HCF Supports 2010 Artist in Residence Program

Hui No‘eau is pleased to announce its Summer 2010 Artist in Residence program, made possible by a recent grant through Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s Laila Twigg-Smith Art Fund.

In a jointly developed month-long program, Oakland, CA-based Favianna Rodriguez and Jersey City, NJ-based Orlando Reyes will present “The Politics of Paper/ Many Stories, Many Voices,” a case study about how artists can collaborate with non-arts community groups to develop messages around social justice. Program elements include building relationships with fellow HI-based nonprofit organizations to identify a socially relevant topic that will inspire hands-on visual arts workshops, panel discussions, professional development for Hawaii-based artists and classroom teachers, and a culminating 6-week public exhibition.

About the Artists:
Named by UTNE Magazine as a “leading visionary artist” in the United States, artist /author/entrepreneur Favianna Rodriguez is renown for her vibrant posters dealing with social issues as well as her leadership in establishing innovative institutions that promote equality and engage new audiences in the arts. As President and co-fonder of design firm Tumis, Rodriguez travels extensively to consult with organizations interested in using visual communications and new technologies to promote community building and social change. In 2003, Rodriguez co-founded the Taller Tupac Amaru printing studio to foster resurgence in the screen-printing medium. She is co-founder of the EastSide Arts Alliance (ESAA), a cultural institution dedicated to training young artists in the tradition of arts activism. Rodriguez has lectured widely on the use of art in political engagement and the work of artists who, like herself, are bridging the community and museum, the local and international. She has worked closely with artists in Mexico, Europe, and Japan and has exhibited at Museo del Barrio (New York); de Young Museum (San Francisco); Mexican Fine Arts Center (Chicago); Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco); and internationally at the House of Love & Dissent (Rome), Parco Museum (Tokyo), as well as in England, Belgium, and Mexico. Her artwork also appears in The Design of Dissent (Rockport Publishers, 2006), Peace Signs: The Anti-War Movement Illustrated (Edition Olms, 2004), and The Triumph of Our Communities: Four Decades of Mexican Art (Bilingual Review Press, 2005).

Founding Director of the critically acclaimed Jersey City-based 58 Gallery, painter, curator and arts entrepreneur Orlando Reyes has produced solo shows and private commissions in fine art metropolises, including Copenhagen, Brussels, Paris, and Florence. A centerpiece in the New Jersey/New York contemporary art scene, the 58 Gallery has hosted over 200 artists in more than 200 shows with the primary focus of filling the gap created by the elitism of the New York art market, prioritizing creativity and innovation. An early exposure to large-scale public painting via graffiti led Reyes to pursue two apprenticeships under established fine art painters in 1983, offering such techniques as Flemish oil painting and the color theory of Matisse. In 1988, Reyes took his art to a public realm as he helped launch a series of socially engaged, street-based art campaigns around controversial issues such as AIDS, art censorship, and the corporate irresponsibility. As he became more immersed with the mastery of painting, Reyes left the U.S. and headed to Jamaica to pursue an artist in residence in the study of impressionism, landscape painting, and light manipulation. His love for and mastery of color and pigment eventually led him into an abstract and non-linear approach, culminating in the complete abandonment of brushes. Reyes’ present day painting approach incorporates the use of eyedroppers as a way of pursuing an organic, pigment-centered style. His cultural, urban, and nomadic roots resonate throughout his art. Reyes’ work continues to be exhibited in galleries, museums and in public, both nationally and internationally.

Visit us online at www.huinoeau.com soon for developing program information & details. In the meantime, mark your calendars with the following program dates:

Teen Intensive Workshop with Favianna Rodriguez
Monday, July 12 – Thursday, July 15 (10 am – 2 pm)

Portfolio Review Sessions with Favianna Rodriguez
Friday, July 16 (10 am – 2 pm)

Free slide lecture and panel discussion with Favianna Rodriguez & community collaborators (TBD)
Friday, July 16 (6 pm – 8 pm)

Adult Intensive Workshop with Favianna Rodriguez
Monday, July 19 – Wednesday, July 21 (9 am – 1 pm)

“Teach the Teachers” with Favianna Rodriguez
Thursday, July 22 (10 am – 4 pm)

Teen Intensive Workshop with Orlando Reyes
Monday, July 19 – Thursday, July 22 (10 am – 2 pm)

Portfolio Review Sessions with Orlando Reyes
Friday, July 23 (10 am – 2 pm)

Free slide lecture and panel discussion with Orlando Reyes & community collaborators (TBD)
Friday, July 23 (6 pm – 8 pm)

Adult Intensive Workshop with Orlando Reyes
Monday, July 26 – Wednesday, July 28 (9 am – 1 pm)

“Teach the Teachers” with Orlando Reyes
Thursday, July 29 (10 am – 4 pm)

The Politics of Paper/ Many Stories, Many Voices Exhibition
Featuring work by the artists and their students
Friday, August 6 – Thursday, September 16

The Hui wishes to extend its deepest gratitude to the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and Laila Twigg-Smith Art Fund for supporting this exciting program. We look forward to seeing you this summer as we partake of this extraordinary experience!