Newsletter - The MacDowell Colony

Vol. 32, No. 1, Summer 2003
100 High Street
Peterborough, NH 03458
The
MacDowell
ColonyNewsletter
Spotlight
In the Community, 9
MacDowell Moment, 5
Defining Interdisciplinary Art, 3
The 44th MacDowell Medalist • Four Artists, Four Stories: Open Studio
• Bill Jacobson and Chris Doyle In Their Own Words • and more!
Letter from the Director
2
The MacDowell Colony nurtures
the arts by offering creative individuals
of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which they can produce
enduring works of imagination. The
Colony was founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and Marian
MacDowell, his wife. Colonists receive
room, board, and exclusive use of a studio. The sole criterion for acceptance is
talent, as determined by a panel representing the discipline of the applicant.
The MacDowell Colony was awarded
the National Medal of Arts in 1997 for
“nurturing and inspiring many of this
century’s finest artists.” Applications are
available from either the New Hampshire or New York addresses below,
or at our web site:
www.macdowellcolony.org.
A Sanctuary for Innovation
By Cheryl A. Young, Executive Director
T
he image of MacDowell as a quiet retreat for artists belies the fact that it is one of the
hottest contemporary art centers in the country. Today’s best artists are creating new
work in these New Hampshire woods daily. Those works of art first see the light of day
through our studio windows and then go on to reach the wider world in the marketplace
of ideas: in theatres, music and book stores; galleries, museums, and concert halls; on
stages, in movie houses, and on the Internet. Keeping up with new ways of making art is
how MacDowell stays fresh. And in turn, the new art work that results from residencies
freshens and enlivens our culture.
Chairman: Robert MacNeil
President: Carter Wiseman
Executive Director: Cheryl A. Young
Resident Director: David Macy
Experimentation may not always be pretty, but it is exciting.
Talent is what
We must think and see in new ways or society will stagnate. Pro-
fertilizes the Colony’s
ducing new art and believing in the value of the arts to society is the
rich environment,
basis on which The MacDowell Colony was founded in 1907 and
but it is the freedom
to experiment that
The MacDowell Colony Newsletter is
published twice a year, in June and
December. Past residents may send
newsworthy activities to the editor in
Peterborough. Deadlines for inclusion
are April 1 and October 1. For more
timely updates we encourage Colonists
to post their news and events on the
Calendar section of our web site.
has guided the program for the past 100 years.
So how does MacDowell keep up? The answer is by examining its admissions process and by attempting to address artists’
stimulates
needs in order to attract the highest caliber of people. Talent is what
breakthroughs.
fertilizes the Colony’s rich environment, but it is the freedom to ex-
art — by awarding the Edward MacDowell Medal to
Editor: Brendan Tapley
Design and Production: Jill Shaffer
All photographs not otherwise
credited: Joanna Eldredge Morrissey
Cover photos (clockwise from left):
Mobile Home (Communiqué), photograph, 1996, Peter Garfield; Merce
Cunningham, photograph by Edward
Santalone; Tom Varner, photograph
by David Macy; Eaves, photograph by
Colony Fellow Stanley Garth
one of their own. Merce Cunningham, the acclaimed
Printer: Braden Printing, Keene, NH
periment that stimulates breakthroughs.
This summer, we are pleased to formally recognize interdisciplinary artists — a cadre of individuals
who have certainly broken through the boundaries of
No part of The MacDowell Colony
Newsletter may be reused in any way
without written permission.
© 2003, The MacDowell Colony
and always inventive choreographer, exemplifies the
way in which art can be made more powerful by inthinking. He, like the numerous interdisciplinary
artists who have come to MacDowell, is constantly refining and redefining the art world through experimentation. It is his career that MacDowell will honor
on Medal Day, but it is his pursuit of the new that we
honor every day when we welcome someone to his or
her studio for the first time.
COURTESY OF COLONY FELLOW B.A. KING
corporating other forms, other media, other ways of
The MacDowell Colony is located at
100 High Street
Peterborough, NH 03458
Telephone: 603.924.3886
Fax: 603.924.9142
Administrative office:
163 East 81st Street
New York, NY 10028
Telephone: 212.535.9690
Fax: 212.737.3803
Web site: www.macdowellcolony.org
E-mail: [email protected]
Proper I.D.
