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MOCA GA Logo                                    OCTOBER 2008 NEWSLETTER

EDITION IV
Message from the President
 Annette Cone-Skelton, MOCA GA President/CEO
 
The summer was an active one for MOCA GA.  In June/July, we opened our first exhibition in the Museum's main galleries at TULA Art Center with Larry Walker's solo exhibition.  Larry's exhibition kicked off the series of three exhibitions by this year's Working Artist Project (WAP) award winners.  In August we opened the second exhibition by WAP artist, Don Cooper.  The opening receptions were well attended and the reviews were outstanding.  As part of the grant award, we selected a major painting from the exhibitions of each artist for MOCA GA's permanent collection.  Both works are currently on view in MOCA GA's Education Resource/Center.
 
The final in this year's series of WAP award winners, a major installation by Danielle Roney, opened Saturday, October 4th and continues through November 15th.
 
Many thanks to the Charles Loridans Foundation for funding these grants and exhibitions.
 
The Education/Resource Center of MOCA GA is fast becoming an important historical resource for Georgia.  This summer we received the art library from the estate of artist Genevieve Arnold as well as the archives from both the Atlanta Women's Art Collective and the Vigilante Girls.  All of these materials are being digitized and catalogued through our active internship program. On view in the Center is an exhibition of the archived materials of the curatorial collective TABOO.  Read more about the archives in this issue. 
 
Major arts supporter and friend of MOCA GA, Elliott Goldstein commissioned Tom Ventulett to create a watercolor in homage to Georgia O'Keefe for MOCA GA's permanent collection.  Elliot has been a strong supporter of MOCA GA, serving as honoree of the MOCA GALA + Art Auction 2007 among other activities.
 
I am pleased to announce that we have begun a Docent program.  Eleanor Neal, Chairperson of the Art Department at Shiloh High School in Gwinnett County, leads docent training workshops for each exhibition.  Having volunteer docents allows us to more actively solicit tours and conduct outreach programs to schools and other organizations.
 
We have revived our First Thursday evening receptions. These monthly receptions are from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. and are free to the public. In our new location, the TULA galleries and studio artists are joining us so that the entire complex is open to visitors. 
 
Finally, we are grateful to our most recent contributors who have helped make the phenomenal growth of the Musuem possible.  The foundations and government agencies that gave to MOCA GA in the 3rd quarter of 2008 are:
 
The Rich Foundation
R. Howard Dobbs Jr. Foundation
The Cousins Foundation
The Massey Charitable Trust
The Price Gilbert Jr. Charitable Fund
City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs
Georgia Council for the Arts
Fulton County Arts Council
 
Thank you to each and every one of you who have helped us grow and thrive.  
 
Sincerely, 

 ACS signature

Annette Cone-Skelton

President, CEO

Art for Everyone - a MOCA GA Fundraiser
 Larry Walker, Secret #11                         
ART FOR EVERYONE 2008: A Huge Success

 

 
 
  
 
 
      
    Benjamin Jones
  

The recent event, Art For Everyone: Uncurated Art Resale Silent Auction & Party, was so successful, attendees have already requested a repeat.  Held on September 19th at The Brownstones at Honour in Buckhead, the party was an appealing blend of beautiful surroundings, affordable art, and festive atmosphere. 

 

With live music in the background, collectors bid on virtually all of the 160 artworks that were installed throughout four of the million dollar-plus townhomes.  Works ran the gamut from photography to drawings, paintings, prints and ceramics.  Almost $44,000 was raised and many collectors went home with new treasures.  Around 350 people were in attendance.

 

Helping to make the event a success were Event chair Patti Siegel, Host Committee Co-chairs Travis Reed and Michael Kriethe.  The Art Donation Co-Chairs were Andrew Dietz, Betty Edge and Karen Spiegel.


 
Danielle Roney Exhibition :  October 4 - November 15, 2008
                                Danielle Roney, Fluid Architecture
DANIELLE RONEY: 
Genesis Trial:  Johannesburg 
 

Working Artist Project winner Danielle Roney's solo exhibition Genesis Trial: Johannesburg opened at MOCA GA on October 4 and will run through November 15, 2008.  Her Artist Talk is scheduled for October 23.
 
Danielle works in a combination of sculpture and time-based media, resulting in site specific installations, live simulcasts, abstract sculpture, and video.  Mostly she explores the question:  How does change and technological communication with the world affect a society?  She has been working in two areas undergoing great change: China and South Africa.  She seeks to initiate a scholarly dialogue about the potential for individual cultures to lose their diversity and uniqueness.  In short, she examines and reflects how they express the changing world around them. 
 
MOCA News checked in with Danielle as she completed preparations for her opening.
 
