Thursday December 3: Theatre Thursday, Introduction to Student Directed Theatre Festival with Erica, Jeremy, & Student Directors at 5 pm EST
The second show of MCLA Theatre's season is Connections: A Festival, and will involve six play-readings across three days. Each of the plays will be directed by a student, an MCLA first. Tune in for a conversation with Erica, Jeremy, and some of the students bringing this project to life. Use this LINK to register.
Thursday December 10: Mass MoCA and BCRC In Session with Nick Cave, Shaun Leonardo, Steve Locke, and Xaviera Simmons at 6 pm EST
Click HERE to view.
Presented by MASS MoCA and the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center (BCRC) at MCLA, In Session is a series of four panel discussions on anti-racist work in museums, streamed live on MASS MoCA’s YouTube and Facebook. The first two sessions will invite artists, curators, and arts administrators to discuss how museums and artists represent Black and Brown trauma in artwork, exhibitions, and performances, and navigate the resulting implications and challenges.
Tune in for the first In Session with artists Nick Cave, Shaun Leonardo, Steve Locke,
and Xaviera Simmons. The panel will begin with introductory remarks by Dr. Kalima
Young, and will be moderated by M. Carmen Lane. To read more about the panelists,
click HERE.
Designed to pose more questions than answers, topics for this discussion include:
What is trauma and what do we mean when speaking of Black trauma? Who holds permission
to use images of violence against Black and Brown bodies? Who grants this permission?
What are an art institution’s responsibilities toward audiences when hosting work
regarding violence enacted against Black and Brown bodies?
Do any other questions come to mind? Submit your own questions via email to insession@massmoca.org
Thursday November 5: Discussion about the MCLA Production, The Race, with Erica, Jeremy, and Alex Lee Reed at 5 pm EST
Join Erica, Jeremy, and Alex Lee Reed, for a discussion of MCLA Theatre's first show of the year, The Race. Alex is a Seattle-based director, playwright and actor, and is the co-director for this show. The Race sits at the intersection of the national election and Black Lives Matter movement, and MCLA's production is one of many happening across the country this fall. Use this LINK to register.
Thursday November 12: G51 Featured Artist Series Adriana Corral at 5 pm EST
Use this LINK to register for the program. A recording of this discussion will also live on the BCRC YouTube playlist for later viewing.
We want to highlight and showcase the talented artists in our community and across the globe. This week's Featured Artist, Adriana Corral received her MFA from the University of Texas at Austin and completed her BFA at the University of Texas at El Paso. Adriana Corral’s installations, performances, and sculptures embody universal themes of loss, human rights violations, memory, and erased historical narratives. Her practice is rigorous and researched based, often driving her to work within the archives. Experts ranging from historians, librarians, anthropologists, writers, journalists, gender scholars, human rights attorneys, and the victims’ families provide Corral with vital data that aids in the conception of her works. To learn more about Adriana Corral, click here.
Monday November 16: Portfolio Reviews with Camilo Alvarez
Gallery 51 is pleased to offer Portfolio Reviews to practicing artists. Invited gallerists will spend 30 minutes with each artist virtually. They will discuss up to three works selected by the artist. These reviews are geared towards emerging and mid-career/established artists. What to know and how to prepare for the portfolio reviews will be shared later on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
We are pleased to announce that Camilo Alvarez, Owner, Director and Preparator at Samsøñ formerly Samson Projects, will be the guest gallerist to conduct our Portfolio Reviews in November. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Advisory Board at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston and is a Commissioner on the Boston Art Commission. For Camilo's full bio, click here.
Learn more about this month's participating artists:
Wednesday November 18: Virtual Opening of the 2020 Alumni Art Show at 5 pm EST
Welcome to MCLA Gallery 51’s curated 2020 Alumni Art Show. The event is co-hosted by the MCLA Alumni Office. The curated works included in the 2020 Alumni Art Show span the practices of fourteen artists who graduated from MCLA between 1971 - 2019. Each artist was invited to submit work for the exhibition, from which Gallery 51 made a final selection of the works included in the show. The exhibition will run from November 18 to December 11, 2020. The link for the exhibition will be provided on November 18th at the opening.
This exhibit is free and open to the public. Attendees may make a suggested donation of $5 to support The Fund for MCLA by texting FUND4MCLA to 41444 or visiting http://give2.mcla.edu/. Donations support student emergency need, scholarship, and equitable internship access and all gifts are fully tax-deductible. Thank you for joining Gallery 51 and the MCLA Alumni Office in celebrating this talented group of alumni.
Selected artists include: Cara Finch ‘11 • Melyssa Fortini ‘19 • Jennifer (Smith) Huberdeau ‘00 • Alexander Jamal ‘15 • Christina Kelly ‘98 • Makayla-Courtney McGeeney ‘16 • Amy Modesti ‘14 • Bill Righter ‘80 • Theresa M. Terry ‘71 • Stephanie VanBramer ‘14 • Ben Warren ‘11 • Isaac H. Wood ‘17
Thursday November 19: Community Conversation To Move Toward Anti-Racism in the Arts
with the Artist Impact Coalition from 5-6:30 pm EST
Kidspace at MASS MoCA is pleased to host the November edition of Community Conversations on Anti-Racism in the Arts, a monthly program of the North Adams Artist Impact Coalition (AIC). This interactive group discussion will focus on exploring Wendy Red Star's Indian Summer - Four Seasons (2006), currently on view in Kidspace as part of Red Star’s exhibition “Apsáalooke: Children of the Large-Beaked Bird.” The conversation will use MASS MoCA’s signature teaching style, “ArtInSight,” of guided inquiry and a meditation practice; participants will also leave the session with a downloadable “take home” art-making project based on Red Star’s work.
