights From The 2003 Workshop

Leaders

Professional Development Program Director: Alyson Pou

Workshop instructors Ð Colleen Keegan, Jackie Battenfield, Aaron Landsman

Artist-facilitators included choreographer Jennifer Monson, Poet Tracie Morris, Visual Artist Matthew Geller and Video/Visual artist Chris Doyle

Outside observers: Jeannie Butler, David Dower of San FranciscoÕs Z Space, and Lilian Francuse, of the Wyoming State Arts Council

Artists

The 24 visual artists at the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation retreat represented a diverse range of age and cultural background, medium and experience level. They included: an African American photographer and community activist planning a collaborative documentary trip to Africa; an emerging Japanese installation artist working site-specifically in Brooklyn; and a European American painter based in Baltimore.

Some of these artists supported themselves and their work through grants and fellowships; many also worked as college professors, commercial photographers, community activists, and in other fields. All were committed to finding new ways to take their work further, and achieve long-term goals for themselves artistically and personally.

Outcomes

"I came away from the Creative Capital workshop with a new notion of what lies ahead of me in terms of my personal and professional growth. I attribute the excitement Ð and responsibility Ð I feel to your generosity and eloquence as teachers, artists, and colleagues." — Mara Adamitz Scrupe, Artist/Participant, Virginia.

In their feedback following the retreat, many of the participants said they are making progress beyond what theyÕd initially hoped. Installation artist Rebecca Silverman made a trip to LA and began developing a relationship with The Museum of Jurassic Technology there, due to suggestions by several participants and instructors; this also led to Michael Wilson, The MuseumÕs founder and director, receiving a guest-lecturer engagement at the University of Virginia, thanks to SilbermanÕs recommendation.

The workshop with MAAF was successful enough that the Foundation is now working to determine how to offer their own professional development programming for regional artists. As outgoing Senior Program Officer Julyen Norman puts it, "Our new board Chair loved the workshop that you did for us. So the idea is to formalize all of this into a real programmatic entity."