MacDowell has been accepting
interdisciplinary artists since
1988 and will award its
MacDowell Medal to one this
August. But the question remains:
What exactly is I.D.?
T
here is the inevitable laugh when an I.D.
artist is asked to define I.D. For some, the
laughter stems from amusement, for others it’s fatigue. Not because they’ve been asked the question
a lot (in fact, many have not), but because to get
to the source of what makes an artist an interdisciplinary one can be circuitous. “My teacher, Lee
Breuer, used to say that interdisciplinary art is an
event that takes place in the time and space in
which the event takes place,” says Dan Hurlin, a
member of this year’s Medal Selection Committee
and a board member. Then, he laughs.
Laughter aside, there is a guiding principle for
MacDowell’s Admissions Committee, to which
Hurlin belongs. And it is happily succinct: An interdisciplinary artist is an artist who incorporates more
than one art form into his or her work. Admissions
Coordinator Courtney Bethel, who must often distinguish between I.D. and other disciplines, says
that I.D. began as a response to performance art but
has since grown due to the insurgence of new technology as well as the trend in art to move away from
static forms of photography, sculpture, and painting.
“More and more, artists are using multiple forms of
media to create art, which is where they cross the
line into I.D.” Of course, these are but two definitions in a field that proffers many.
“I liken it to being promiscuous,” laughs Colony
Fellow Chris Doyle. “There are great pleasures to
be had in other disciplines. Working among the disciplines changes those conventions and vocabularies. You make a third thing. I think there’s something contemporary about wanting to do things
simultaneously.”
Peter Garfield, a four-time MacDowell Fellow
in I.D., would agree. “We are culturally trained
these days in such a fragmented way — from this
massive culture of entertainment — that I can’t
force myself to just be a painter.”
It’s an interesting point and one that’s shared
among the interviewed artists. Most came from
traditional forms — Hurlin from theatre, Garfield
from classical trumpet, Doyle from architecture —
and chose to break from them. There are personal
reasons, of course, but in the bigger picture, it
seems that I.D.’s overall appeal is its ability to accommodate the ever-changing technology and materials available to artists. One gets the sense that
I.D. may offer the most contemporary palette.
“I.D. is a vaporous term,” says Dexter Buell, an
interdisciplinary artist who emerged from the
world of sculpture. “Almost all good artists are interdisciplinary now because functioning with an
I.D. ethic means that you include other conceptual frames. Plus, I.D. serves the peripatetic aspect
of our culture, the way we go from cable to print
to television to the Internet.”
If MacDowell is any indication, the mass media
that informs I.D. is also reflected in those who
want to do it. Since 1988, the average number of
artists who have applied for an I.D. residency is
36. The average number of applicants for a filmmaking residency, an equally contemporary
medium, is 39. I.D. is catching up. For this last
ID artist Dexter Buell’s
photographic reconstruction
of the Icarus myth.
“I liken it to being
promiscuous,” laughs
Chris Doyle. “There are
great pleasures to be had
in other disciplines.”
Dexter Buell is currently working on photographic reconstructions of significant historical
and mythological moments, such as John Glenn’s
insertion into Mercury 7 and Icarus being
launched by his father Daedalus (pictured above).
He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington in Seattle and received his
MFA from Yale University School of Art. He has
recently been an artist-in-residence at the Yale Summer School of Music
and Art in Norfolk, Connecticut, and received the Purdee Prize for outstanding accomplishment in sculpture from Yale University School of
Art in 1989. Buell has twice been a MacDowell Fellow.
4
Chris Doyle is currently working on a cycle
of large-scale watercolors that documents the
making of videos and performances for Jessica
Murray Project and a video installation based
on a live helicopter performance for The
Sculpture Center. His work has recently been
shown at P.S.1 Museum of Contemporary
Art, The Queens Museum of Art, and The
Sculpture Center. His major public projects
include LEAP, presented by Creative Time, Commutable, and The Public Art Fund. Doyle has been in residence at MacDowell four times.
“The visibility of the
Medal, the recognition
it provides . . .
it will rub off on the
whole field.”
