Pecha Kucha, an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public, will feature the LegalArt Six, Thursday, March 25th 6-8PM at The Rubell Collection. This event serves as a public introduction to the local visual and multimedia artists the have been selected to participate in Miami’s s first live/work artist residency program, scheduled to open in the Downtown Arts and Entertainment District this spring.
With 20 Power Point slides shown for 20 seconds each, the Miami artists – Carlos Ascurra, Pachi Giustinian, Jiae Hwang, Alvaro Ilizarbe, Manny Prieres, and Jen Stark will have about seven minutes to talk about their work and plans to give back to the community. Ideas include creating a mentorship program with high school artists and working with the blind to create visual art. A list of the artists’ work and projects is below. The Live/Work Residency Program, launched by the nonprofit LegalArt, is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge, a $40 million effort to bring South Florida together through the arts. Additional support is being provided from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation and the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs.
”The residency will act as an incubator for these talented artists which will take them to a new level in his or her career,” said Kathleen Carignan, LegalArt Executive Director. ”I am excited to see the new collaborations and innovative ideas that emerge when these artists live and work together.”
The highly competitive LegalArt Live/Work Residency is Miami’s first subsidized live/work, professional development, and community-building artists’ facility. Designed as an incubator, artists in residence live and work in private 600 square foot studios and have access to exhibition, lecture, legal counseling spaces and a comprehensive resource library. The Residency brings together some of Miami’s most promising artists, along with national and international artists and curators; allowing them to collaborate in ways only a residential model can offer. Visiting curators and scholars will engage both with resident artists–by mentoring, leading critiques and exploring exhibition opportunities beyond Miami–and the public through lectures, workshops and exhibitions.
The Residency’s first participants, and their projects are:
Carlos Ascurra: His work explores the impact of sound and information in contemporary culture and engages in a dialogue with the viewer about the findings. Give-Back Project: Will create a publishing house called RUINS Publishing to create hand made publications with photocopy machines, silkscreen and sound equipment in order to create a forum for discussion and collaboration.
Pachi Giustinian: This multimedia artist explores matters of color, light and sensations. Give-Back Project: To See Without Sight is a program for individuals who suffer from all levels of blindness. The program will introduce them to a new form of expression, to produce and create visual art.
Jiae Hwang: Inspired by the ideas of string theory and parallel universes this interdisciplinary artist deals in a broad spectrum of media from traditional drawings to video, audio, and multimedia installations which seek to create new ways to engage with viewers. Give-Back Project: Graphic design, video art, and software training sessions for artists to provide project support for digital documentation, converting image files, import and export of visual media, and explanation of graphic and video software.
Alvaro Ilizarbe: Creator of the Freegums clothing label Lizarbe focuses on madcap aesthetics, comfort, and individuality. Give-Back Project: Creating an opportunity for elementary school students to collaborate with mural artists.
Manny Prieres: His work is the product of the clash between tradition, temperamental heritage, and an intense, idiosyncratic counterculture expressed with detailed drawings and sculpture. Give-Back Project: An artist lecture series will provide studio visits for art students in high school and college. The series will give students a glimpse of what they can expect when they graduate and begin their careers.
Jen Stark: Interested in how math and science is intertwined in everything around us, Stark creates complex structures that reveal how remarkable common materials can become.
About PechaKucha PechaKucha was conceived in Tokyo in February 2003 by architects Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein as an event where young designers could meet, network and show their work in public. Over time, it has evolved into a massive celebration of creativity, with events regularly being held in over 270 cities including Miami. Last year, more than 6,000 presentations were hosted at over 600 PechaKucha events. Drawing its name from the Japanese phrase for the sound of conversation (“chit chat”), the PechaKucha format is simple–20 images x 20 seconds–and designed to keep presentations concise and moving at a rapid pace. For more information, visit www.pecha-kucha.org/cities/miami.
About LegalArt LegalArt empowers artists by providing affordable legal services, professional development services, the Live/Work Residency, grants, and educational opportunities. Our SeminArt series brings experts to educate artists on wide-ranging subjects including strategic planning, marketing, wage theft, winning arts commissions, and public speaking. LegalLink, a legal assistance and education program which partners with University of Miami Law School and local attorneys, provides legal services on a pro bono, barter or reduced rate basis. LegalArt’s professional staff made up of attorneys and arts advocates offers training in copyright and trademark, incorporation, portfolio management, writing skills and maintains the LegalArt headquarters where South Florida artists are welcome to seek guidance, support, resources and a greater sense of community with their peers. For more information, visit www.legalartmiami.org. Become a fan on Facebook and follow LegalArtMiami on Twitter.
About the Rubell Family Collection and Contemporary Arts Foundation The Rubell Family Collection (RFC) was started in New York in 1964 when Don and Mera Rubell were first married. Since 1993 it has been displayed in Miami at its current, 45,000 square-foot location inside a former Drug Enforcement Agency confiscated goods facility. RFC first opened to the public in 1994. In 1998 the non-profit Contemporary Arts Foundation (CAF) was created to expand the Collection’s public mission inside the paradigm of a contemporary art museum.
Each year CAF presents thematic exhibitions drawn from the collection with accompanying catalogs. These shows often travel to museums around the country. CAF also maintains an internship program, partnership with Miami-Dade County Public schools, an ongoing lecture series and an extensive artwork loan program to facilitate exhibitions at museums around the world. Since opening in 1994, RFC has been recognized as the pioneer of what is often referred to as the ”Miami model,” whereby private collectors create a new, independent form of public institution. For more information, visit www.rfc.museum.