Friday November 20: G51 Featured Artist Series - Tara Sabharwal at 12 pm EST
A recording of this discussion will also live on the BCRC YouTube playlist for later viewing.
We want to highlight and showcase the talented artists in our community and across the globe. This week's Featured Artist, Tara Sabharwal, was born in India. After studying Painting at M.S University (Baroda, India) she completed her Masters at the Royal College of Art (London, UK), On returning to India,1986-89, she had solo shows in Delhi and Mumbai and returned to UK for three years on fellowships and solo shows. In 1990 Tara visited New York and settled here, while continuing to work and show in the UK and India. Her work is in the collection of the British Museum (London, UK), Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK); DLI Museum (Durham, UK) and in the New York Public Library (NYC, USA); Peabody Essex Museum (Boston, USA); MONA Museum of Nebraskan Art (NE, USA) and the Library of Congress, (Washington D.C, USA). To learn more about her practice, click here.
Introducing Theatre Thursdays
Join us every first Thursday of the month for "Theatre Thursdays" as BCRC introduces a program to connect the community to the amazing work coming out of MCLA's Fine and Performing Arts department. Theatre Thursdays provide a window into what the Theatre Department has to offer, through discussions with Associate Professor, Jeremy Winchester, and guests from the theatre field. Learn about each performance season, why and how works are staged and get answers to all the behind the scenes questions you have ever had about the world of theatre and performing arts.
Upcoming Dates:
10/1 Intro to Theatre Thursdays with Erica Wall and Jeremy Winchester
11/5 Discussion about the MCLA Production of The Race, with Erica, Jeremy, and Alex
Lee Reed
12/3 Introduction to Student Directed Theatre Festival with Erica, Jeremy, & Student
Directors
2/11 Introduction to the Spring Season with Erica and Jeremy
3/4 Program Discussion with Erica, Jeremy, and Special Guest
4/1 Discussion about the MCLA production of Midsummer Nights Dreams with Erica, Jeremy,
and Special Guest
Thursday, October 1: Introducing Theatre Thursdays at 5 pm EST
Join Erica and Jeremy to hear about the how and why the theatre program's 20-21 season was selected to fulfill this year's season theme, Crossing the Divide: In a challenging and divided time, projects to explore how to stay connected, focus on what matters, and emerge stronger than ever. Use this LINK to register.
Saturday, October 10: G51 Featured Artist Series - O.M. France Viana at 12 pm EST
A recording of this discussion will also live on the BCRC YouTube playlist BCRC YouTube playlist for later viewing.
We want to highlight and showcase the talented artists in our community and across the globe. O.M. France Viana is a multimedia artist, working in photography, painting, collage, video, performance and installation. Her artworks interrogate the semiotics of color, spirituality and consciousness, and Filipino American and Venezuelan identity. She holds an MFA in Studio Art and a BA in Art History from Mills College, Oakland. Born in Manila, Philippines, she studied art in Switzerland and Spain before moving to California. She founded the Diviana Gallery, the first gallery entirely dedicated to fine art photography in Manila. She has exhibited and performed at the Asia Society of Houston, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, ProArts Gallery, Minnesota St. Projects, Gallery 6/67, Mills Museum, SOMArts, Roots Division, Kearny St. Workshop, Embark Gallery, SFAI Diego Rivera Gallery and guest curated exhibitions at the Dominican University Gallery. Active in the Asian American community, she is an arts and culture board member for SOMA Pilipinas, former board member of the Center for Asian American Media, board member of Philippine International Aid and received a “100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the U.S.” award from the Filipina Women’s Network. Visit O.M. France's site to see and read more about her practice.
Saturday October 17: G51 Featured Artist Series - Vincent Valdez at 12 pm EST
A recording of this discussion will also live on the BCRC YouTube playlist for later viewing.
We want to highlight and showcase the talented artists in our community and across the globe. This week's Featured Artist, Vincent Valdez, grew up in San Antonio and demonstrated talent for drawing at an early age. As a young muralist, he began exploring imagery that pertained to social/political statements. Vincent received a full scholarship to The Rhode Island School of Design where he earned his BFA in 2000. In 2004 at age 26, Stations, Valdez’s suite of monumental charcoal drawings, was shown at the McNay Museum in Texas. He was the youngest artist to have a solo exhibition at the McNay. Exhibition venues include: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Snite Museum of Art, The Frye Museum, The Mexican Museum of National Art ,Chicago, The Parsons Museum in Paris, The El Paso Museum of Art, OSDE Buenos Aires, The Laguna Art Museum and others.