— Dan Hurlin
Proper I.D. continued
summer period alone, the number of applicants
beat the annual average at 63.
“It’s a relatively young discipline,” says Hurlin.
“It’s full of grandfathers, but not greatgrandfathers. It doesn’t carry the burden of tradition.” Buell seconds that idea: “It encourages
people who don’t think traditionally.”
Doyle, the former architect, says, “There were
things that I wanted to say that were not best said
by buildings. It wasn’t the way I wanted to speak.”
While I.D. might spring from personal choices
or personal frustrations, it is still very much concerned with connecting to an audience. “Part of
my intention is to expand the audience,” says
Doyle. For him, the versatility of I.D. often promises a diversity of eyes, ears, and minds to look at
his work. That seems like a natural result; if I.D.
has emerged from mass media and incorporates
numerous elements from it, isn’t it inevitable that it
would have mass appeal? “Well, I do think mainstream tolerance for I.D. elements has increased,”
says Hurlin. “I mean, look at Blue Man Group and
Stomp. They’re selling tickets left and right.”
Peter Garfield is an I.D. artist working primarily in photography, sculpture, video, and
painting. A graduate of Dartmouth College
and the École Nationale Supérieure des BeauxArts, Paris, he is now based in Brooklyn, New
York. In 1993, Garfield was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for
his work as a painter and in 1999 was awarded
a fellowship grant by the New York Foundation for the Arts for his artist book Harsh Realty. He has been a MacDowell Fellow four times. His work is pictured on the cover of this issue.
Others aren’t so sure. “When I apply for
grants,” says Garfield, “they don’t look at the
whole body of work. They say ‘No, you do photography,’ or ‘You do sculpture.’ I definitely feel
dropped through the cracks.”
“The marketplace is about categories,” says
Doyle. “And I.D. is a category about not categorizing. It’s harder for galleries to sell things.”
For all these artists, it is important that
MacDowell is awarding its esteemed Edward
MacDowell Medal — for the first time in 44 years
— to an I.D. artist. “It’s unbelievably significant,”
says Hurlin. “It’s an incredible validation for people working outside boundaries. The visibility of
the Medal, the recognition it provides . . . it will
rub off on the whole field.”
Of course, leading the way has never been unusual for the Colony. “MacDowell champions
I.D.,” says Doyle. “MacDowell is a refuge for those
who want to work outside the marketplace. MacDowell supports what’s not easily supportable.”
Identity crisis? Well, not here.
Dan Hurlin
received a 1990
Village Voice
OBIE award for
his solo adaptation
of Nathanael
West’s A Cool Million. His suite of
puppet pieces
Everyday Uses for Sight: Nos. 3 and 7 earned
him a 2001 New York Dance and Performance Award or BESSIE. He has performed
with Ping Chong, Janie Geiser, and Jeffrey M.
Jones, and directed premieres of works by
Lisa Kron, Holly Hughes, Dan Froot, and
John C. Russell. He has received individual
artist fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Hampshire
State Council on the Arts, the New York
Foundation for the Arts, and he is a 2002
Guggenheim Fellow. Hurlin has served on
the faculties of Bowdoin, Bennington, and
Barnard colleges, and Princeton University.
He currently teaches both dance and puppetry at Sarah Lawrence College. He is a
MacDowell Colony board member.
PHOTO: BRENDAN TAPLEY
1919
MacDowell Moment
5
would pull Mrs. MacDowell on a
sort of carriage. It was a working
farm, and I remember the butter
making, all the gardens they had,
and the blueberrying I did for the
pies Mary Tineri made in the
kitchen. Of course I also remember Mrs. MacDowell. She was
very nice. She never criticized
anyone. My uncle really liked
her, and she always treated
him well.
Q: Did you have any
E
leanor Vanni was one of the first —
one of the first local citizens to grow
up with the Colony. Now 84, Vanni sat
down to talk about the early days, her
remembrances, and the ongoing power
of the place that began shortly before she
was born.
Q: How did you come to the Colony?
A: Both my parents died from influenza
when I was three days old. My uncle,
Michael Wallace, who was the caretaker
at The MacDowell Colony, and his wife
took me and my brother in. They had
three children of their own. This was in
1919. I’m an old lady now, you know —
84-years-old.