1.  Your solo exhibition opened October 4 -- can you tell us about it?
 
DR:  I worked hard on the MOCA exhibition. I was very excited about the opening and look for it to elevate my work to a new level of dialog about locational identity and the dynamics of virtual and physical realities.
 
Genesis Trial: Johannesburg emphasizes the journey to global citizenry and the psychogeography of place in relationship to personal interactions in Johannesburg. Considering the broader context of locational identity, the expressions of Italo Calvino and architect Yona Freidman, frame a balance of direct and abstract interpretations of personal mobility and its social implications.
 
The exhibition includes a multi-channel video installation, several single channel conceptual and documentary video works and sculpture.
 
2.  What has your focus been while working on this show?
 
DR: As Genesis Trial unfolds in a series of global experiences, I am focused on the larger, universal aspects of many "modern" centers and the how time, space and place reveal themselves in an infinite complexity of layers; to later dissolve in the recollection of the traveler, as Calvino significantly illustrates in his 1972 novel, Invisible Cities.
 
3.  Any comments about what it's been like to be part of the Working Artist Project, one of the first three artists chosen?
 
DR: The WAP grant has enabled me to expand my work further into media installation and has encouraged my global conceptual base to take on new forms of multi-channel projection and live performance interactions.
 
4.  How has it been working with your studio assistants?
 
DR:  Roney: I currently have two studio assistants splitting the time allocation. 

Penny Aviles, from Agnes Scott, is focusing upon research in video interactive technology, videography and exhibition/installation planning. I have encouraged her participation in the unitednationsplaza Mexico DF program in Mexico City during the month of March while she is home visiting her family over spring break. This perspective helps her learn more about the direction of contemporary art discourse on an international level, and she will report on the project to me regarding this in relationship to my conceptual frameworks.
Freya Schlemmer, from Emory, works on grant and artistic research and assists in the writing/editing process. Freya also is in charge of statement development. Freya has also worked on Global Portals and continues to contribute to upcoming technology issues.
 
Both young women have learned how to work from a conceptual base to a tangible exhibition, with the use of technology, which will contribute to their own creative development.
 
To read more about Danielle Roney, click here.    
 
Q &A:  WAP Artist Don Cooper

Yanique Norman

 
 
A Conversation with 2007/2008 Working Artist Project Winner
Don Cooper 
 


 
Don Cooper is one of the first three winners of MOCA GA's Working Artist Project, funded by the Charles Loridans Foundation. His exhibition This Moment As It Is: A Connection To The Whole currently hangs in MOCA's Galleries I and III through September 20.  Mr. Cooper talked with MOCA's Vicky Favorite recently.
 
Click here to read about Vicky's conversation with this exciting Georgia artist.

 

2008/2009 Working Artist Project Winners

 Marcia Cohen                               

Maria Artemis

Marcia R. Cohen

 Matt Haffner 
 
 
 
     
 Marcia R. Cohen 
 
Through a major grant from the Charles Loridans Foundation, MOCA GA continues its innovative and exciting new Working Artist Project (WAP) grants program.  After a very successful first year -- working with artists Don Cooper, Danielle Roney, and Larry Walker -- Annette Cone-Skelton is proud to introduce the next three winning artists:  Maria Artemis, Marcia R. Cohen, and Matt Haffner.
 
Click here to read more about the 2008/2009 Working Artist Project winners.
MOCA GA Archives Update
TABOO Remembered 
News from the Vault: 
The MOCA GA Archives
 

 

 
 
TABOO Remembered
 
 
Some people think of archives as dusty boxes with contents that never see the light of day.  At MOCA GA, the archives are a dynamic assortment of research materials that chronicle the contemporary art scene of Georgia.  There are many exciting things happening with MOCA GA's archives behind-the-scenes.  Here are a few highlights:
 
·  The exhibition, TABOO Remembered, is the first exhibition curated from MOCA GA's archives.  It is currently installed on the Project Ramp Gallery of the Education Resource/Center.  MOCA GA maintains the records of the TABOO art collective, active in the Atlanta art scene from 1988 through 1999.
 
·  MOCA GA has been given the complete library of art books from the Genevieve Arnold Estate.  This wonderful collection consists of books, exhibition catalogs, magazines such as Art in America, ART PAPERS, ARTFORUM dating back to the early 1970s, providing a valuable research tool for educators, students and collectors.
 
·  The Atlanta Women's Art Collective, a feminist art support group active from 1976 to the mid-1980s, donated their files to MOCA GA.  The collection includes correspondence, invitations, photographs, etc.  A student from Kennesaw State University has already used the material for a research paper.
 
·  A four-box collection of Atlanta gallery exhibitions provides a chronological record of galleries in Atlanta from the 1960s through today.  These mailers and invitations not only show the galleries in operation but also the artists, even a record of graphic design styles prevalent in each period.
 