Monday October 26: Virtual Portfolio Reviews with Virginia Arce
Gallery 51 is pleased to offer Portfolio Reviews to practicing artists. Invited gallerists will spend 30 minutes with each artist virtually. They will discuss up to three works selected by the artist. These reviews are geared towards emerging and mid-career/established artists. What to know and how to prepare for the portfolio reviews will be shared later on the site. Check the BCRC YouTube playlist for Virginia's tips for practicing artists.
We are pleased to announce that Virginia Arce, an L.A. based curator, will be the guest gallerist for the month of October. Virginia Arce's curatorial practice has included working in nonprofit, artist run, commercial, and civic exhibition spaces. She is one half of the editing team behind The Invisible Archive, a bi-national journal project that focuses on time-based and performance art practices. She completed her BFA from Otis College of Art and Design and her MFA in critical and curatorial studies from UC Irvine.
Learn more about this month's participating artists:
Thursday October 29: G51 Artist Talk - Trinh Mai from 5 to 6:30 pm EST
A recording of this discussion will also live on the BCRC YouTube playlist for later viewing.
Trinh Mai will discuss concept development, inspiration, how projects can inform each other,
ephemera and materials and how they help in storytelling, and share some developing
projects that will be on display in Hostile Terrains 94. Trinh Mai is a second generation
Vietnamese American visual artist who examines the refugee and immigrant experience,
then and now. Through a vast breath of media, she helps tell the stories of we, the
enduring People, while focusing on our witnessing of war, the wounds we’ve survived,
our collective need to heal, and the custodial responsibility to which we are heirs.
Saturday, September 12: G51 Featured Artist Series - Shasha Dothan
We want to highlight and showcase the talented artists in our community and across
the globe. Shasha Dothan (b. 1987 Tel-Aviv) is a Brooklyn-based artist working with
video, installation, poetry and sound. She creates immersive experiences that connect
fragments of her personal history with the history of Israel. Dothan received an MFA
from University of California Los Angeles (2018), and a BFA from Shenkar College (2013).
Exhibitions include the Ramat Gan Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan; Petach Tikva Museum
of Art, Petah Tikva; Blum & Poe, Los Angeles; Human Resources, Los Angeles just to
name a few. She was an artist in residence at Mass Moca, Byrdcliffe and Vermont Studio
center. Visit her site to see and read more about her practice. A recorded discussion will also live on
the BCRC YouTube playlist for later viewing.
Monday, September 14: Portfolio Reviews with Maurizzio Hector Pineda
Gallery 51 is pleased to offer Portfolio Reviews to practicing artists. Invited gallerists
will spend 30 minutes with each artist virtually. They will discuss up to three works
selected by the artist. These reviews are geared towards emerging and mid-career/established
artists. What to know and how to prepare for the portfolio reviews will be shared
later on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
We are pleased to announce that Maurizzio Hector Pineda, an emerging curator from El Salvador working in Santa Ana California, will be the guest gallerist to conduct our Portfolio Reviews on September 14th. Some of Maurizzio's most recent work comes from being a curatorial assistant at the Torrance Art Museum and owning a gallery in Long Beach, California.
Learn more about this month's participating artists:
Thursday, September 17: The City by Vincent Valdez Zoom Discussion using Visual Thinking Strategies and our Third Community Conversation To Move Toward Anti-Racism in the Arts with the Artist Impact Coalition from 5-6:30 pm
BCRC is proud to host the third conversation to move toward anti-racism with members of the North Adams Artist Impact Coalition. We invite all artists, arts administrators, and members of the Northern Berkshires to participate in this hands-on conversation.
Join us for a conversation about The City by artist, Vincent Valdez. Valdez created this work in 2015 and it is now in the collection of Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas.
We at Gallery 51 are committed to creating safe spaces for discourse and dialogue with, about and through art. If not now, then never will we be able to engage in honest discussion about race and the experience of Black and Brown people in this country. Join us in exploring this piece through the lens of our nation's recent events. Let us use art as the vehicle to create and sustain non-judgmental dialogue with an opportunity to learn from one another's observations. We will be using Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) to lead the discussion. Attendees will then split into smaller Zoom “break-out rooms” to discuss personal experiences with observing and interrupting racism and individual actions we can each take toward making the Northern Berkshires a welcome and safe place for all. For those unable to attend the conversation live, the session will be recorded for viewing later on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
Many people who are not of color and who work within the arts express a desire to be anti-racist and move toward systemic and institutional change. Part of the process of becoming anti-racist is to understand how difficult the journey itself is and why. We invite members of the Northern Berkshires’ vibrant arts community to engage in this discussion as a means of understanding the role we all play as the individuals who make up collectives and as the members who both run and support arts organizations that want to bring about positive change. BCRC and AIC recognizes that anti-racism is not easy work, but it is work that must begin with ourselves and must not lose momentum when the news cycle shifts focus. Artists and arts organizations, especially, are well positioned to affect tangible social change, both within and without. We invite you to join us in this call.
