The LAB (Locust Arts Builders)
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 9, 7-10pm
Through August 2011
Pioneers in the Miami art scene, Locust Projects is pleased to announce a collaborative exhibition by a select group of South Florida High School students. Under the direction of renowned contemporary artist Monica Lopez de Victoria of the TM Sisters, thirteen local high school students will experience the invigorating and arduous process of conceiving and executing original artworks.
The students, currently attending Academy of Art & Minds, Coral Reef High, DASH, Dr. Michael M. Krop High, Gulliver Academy, Hialeah High School, John A. Ferguson High, Miami North Western, New World School of the Arts, South Dade High and Terra High were selected from an open call by a committee of local art professionals.
As a hallmark that makes Locust Projects stand out from other art venues, the organization embraces cutting-edge exhibitions and innovation in art. In furtherance of the not-for-profit’s thirteen-year commitment to providing an approachable arts venue for the South Florida community, for the second year, Locust Projects presents exciting new program in which a young generation of artists are given the opportunity to create a collaborative exhibition in a public venue.
The project will be developed and exhibited in Locust Projects’ 2,700 square foot space in Miami’s Design District and culminate in a publicized show, open to the public. The goal is to promote contemporary art and project-based learning as a means to encourage creativity, critical analysis, and problem solving, while building communication skills. This unique initiative will allow young artists to learn the practical and exciting aspects of creating a public exhibition in collaboration with their peers.
2011 marked Locust Projects’ 13-year anniversary. Locust Projects is alternative, not for profit exhibition space dedicated to providing contemporary visual artists the freedom to experiment with new ideas without the pressures of gallery sales or limitations of conventional exhibition spaces. Artists are encouraged to create site-specific installations as an extension of their representative work and Locust Projects offers them a vibrant Miami experience to develop their ideas and methods. Locust Projects is committed to offering an approachable and inviting venue for the Miami and international art community to experience the work and meet the artists. With more than 65 exhibitions, representing more than 210 local, national, and international artists, Locust Projects has supported site-specific and installation artworks featuring photography, video, performance, sculpture, drawing, painting and digital media making it a nationally-recognized art institution, and a landmark in the Miami art scene.
About the mentor artist
Monica Lopez De Victoria is a Miami-based artist that works in collaboration with Tasha Lopez De Victoria under the name TM Sisters. Together the sisters work in the mediums of video, digital video performance, VJing, collage, social experiments, zines, clothing, installations, and interactive video created along with their brother Samuel. The TM Sisters’ 2009 exhibition, WHIRL CRASH GO! at Locust Projects was featured in The Miami Herald. The sisters’ work has been included in the international traveling exhibition “Uncertain States of America: American Art in the 3rd Millennium;” the Second Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, and PERFORMA 07 in New York. Their work has been seen and written about in publications like L’Officiel magazine, The Guardian, STEP Inside Design, the New York Times, Vogue Italia, and on the cover of ARTnews.
For further information: Email. locustprojects@yahoo.com / Tel. 305.576.8570
The LAB is made possible with major support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Locust Projects’ exhibitions and programming are made possible with the support from: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; Galt & Skye Mikesell; Hannibal Cox Jr. Foundation; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor, and the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners.