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Stories
Getting the Word Out
It's been fun to finally show people a detailed listing of what's up for the Festival. Over the last week, we've placed posters and a couple of thousand takeaway cards with many people in local church congregations near New York City. I like to watch their reactions to the cards. They invariably turn to the listing of events and are taken aback at the breadth of it all.
One Great Whole
We were at an Advisory Board meeting for the Center in January, and J. Kirk Richards had an idea: what if we did something at the Festival that allowed multiple artists to make something together? At the 2017 Festival, we exhibited Kirk's multi-panel work, Cristo (2014), that brought together 161 paintings of different sizes together. These had been created by Kirk working with people in his community who were invited to show how they imagined Jesus Christ to appear; then Kirk reworked the images to unite them stylistically.
Artist in (My) Residence
Hildebrando de Melo arrived at JFK airport from Angola via Lisbon and Amsterdam one week ago today. He is here to do an artist's residency, the Center's first. The resulting paintings will form the solo exhibition at the Festival in June. Our plan was to have him here early to give us a chance to frame works, create a catalog, and become acclimated to the works a while. Then, he'll come back in June for the opening. He'll also be giving a presentation/interview about his work at the Festival.
...in the Library
All the action is in the library. That's my experience as a student and author. Whoever invited the library was a genius. For the Festival, we had a meeting this week to plot out strategies: opening night, decorations, flowers, locations, flow, food. This team of Festival staff members is extraordinary. At the Italian Academy biblioteca, where some of the events will take place, we sat down together (from left to right): Jenna Holt, Marilee Moe, Alyssa Chard, Sharon Harris, Emily Doxford, Braden Burgon, and Allyson Chard.
Luanda Atelier
I'm always curious to see how artists work. I love visiting the places where art is created. I want to know what they look like: a painter's studio, a writer's den, a choreographer's space, a filmmaker's set. Leading up to the Festival, we've asked some of the participating artists to shoot very short videos to introduce us to them and their lives. Today, Hildebrando de Melo sent us a video made on his phone that captures the wealth and poverty of Luanda, Angola, where he lives and works. His atelier is a beautiful, pristine space.
Why Do It?
I'm not a mom, so I don't know what it feels like to be in labor. I have experienced what it's like to labor on projects though. Not the same thing, of course, but I can imagine that there are moments in both when you say, "Why am I doing this, again?" For me, there's a lot of satisfaction that comes from the end result--the book, the project, the concert, the new friendship. Still, personally I don't need a lot of acknowledgment from the outside to keep going. I just do what I do.
Shepherd
I received an email from Scott Holden recently. He is immersing himself in new music for his Carnegie Hall recital in June, "A Century of Mormon Music." He told me about his reaction to learning a work by Arthur Shepherd, "From a Mountain Lake." Years ago, I had heard about the piece from my friend, the late Grant Johannesen, who was a friend of Shepherd's and thought very highly of his music.
Tears and Fears
I didn't anticipate that doing a podcast would be such an emotional thing. But when you're talking to people who really open up about their lives--and that includes bad times as well as good times--you can't help walking around in their shoes for a while.
Write Away
We love getting emails. Sometimes we hear from friends, audience members, and potential patrons. Sometimes we hear from artists who want to know more about us and how they can participate in our activities. Finally, we sometimes hear from people who like what we're doing and they want to be part of it in some way.
The World's Best Board
Twice a year, the Mormon Arts Center Advisory Board gathers together for a meeting. A little over a month ago, we had a standing room only crowd to discuss developments of the Center. The Church History Museum in Salt Lake City graciously hosted it. Most arts organizations view their boards are primarily fundraisers. While they share their opinions about this or that decision made by artistic directors, they perform institutional roles to maintain governance and compliance, primarily. We see our Advisory Board a bit differently. We really seek their input. And we listen.
The Dominican Jazz Project
In 2014, Dominican artist Guillo Carias reached out to American (and Mormon) jazz pianist Stephen Anderson to perform with a group of elite musicians from the Dominican Republic at the Jazzomania Jazz Festival. They had such a great time that they decided to continue working together. Anderson, who is also a composer, traveled throughout the Caribbean to document and discover local jazz. But instead of covering their music or simply doing arrangements of the works, the group of seven musicians-- Sandy Gabriel, Guy Frómeta, Guillo Carias, Carlos Luis, Jeffry Eckels,Juan Álamo, and David Almengod--encouraged him to absorb their music and then create his own compositions that all of them could play together.
The Ghost in the Machine
I recorded a new podcast this week. The software I'm using to mix it is GarageBand on my iMac. It's all going smoothly except for one problem: I'm having a terrible time with Siri. I can't get her to leave me alone.