Thursday, September 24: Discussion between MASS MoCA Curator, Denise Markonish and artists, Adriana Corral and Vincent Valdez from 5 to 6:00 pm EST
They will continue and expand upon the discussion they started with MCLA and Williams College students, (on Wednesday, September 16, 2-2:50 pm EST), of the books that have most influenced the artists’ work and what the three are currently reading, related to the topic of immigration, the mortality rate and history of mortality associated with migration over the southern US border. A recording of this discussion will be available on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
Saturday, September 26: G51 Featured Artist Series - Conrad Egyir
We want to highlight and showcase the talented artists in our community and across
the globe. Conrad Egyir’s work borrows from Afrocentric folklore that is rooted in political and religious
erudition. He creates narrative paintings that focus on subjects from the Afro-diaspora
who interact with identical versions of themselves. Concurrently they take on multiple
staged roles as both an antagonist and a protagonist, a friend and foe, or a noble
and a commoner as a tool that behooves the viewer to step into the multiple incarnations
of each subject, in reverence of a collective human spirit. Egyir’s materials include
oil, acrylic, glitter, Plexiglas, wood and found fabric flowers. Conrad Egyir (b.
1989, Ghana; lives and works in Detroit) has an MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of
Art. His work has been featured in group shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit,
Cranbrook Art Museum (Bloomfield Hills, MI) and Grand Rapids Art Museum (MI). Paintings
have been acquired by the Rennie Collection (Vancouver, BC), the Jimenez-Colon Collection
(Puerto Rico) and the Cranbrook Art Museum (MI). A recorded discussion will also live
on the BCRC YouTube playlist for later viewing.
Saturday August 1: G51 Featured Artist Series - Yumi Janairo Roth at 12 pm
We want to highlight and showcase the talented artists in our community and across the globe. Yumi Janairo Roth was born in Eugene, OR and raised in Chicago and suburban Washington DC. She currently lives and works in Boulder, Colorado where she is a professor or sculpture at the University of Colorado. Roth has created a diverse body of work that explores ideas of immigration, hybridity, and displacement through discrete objects and site-responsive installations, solo project as well as collaborations. In her projects, her objects function as both natives and interlopers to their environments, simultaneously recognizable and unfamiliar to their users. She received a BA in anthropology from Tufts University, a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts-Boston and an MFA from the State University of New York-New Paltz. You can learn more about her practice here. A recorded discussion will also live on the BCRC YouTube playlist for later viewing.
Yumi will discuss her social distancing project based on the work of Sol LeWitt. The project involves a kit prepared by Roth, which includes directions, stencils, and materials to create markers for social distancing in public spaces throughout North Adams, including in front of Gallery 51 and the MCLA campus. Click HERE to read more about this project before Saturday. As you travel around the Berkshires in August, keep an eye out for these Sol LeWitt squares.
Wednesday August 12: We Are More Than A Moment Virtual Exhibition Opening at 5 pm
We Are More Than A Moment is a call to be heard.
This virtual exhibition is organized by MCLA’s Gallery 51 and curated by Inaugural Artist in Residence, Genevieve Gaignard. Gaignard is a Los Angeles based artist whose work focuses on photographic self-portraiture, sculpture, and installation to explore race, femininity, class, and their various intersections. It is this exploration coupled with our nation’s most recent events that inspires the focus of this exhibition. Artists were invited to submit work which echoes these themes and exemplifies the long-term prosperity of Black life.
Gallery One: Ambrose, Cheryl Bartley, Troy Chew, Jennifer Datchuk, Alexandria Deters, Kirsten Furlong, Merik Goma, Patrick Earl Hammie, Ashley Jan, Lavaughan Jenkins, Helina Metaferia, Abe Odedina, Christina Quarles, Christian Ramirez, Juliana Rico, Michon Sanders, Holly Tempo, Jillian Thompson, Nathan Wong, Kennedy Yanko
Gallery Two: Yasmine Diaz, Topher Gerzeli, Rachel Cassandra Gibbons, Cyd Gorman, Daesha Harris, D. Hill, Daphne Jenkins, Gladys Kalichini, Aya Kawabata, Jupiter Lockett, Nate Massari, Michi Meko, Chalice Mitchell, Kelly Taylor Mitchell, Chinaedu E. Nwadibia , Veronica Preciado, Richard Rawlins, Joshua Ross, Luis Vasquez La Roche, Christopher Williams
A recording of the opening will be available on the BCRC YouTube playlist, Forthcoming
Monday, August 10: Portfolio Reviews with Peter Mays from 1 - 4 pm EST
Gallery 51 is pleased to offer Portfolio Reviews to practicing artists. Invited gallerists will spend 30 minutes with each artist virtually. They will discuss up to three works selected by the artist. These reviews are geared towards emerging and mid-career/established artists. What to know and how to prepare for the portfolio reviews will be shared later on the site. To receive a review from Peter, please apply by August 3rd.
We are pleased to announce that Peter Mays, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Art Association (LAAA) and its premiere La Cienega exhibition space Gallery 825, will be the guest gallerist to conduct our Portfolio Reviews on August 10th. Since joining LAAA in June 2005, Peter has implemented cultural exchanges across the globe. For Peter's full bio, click here.
Learn about the participating artists from this month's review:
Saturday August 15: G51 Featured Artist Series - Anina Major at 12 pm
We want to highlight and showcase the talented artists in our community and across the globe. Anina Major is an artist who works to cultivate moments of reflection and a sense of belonging. Her work draws from anthropological research and oral histories to challenge postcolonial ideology and advocate for critical dialogue around developing cultural identities. The work unpacks the emotional complexities inherent to the transcultural dialogue that surfaces when mapping the migration of traditions versus foreign influences. Visit her site to see and read about her practice. A recorded discussion is on the BCRC YouTube playlist for later viewing.