Q: What stands out in your mind
from that time?
A: I remember the animals. Cows, pigs,
Mrs. MacDowell’s horse, Prince. Prince
specific jobs?
A: Well, I did the ironing, and
I guided the tours when people
would stop in. I would show
them the Log Cabin and the
library. We didn’t disturb anyone, you know. Thornton
Wilder — he was so busy.
Always working. Everyone was.
But there was always somebody
coming up from the town.
many people visited?
A: People in Peterborough
were so proud of the place.
It was exciting. It was exciting for me, too, because I
was there from the beginning. I have happy memories. MacDowell ended me
up in a good place!
A GIFT OF TIME . . .
G
above: The inscription
on the photograph of
Marian MacDowell reads:
To Michael Wallace
with the warm regards
and sincere friendship
of Marian MacDowell
(Mrs. Edward MacDowell)
July 1st, 1925
Peterborough, N.H.
Q: Was there a reason so
ifts from The MacDowell Colony’s friends, Colony Fellows, and the general public are essential in helping the
Colony continue its mission of the past 96 years — to provide exceptionally gifted artists with time, a private studio,
and a supportive community of artists working in many different disciplines.
Each year, the Colony must raise funds to underwrite the
costs of fellowships for some 240 talented artists from across
the country and abroad, who come to work in the studios at
MacDowell. Annual gifts are directed in their entirety to support the artists’ residency program at MacDowell. Contribu-
left: A friend atop Prince,
Mrs. MacDowell’s horse.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ELEANOR VANNI
tions may be named in honor or memory of a friend or loved
one, and they can provide unique gifts for any occasion. Your
annual gift entitles you to membership in The MacDowell
Circle and will be recognized in The MacDowell Colony’s
2003-2004 Annual Report. All contributions are fully taxdeductible to the extent provided by law.
Please use the gift envelope bound into this newsletter’s
centerfold to make your gift by mail, visit the Give section of
the Colony’s web site at www.macdowellcolony.org for
more information on making a secure donation online, or
contact the Development Office at 212.535.9690 for assistance. We greatly appreciate your support of the artists of
The MacDowell Colony.
6
From the Kitchen
PHOTO: BRENDAN TAPLEY
MOROCCAN ROASTED CARROT SALAD
T
PHOTO: BRENDAN TAPLEY
he MacDowell kitchen is perhaps the most trafficked spot on all the Colony’s 450
acres. Why? Simple: There’s inspiration and recuperation in equal measure here.
Whether you need to recover from wrangling with that novel or want to celebrate
painting the last brushstroke, the MacDowell kitchen — as famed foodie M.F.K Fisher
would say — serves it forth. For those interested in replicating MacDowell’s culinary
magic at home, try this recipe from Chef Christiane Smith. It’s a meal, it’s a side dish,
it’s gourmet, and it’s comfort food all in one. It’s also easy.
Serves: 8
Cooking time: 60 minutes
For roasted carrots and dressing:
¾ lb medium carrots (about 4), peeled and
quartered lengthwise
1 red onion peeled and slivered into eighths
¼ cup + 1 tbs. olive oil
1¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
2 tbs. sugar
2 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tbs. fresh grated lemon zest
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. cayenne
For couscous:
2¾ cups water
2¼ cups Israeli or Pearl couscous*
1 tbs. olive oil
2 tsp. salt
Additions:
½ cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
½ cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
1. Make carrots and dressing:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
To roast carrots, place the carrots, onion, 1 tbs. of the olive oil,
¼ tsp. of the salt and the pepper
on a baking sheet. Toss well and
transfer to the oven. Roast carrots, shaking occasionally, until
they just begin to caramelize
around the edges (about 30 minutes). The carrots should be firm
and not mushy.
Meanwhile, make the dressing
in a bowl by whisking together
the sugar, lemon juice, the rest of the oil,
spices, and remaining salt until the sugar
is dissolved. When the roasted carrots are
cool enough to handle, cut them into angled 1-inch slices and toss them well with
the dressing. Cover and marinate the carrots chilled for at least 4 hours.