·  This summer, four interns worked with Lisa Thrower, MOCA GA's manager of collections, to scan more than 400 slides.  In addition, the internsworked to cross-reference artists in newspaper articles and magazines, making research on a particular artist in the MOCA GA permanent collection much easier.
 
·  The estate of Herbert Creecy has gifted three document boxes full of slides, which provides a visual record of most every piece the artist created during the height of his career.  MOCA GA is putting these in chronological order and will begin scanning the slides this fall.
 
Anyone interested in accessing the MOCA GA archives may contact Lisa Thrower at lisathrower@mocaga.org for an appointment.
MOCA GA Staff Profile
 Jo-ann Lawrence     

                                                                    

Jo-ann Lawrence 

MOCA GA Grants Manager 

 

 .  
 
 
 

 
 
 There might be times when MOCA staffer Jo-ann Lawrence feels like a matchmaker. 
 
Steeped in the intricacies of arts funding, she understands that the strongest grant proposals come from knowing details about her subject: MOCA GA and its Georgia artists -- what they need, who they are and how they do their work.  She asks questions and learns -- about artist technique and materials, about workspace, what artists need, how they can excel. 

Click here to read more about MOCA GA's newest staff member.
What Are They Up to Now?
Katherine Mitchell at Agnes Scott 
 
 
  Katherine Mitchell
MOCA GA Artist 
 
 
 
 
 
   Labyrinth for Durnstein II, Katherine Mitchell
 
 
 Katherine Mitchell, an abstract artist featured in numerous group exhibitions at MOCA GA, has been recently chosen by Agnes Scott College for installation in the new Julia Thompson Smith Chapel on campus.  Lisa Alembik, director of Agnes Scott's Dalton Gallery, says that Agnes Scott's collecting mission focuses predominately on works on paper by women artists.  She described Mitchell's work as "quiet seduction of color that seeps into the atmosphere while meditative qualities of her carefully laid out shapes build and unfold onto each other."
 
"Agnes Scott is thrilled to include Katherine Mitchell in the college's permanent collection," says Alembik. "The installation of Mitchell's artwork completes the sublime atmosphere of the Julia Thompson Smith Chapel, the new house of faith and spirituality on campus that opened this past April. In Mitchell's drawings, the quiet seduction of color seeps into the atmosphere while the meditative qualities of her shapes build and unfold onto each other, both posing timeless questions of beliefs and systems appropriate for a space that calls one to consider the journey of life,"
 
The Agnes Scott Permanent Collection includes works by Barbara Kruger and Kathe Kollwitz, and recent acquisitions of works by Ruth Laxon, Annette Cone-Skelton and Rocio Rodriguez. Agnes Scott's collecting mission focuses predominately on works on paper by women.
     
 

MOCA GA's 2008 Schedule

                                        Danielle Roney
MOCA GA's 2008 Schedule

 

 
 
 

 

 
 
 
Danielle Roney, Genesis Trial:  Johannesburg 
3D Animation Still
 
 

August 8 through October 31, 2008 -- TABOO Remembered, Project Ramp Gallery in MOCA GA's Education/Resource Center.  A rare opportunity to view provocative work from this now defunct Atlanta art collective.

 
October 2 - November 15 -- Photographs from the Core Collection:  Gifts from CGR Advisors and David S. Golden, Expansion Gallery, Suite O2.
 
October 4 - Opening Reception -- Danielle Roney exhibition, Genesis Trial:  Johannesburg, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., Galleries I, II and III

 
October 4 - November 15 -- Danielle Roney solo exhibition, multimedia installations including sculpture, audio and computer-generated videos and videos projected onto murals
 

 

October 9 - Atlanta Celebrates Photography Artist Talk with Suellen Parker, 6:30 pm reception, 7 pm Artist Talk.

 

October 23 - Danielle Roney artist talk, Gallery I, 6:30 reception, 7 p.m. Artist Talk

 
November 6 - First Thursday, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.  

 

November 20 -- Off-the-Wall Pin-Up Show and Sale, 6-9 p.m. - Click here for information on how to participate in Pin Up 2008,click here for the Pin Up 2008 Release Form; and click here for information on MOCA GA's call for Multiples Proposals

 

November 29 - January 17 -- Lamar Dodd exhibition, Galleries I, II, III.

 
December 4 - First Thursday, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

December 5 -- Public reception, Lamar Dodd exhibition, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

 

 

 

 
MOCA GA                                                                Museum Hours:
Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia                     Tuesday - Saturday
TULA Art Center                                                        10am - 5pm
75 Bennett Street                                                      Closed Sunday and Monday
Atlanta, GA   30309
404.367.4542
 
 

Funding and support for this organization is provided in part by the City of Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs; the Fulton County Board of Commissioners under the guidance of the Fulton County Arts Council; and the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriation of the Georgia General Assembly. The Georgia Council for the Arts is a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. 

 
 

 


 

 

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