Wednesday August 27 DSA #3 from 5 - 7 pm EST: Genevieve Gaignard's Exhibition A Long Way From Home Opening
MCLA Berkshire Cultural Center’s Gallery 51 is pleased to present a new body of work by artist-in-residence Genevieve Gaignard. Her exhibition “ A Long Way From Home” draws upon the many artistic forms we have come to know from her such as collage and assemblage of found objects into an environment that plays with the senses. Known for her works that explore class, race, and gender, Gaignard renders her interior world radically exterior. She accomplishes this exteriorization by reproducing a home space to question the repetitions of the past in the present.
Home again in rural mill town Massachusetts, Gaignard is confronted with all the ways her artistic migration has changed her and how the events of the world put into perspective the contradictions of her hometown. She seeks the sights and sounds of home. She longs for another feel, another place, a different space. Gaignard longs for a different place to rest during the historical and political turbulence of COVID-19 and the reemergence of Black Lives Matter protests in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“A Long Way From Home” drops the viewer into Gaignard’s inner turbulence through an imagined parlor–an externalization of an interior place–for all to see. There are moments where the walls are decorated with found photos of black and white faces that appear to be weeping and at times marked by black jeweled tears. Each technique Gaignard deploys interrogates a complex field of emotion depicting the disorientation stemming from feelings of grief, anger, and exhaustion for black lives cut short. Gaignard’s discontent is seen in “Salty Karens,” a collage of a gaggle of white women noticeably enjoying themselves with a floral wallpaper backdrop. Gaignard places an oversized cutout of a Morton’s salt box trickling salt over one of the women’s heads producing a masked hood.
Taking a more serious tone, Gaignard does not shy away from the long history that precedes our present. Another collage in the exhibition has an off white wallpaper marked by blue watercolor roses. The wallpaper is the background to a large stencil cut out of the words “White Lies.” Directly beneath the words is an image of a white woman in a white formal evening gown standing on a bed of flowers. Her arms are intertwined in a white shawl in such a way to signal her enjoyment. To the left and to the right of the white women’s image are two large white feminine looking hands with lace lined handkerchiefs. In contrast to these pictures is an image of Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK). In one of his hands are notes for a speech while the other hand waves back at the field of whiteness he spent his lifetime addressing.
Gaignard’s placement of MLK and former President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in her home is a nod to a history she is tired of repeating. Gaignard is much like a child on a road trip seeking reprieve from monotonous terrain. She is frustrated about the repetition of white lies that promise freedom, justice, and democracy for all. American history tells a different story. Rather, it repeats the same historical exclusions with a different technique. Gaignard’s impatience is clear, her question “are we there yet?” is an invitation to join in her frustration at the white lies we are taught to believe.
“A Long Way From Home” is a practice of an artist who understands her form and knows how to use it. In these trying times her persistent question “are we there yet?” tied to a desire for home that is welcome to all speaks to a historical frustration that continues to linger in the present. Her work is an invitation to break the violent repetitions that anti-blackness, poverty, patriarchy, and homophobia beget and rebuild home anew. The exhibition will be on view from August 27 - December 7, 2020 at MCLA Gallery 51 and is curated by Erica Wall.
-Written by Dr. Taryn D. Jordan
A recording of the opening can be found on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
Wednesday, July 1: Genevieve Gaignard in discussion with Taryn Jordan, Black Feminist
Theorist with expertise in Black Aesthetics, Du Bois Studies, & Black Poetics from
5 - 6:30 pm
After joining us for Genevieve’s Three-Part Zoom Series, we met Dr. Jordan and discovered how she uses Genevieve’s work as part of her research.
Genevieve and Dr. Jordan will discuss the force of black domesticity in Genevieve’s installation work. Genevieve’s installations pay homage to various archetypes of black femininity by recreating their imagined domestic spaces. Dr. Jordan’s interest in Genevieve’s work lies in the recreation of these spaces that present a living history of black domesticity. She asserts that black women’s domestic work counters the violence of black living by producing pleasure through everyday experiences that are overlooked or considered inessential to histories of black rebellion.
In this panel Genevieve and Taryn will discuss such installations as: Apt. #3104 (2016), Smell The Roses (2016), Grassroots (2017), Counterfeit Currency (2018), Black, White, and Red All Over (2019), and I’m Sorry I Never Told you, You’re Beautiful (2019).
We hope you will join us for an open conversation on the various interpretations of Genevieve’s work. A recording of this discussion is available on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
Dr. Taryn D. Jordan is a CFD Post-Doctoral fellow in Women’s Studies at Colgate University. She received her Ph.D. in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Emory University in 2020 and was a recipient of the Mellon/ACLS dissertation completion fellowship for the 2019-2020 academic year. Her current book project, “A Peculiar Sense: A Black Feminist Genealogy of Soul,” traces a genealogy of the decent, emergence, and use of “soul” shown in black women's domesticity. Taryn has invested her life in social justice work. Her political and academic interests mutually inform one another creating the conditions for an intellectual and political spiral.