2. Make couscous and assemble salad:
Bring water, salt, and olive oil to boil
in a heavy saucepan and stir in couscous,
then reduce to simmer, uncovered, for 6
minutes. Cover pan and remove from
heat. Let stand 10 minutes. Spread couscous in 1 layer on baking sheet and cool
15 minutes.
Transfer couscous to a bowl and stir in
carrot mixture, the additions, and salt
and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature.
* Made from semolina wheat and toasted,
Israeli (or pearl) couscous is about the size
of a peppercorn. It is readily available at
Middle Eastern markets and at some grocery stores; orzo pasta and pearl barley
make fine substitutes.
CALLING
ALL FELLOWS…
T
he peaceful amphitheatre, majestic Monadnock, the view
from a room of one’s own, fellow
artists . . . the Colony is interested
in expanding its image bank. If you
or anyone you know has taken photographs of MacDowell that they
would like to donate (black and
white or color), please forward
them to us with a letter giving
proper credit information. In the
event we use them for publications,
on our web site, or for historical
purposes, appropriate acknowledgement regarding the donation will
be made.
We thank you in advance for
helping to capture the spirit of
MacDowell.
Filmmaker Jadina Lilien
News
7
Fellows Executive
Committee Dispatch
By Julia Jacquette, President,
Fellows Executive Committee
ince our party in October, the Fellows Executive Committee met in December,
2002 and March, 2003. At the first meeting,
the Committee determined how best to spend
the approximately $3,000 raised for the
Colony at the Annual Fellows Party.
The iMac in Colony Hall, purchased by
the Committee for use by the Fellows a few
years ago, has proven indispensable since its
installation. And thanks to the generosity of
Colony Fellow Rosalind Solomon, we have
come into possession
of a second computer, a Macintosh
G3. The Committee
has suggested that
the majority of this
year’s contribution
be used to refurbish
and update the G3,
hire a computer consultant to provide
ongoing support for
both machines, and
FEC President,
purchase two tables
Julia Jacquette
specifically designed
for computers in Colony Hall.
The remainder of this year’s gift has been
conveyed without restrictions, leaving its use
to the discretion of the Colony.
Also discussed at the past two meetings was
MacDowell’s upcoming Centennial celebration. Among the many topics considered were
how best to honor the Colony, how to amplify its mission to the public, and how to enlist more MacDowell Fellows. To send ideas
on these very important subjects as well as any
other suggestions, please e-mail me at:
[email protected]
One final note: The 2003 Annual Fellows
Party will be held on Friday, October 17,
2003. The party is once again at the Elizabeth
Harris Gallery at 529 West 26th Street in New
York. Invitations will be sent to all MacDowell
Fellows in early fall 2003, so watch out for
them, and we hope to see you at the party!
PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE WRITERS’ PROJECT
S
Not Resting on Their Laureates
F
or the first time in history, the United States’ poets lau- Above: State
reate gathered to probe the implications and impact of laureates gather in
New Hampshire.
poetry in art and throughout the world. More than 30 laureates, hailing from such states as Alaska and Wisconsin,
joined New Hampshire laureate Marie Harris and NEA chairman Dana
Gioia for a three-day conference in April in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Among those gathered were Colony Fellows Irene McKinney (West Virginia)
and Larry Woiwode (North Dakota). Helen Norris, a MacDowell fellow and
current laureate from Alabama, could not attend.
“When I started writing, most people paid no attention to poetry; it had
no public clout,” says McKinney. “This public discussion will help me bring
stuff back to my own state. It might cause the state capital to call on me for a
few more things.”
“This event brings poetry out of the ‘usual-suspect’ places,” says Katie
Goodman, executive director of the New Hampshire Writers’ Project, the
sponsoring organization. “We’re going into businesses, science museums,
state prisons…everywhere.”
The conference, dubbed Poetry and Politics, was a compelling mix of conversation and readings, including panels on poetry and education, human
creativity and the brain, poetry and the spirit, and the poet as citizen. It culminated in a keynote speech by Gioia who emphasized that a voice is all an
artist needs to better his or her community.
“There wasn’t even a central list of [the poets laureate] when we began to
put this together,” says Marie Harris. “New Hampshire is where a lot of the
key issues facing our country get defined and debated. We want to make sure
that culture, and specifically poetry, is part of that discussion.”