Wednesdays July 8 & 15: Genevieve Gaignard and Curator Alexandra Terry on exhibition Bloom Projects: Outside Looking In currently on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara
Genevieve Gaignard Outside Looking In, at Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, brings together several bodies of work made between 2016 and 2019 that confront antiquated ideas pertaining to intersections where blackness, whiteness, femininity, and class collide and examine the complexities of self-presentation. Throughout the exhibition, Gaignard urges viewers to consider the ways in which we all engage in the construction of personal identities as a means of expression and adaptation. As the characters in her photographs and installations examine the shape-shifting and often precarious nature of belonging, the viewer is invited to witness the intricacies of operating at the inter-sectional crossroads of contemporary American culture. Click here for more views of this installation.
Wednesday, July 8: PART ONE from 5 - 6:30 pm
In this first session, we will cover the dynamics of making a show. Before the physical
installation, selection of works and the title, it all starts with a connection that
creates the "throughline" for an exhibition. The initial meeting, the dialogue and
then the connection, establish the relationship that makes the exhibition happen.
Alexandra and Genevieve will share the how, when, and why that went into Genevieve’s
current exhibition,Bloom Projects: Genevieve Gaignard, Outside Looking In which opened
at MCASB on March 5. It was abruptly closed to the public due to the pandemic very
shortly after it opened. Take this opportunity to learn and discuss the show in these
two sessions. A recording of this session is available on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
Wednesday, July 15: PART TWO from 5 - 6:30 pm
The second part of the series will reveal the physical process and logistics that
go into the making of the space and presentation of the work. We will learn and understand
the physical context of the show. Why in Santa Barbara? Why now? What was required
and how did the institution work and negotiate the space with Genevieve to conceive
the idea and outcome that drove the process and intention of the show? This will be
an insightful and rare opportunity to engage with those on the front lines of exhibition
planning and process. A recording of this session is available on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
Alexandra Terry, Associate Curator, MCASB, joins us to discuss the process that brought Genevieve's current exhibitions to fruition, from beginning to end. Alexandra Terry has organized exhibitions by artists including Genevieve Gaignard, Barry McGee, Beatriz Olabarietta, and Brian Rochefort. From 2008 to 2015 Terry was Curator at MOP Foundation, a London-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting and supporting Iranian contemporary art. She has curated exhibitions in the US, UK, and UAE, in addition to contributing to contemporary art publications internationally. Terry holds an MFA in Curating from Goldsmiths, University of London. In a two-part series we will discuss the making of the show: origin, process, and navigating its completion.
Saturday, July 11: G51 Featured Artist Series - Sula Bermudez-Silverman at 12 pm
Join us as artist Sula Bermudez-Silverman discusses her practice and current projects through an online discussion. Originally from New York, Bermudez-Silverman now lives and practices in Los Angeles after completing her MFA from Yale. Her conceptual work investigates multiple social issues of race, gender, and economics. Her Afro-Puerto Rican and Jewish descent continues to be a source of inspiration and curiosity. You can see some of her multidisciplinary work here. A recording of this session is available on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
Monday, July 13: Portfolio Reviews with Erin Goldberger from 1 - 4 pm EST
Gallery 51 is pleased to offer Portfolio Reviews to practicing artists. Invited gallerists will spend 30 minutes with each artist virtually. They will discuss up to three works selected by the artist. These reviews are geared towards emerging and mid-career/established artists. What to know and how to prepare for the portfolio reviews will be shared later on the site.
We are pleased to announce that Erin Goldberger, Director of Half Gallery and Founder of New Release Gallery, will be the guest gallerist to conduct our Portfolio Reviews in July. Erin Goldberger (b. 1985, New Jersey) is a curator in New York, NY. She has been the Director of Half Gallery, NY since 2011, and the owner of New Release gallery in Chinatown, NY since 2015. Erin has served on the BAM Art Committee since 2015. She has been featured in numerous publications and has been an editor on several books including the Genieve Figgis monograph by Rizzoli from 2016. She received her BFA from Carnegie Mellon in Writing and a minor in Photography in 2008.
Learn about the artists participating in this month's Portfolio Reviews:
Thursday July 23: DSA #2 from 5 - 6:30 pm: A Community Conversation To Move Toward Anti-Racism in the Arts with the Artist Impact Coalition
“Most of the obstacles and detours encountered on our journey of re‐education are those same habitual behaviors birthed in our internalized beliefs.” - Joan Olsson
BCRC is proud to host the second Down Street Art event of the season with members of the North Adams Artist Impact Coalition. We invite all artists and arts administrators from the Northern Berkshires to participate in this hands-on conversation.
Many people who are not of color and who work within the arts express a desire to be anti-racist and move toward systemic and institutional change. Part of the process of becoming anti-racist is to understand how difficult the journey itself is and why. We invite members of the Northern Berkshires’ vibrant arts community to engage in this discussion as a means of understanding the role we all play as the individuals who make up collectives and as the members who both run and support arts organizations that want to bring about positive change.
The conversation will begin with a discussion between members of the North Adams Artist Impact Coalition (AIC) facilitated by MCLA Chief Diversity Officer Christopher McDonald Dennis. Attendees will then split into smaller Zoom “break-out rooms” to discuss personal experiences with observing and interrupting racism and individual actions we can each take toward making the Northern Berkshires a welcome and safe place for all.
BCRC and AIC recognizes that anti-racism is not easy work, but it is work that must begin with ourselves and must not lose momentum when the news cycle shifts focus. Artists and arts organizations, especially, are well positioned to affect tangible social change, both within and without. You can view a recording of this session here, and we invite you to our future discussions.
Saturday July 25: G51 Featured Artist Series - Kim Faler at 12 pm
We want to highlight and showcase the talented artists in our community and across the globe. Faler is a local, multi-disciplinary artist working in painting, drawing, installation, sculpture, and photography. Her art practice unpacks the emotional weight found within everyday objects and architecture. By adjusting what is deemed foreign and familiar, she questions the value that we have placed on our memories, routines, and on our own understanding of the passage of time. You can introduce yourself to her practice here. A recorded discussion will also live on the BCRC YouTube playlist for later viewing.
Wednesday July 29: Genevieve Gaignard Discussion with special guest Diedrick Brackens from 5 - 6:30 pm
Artist-in-Residence Genevieve Gaignard will host a virtual discussion with artist Diedrick Brackens from 5-6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 29. Gaignard and Brackens will discuss the multifaceted relationship they have as artists, friends, studio mates, and colleagues. They will discuss how they navigate the art world while supporting themselves and advancing their individual practices.
A recording of this session will be available on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
About Diedrick Brackens
Brackens is best known for his woven tapestries that explore allegory and narrative
through the artist’s autobiography, broader themes of African American and queer identity,
as well as American history. Brackens employs techniques from West African weaving,
quilting from the American South and European tapestry-making to create both abstract
and figurative works. Often depicting moments of male tenderness, Brackens culls from
African and African American literature, poetry and folklore as source. Beginning
his process through the hand-dying of cotton, a material he deliberately uses in acknowledgement
of its brutal history, Brackens’ oeuvre presents rich, nuanced visions of African
American life and identity, while also alluding to the complicated histories of labor
and migration.
Tuesday, June 9: Portfolio Reviews with Anna Farrington
Gallery 51 is pleased to offer Portfolio Reviews to practicing artists. Invited gallerists will spend 30 minutes with each artist virtually. They will discuss up to three works selected by the artist. These reviews are geared towards emerging and mid-career/established artists. What to know and how to prepare for the portfolio reviews will be shared later on the site.
We are pleased to announce that Anna Farrington, Director and Founder of Installation Space, will be the guest gallerist to conduct our Portfolio Reviews on June 9. The INSTALLATION SPACE is a gallery featuring immersive, interactive, interpretive, and informative art exhibitions. It is located on Historic Eagle Street in North Adams. Click HERE to learn more about Installation Space.
Learn about the artists participating in this month's Portfolio Reviews:
Saturday, June 13: G51 Featured Artist Series - Gladys Kalichini at 12 pm
We are excited to have visual artist Gladys Kalichini join us as a Featured Artist. Kalichini is a visual artist is known for painting, digital work, and installations that explore history and the marginalization of certain groups. Originally from Lusaka, Zambia, Gladys is also a researcher who has been a part of multiple projects while being a member of the SARCHI research group- Geopolitics of Africa. Gladys Melina Kalichini received her MFA from Rhodes University in South Africa and continues to exhibit across the globe. You can read about some of her work here and here. A recording of this session is available on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
Friday, June 19th, Gladys Kalichini's exhibition ...these gestures of memory opens at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Germany.
Wednesday, June 17: Come Back and Check In with Genevieve Gaignard from 5 - 6:30 pm
After spending an hour and a half together for three consecutive weeks, we formed a community around the three talks we hosted to talk with Genevieve about her work, her journey and her experiences. By the third week, we looked forward to seeing familiar faces and talking. It was hard to leave our Zoom space that third Wednesday. Then, within days of the last talk, the world changed. We want to know how our community is doing! We are inviting everyone to join us again in a safe community space through zoom. The way we grow together is us by checking in with one another, so we hope you will join us. A recording of this session is available on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
Genevieve will also introduce the call to artists for the virtual exhibition We Are More Than A Moment.
Wednesday June 17: We Are More Than A Moment Virtual Exhibition Submissions Open
We Are More Than A Moment is a call to be heard.
This virtual exhibition is organized by MCLA’s Gallery 51 and curated by Inaugural Artist in Residence, Genevieve Gaignard. Gaignard is a Los Angeles based artist whose work focuses on photographic self-portraiture, sculpture, and installation to explore race, femininity, class, and their various intersections. It is this exploration coupled with our nation’s most recent events that inspires the focus of this exhibition. We invite artists to submit work which echoes these themes and exemplifies the long-term prosperity of Black life. The exhibition will open virtually on August 12th at 5 pm EST on Zoom.
Wednesday, June 24: Titus Kaphar Zoom Discussion using Visual Thinking Strategies from 5-6:30 pm
Join us for a conversation about Analogous Colors by artist, Titus Kaphar. This is the current cover of TIME magazine. You may use this link to access the accompanying written work. We at Gallery 51 are committed to creating safe spaces for discourse and dialogue with, about and through art. If not now, then never will we be able to engage in honest discussion about race and the experience of Black and Brown people in this country. Join us in exploring this piece through the lens of our nation's recent events. Let us use art as the vehicle to create and sustain non-judgmental dialogue with an opportunity to learn from one another's observations. We will be using Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) to lead the discussion. A recording of this session is available on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
Thursday, June 25: Down Street Art #1 (DSA) at 5 pm
51 Minutes and 14 Seconds of Black Protest Music
In lieu of the Misfit Prom & Parade launch party, previously scheduled for this time, Gallery 51 is proud to host 51 Minutes and 14 Seconds of Black Protest Music. Tracing back to slave spirituals, Black protest music has been an integral part of social protest, reform, and empowerment. Join us in solidarity as we listen and pay tribute to all of those who have been a part of this movement.
DJ Skooch will play examples of the music created and written in protest of racial inequality of African Americans in the US. A recording of the work presented will be available on the BCRC YouTube Playlist.
Saturday, June 27: G51 Featured Artist Series - Todd Elliott at 12 pm
We continue to highlight and showcase the talented artists in our community and across the globe with artist Todd Elliott. Elliott is a multi-disciplinary artist who graduated from Rhode Island School of Design. He now lives and works in Portland, Oregon. Inspired by learning to make new things, Todd shares these experiences as a Community Education Instructor at the Pacific Northwest School of Art. His work is inspired by shapes and forms used in architectural motifs, transpiration design, typography, and logos. A recording of this session is available on the BCRC YouTube playlist. You can learn more about his practice on his website.
Portfolio Reviews
Gallery 51 is pleased to offer Portfolio Reviews to practicing artists. Invited gallerists will spend 30 minutes with each artist virtually. They will discuss up to three works selected by the artist. These reviews are geared towards emerging and mid-career/established artists. What to know and how to prepare for the portfolio reviews will be shared later on the site. The deadline to apply is May 19th, but we still encourage you to apply. This program in on going, so applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
We are pleased to announce that Andrea Dabrila, Associate Director of Gallery NAGA in Boston, will be the guest gallerist to conduct the first of our Portfolio Review Sessions, to be held later this month. Gallery NAGA has been exhibiting and selling contemporary art on Newbury Street in Boston since 1977, with a primary focus is painting, and they represent many of the most highly regarded painters working in Boston and New England. Click here to learn more about Gallery NAGA.
Learn about the artists participating in this month's Portfolio Reviews:
Friday, May 1: MCLA Senior Exhibition And So It Goes Opens Online
3-Part Online Workshop with artist Genevieve Gaignard on the following Wednesdays: 15, 20, and 27 from 5 - 6:30 pm
Please join artist in residence, Genevieve Gaignard in this workshop series about her Origin, Practice, and Navigation of the L.A. Art Scene. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about another artist’s practice, share methods, and advice. This series is open to the public, so please email veronica.preciado@mcla.edu to reserve your spot before they are filled. You will have the opportunity to interact, so we ask that you have two questions prepared.
Her Origin Story - 13th
Her Practice - 20th
How She Navigated the LA Art Scene - 27th
Saturday, May 16: G51 Featured Artist Series - Galen Cheney at 12 pm
We want to highlight and showcase the talented artists in our community and across the globe. Local painter Galen Cheney will be our first Featured Artist, giving you a virtual tour of her studio and introducing you to her practice. Her education as a painter began at Mount Holyoke College and continued at The Maryland Institute, College of Art, where she received her MFA and was mentored and critiqued by Grace Hartigan, Sal Scarpitta, and Hermine Ford, among other important artists. Nearly 30 years later, she continues to push herself and her work with honesty, commitment, and fearlessness. Deep diving into her own creative process, Cheney is a physical artist whose richly layered paintings embody her curiosity about and exploration of materials and her own psyche. Learn more about Galen here. Click here to watch her session on the BCRC YouTube playlist.
Saturday, May 30: G51 Featured Artist Series - Gerald Sheffield at 12 pm
We want to highlight and showcase the talented artists in our community and across the globe. Our second Featured Artist, Gerald Euhon Sheffield II, is an artist and educator living and working in Los Angeles, California. Sheffield’s work explores the margins of representation regarding national identity, cultural heritage and western art history as it relates to everyday life within the US. The artist is currently working on a series of paintings and drawings reflecting on the intersections of Black life and Central Asian Muslim society - based on his experiences living abroad in Uzbekistan on a Fulbright Grant in 2019. Visit Sheffield's site to learn more. To view a recording of Gerald's session visit the BCRC YouTube playlist.
3-Part Online Workshop with artist Genevieve Gaignard on the following Wednesdays: 15, 22, and 29 from 5 - 6:30 pm
View artist in residence, Genevieve Gaignard, discuss her Origin, Practice, and Navigation of the L.A. Art Scene in this 3-part workshop series. MCLA students joined Genevieve to learn about each other's practice, share methods, and advice. Recordings of this series are available below. In May this series opens to the public, so email veronica.preciado@mcla.edu to reserve your spot as space is limited.
Her Origin Story - 15th
Her Practice - 22nd