In addition to poets laureate on the state level, MacDowell has had an impressive seven poets go on to occupy the national post. They include Louise
Bogan (1945-46), Louis Untermeyer (1961-63), Reed Whittemore (196465 and 1984-85), Josephine Jacobsen (1971-73), Stanley Kunitz (1974-76
and 2000-01), Anthony Hecht (1982-84), and Robert Fitzgerald (1984-85).
8
Events
The Local “Seen”
PHOTO: STEVE TUCKER
I
An Extraordinary Evening
O
Program participants
(back left to right) Oscar
Hijuelos, Lauren
Flanigan, Ned Rorem,
Kitty Carlisle Hart,
Robert MacNeil,
Regina Taylor, (front
left to right) James
Lapine, Wendy
Wasserstein, Sara
Niemietz, and Melissa
Errico.
n December 2, 2002, more than 250 people attended MacDowell’s Annual Benefit celebrating
MacDowell artists and the 65 Pulitzer Prizes they have
won. The benefit, which was held at The University
Club in New York City, was one of the most successful
to date, raising $302,000 to support MacDowell’s residency program. Directed by Scott Perrin, the program
featured performances and works by Pulitzer Prizewinners Oscar Hijuelos, Galway Kinnell, James Lapine, Ned Rorem, and
Wendy Wasserstein. Special thanks to our Co-Chairmen Ruth M. Feder and
Helen S. Tucker for helping us make this such a successful event.
Conversations in Concert
N
ancy Newcomb and John Hargraves hosted a Salon Evening, Conversations in Concert, in their home on February 26th. Guests enjoyed performances of current work by Colony Fellows and composers Robert Beaser
and Stewart Wallace, along with guest artists
Left to right: William
Ferguson, Nancy Newcomb,
William Ferguson, John Hancock, and Mark
John Hancock, Robert Beaser,
Ribot. We are grateful to our hosts, the Salon
Stewart Wallace, John
Committee, and the participating artists.
Hargraves, and Mark Ribot.
t was a busy winter and spring for
MacDowell artists and not just in their
studios. Not only did MacDowell’s new
monthly public program, MacDowell
Downtown, continue its success at the
Peterborough Historical Society, but an
increasing number of artists found their
way into classrooms around the Monadnock region. As Sue Copley, principal of
Peterborough Elementary recently said,
“We’ve been delighted to have MacDowell Fellows come here. They all provide
very profound experiences. I know it
must take time and effort to set these up,
but we’re really appreciative.”
Here is a list of recent outreach activities not pictured at right:
11.6.02
3.14.03
MacDowell in the
Schools with filmmakers Aviva Kempner,
Jennie Livingston, and
Anne Makepeace
ConVal High School
MacDowell in the
Schools with composer
David Rakowski
The Well
11.7.02
MacDowell Downtown
with filmmaker Jennie
Livingston
11.13.02
Filmmaker Jessica
Sharzer screens her film
The Wormhole for the
Kiwanis Club
1.2.03
MacDowell Downtown
presents Lady in the
Wings, the 1954
Hallmark film about
the Colony
3.5.03
PHOTO: STEVE TUCKER
MacDowell in the
Schools with filmmaker
Ed Radtke
ConVal High School
3.12.03
MacDowell in the
Schools with filmmaker
Jonathan Glatzer
ConVal High School
4.3.03
MacDowell Downtown
with filmmaker Tom
Gilroy
4.14.03
National Poetry Month
at the Peterborough
Town Library
Poets Shin Yu Pai,
Carol Oles, Jo
McDougal, and
Andrea Cohen
4.22.03
National Poetry Month
at the Peterborough
Town Library
Poets Gail Taylor,
Sara McCarthy, Shira
Dentz, Traci Dant, and
Hugh Ogden
4.23.03
Poet Hugh Ogden
reads for the Kiwanis
Club
In the Community
MacDowell Downtown
9
left: Composer
Alvin Singleton (left)
greets audience
member and Sharon
resident Dan Claff.
right: (from left)
Actors Mark Teffler,
Meredith Nicholaev,
Rebecca Gomes, and
Zack McQueary
celebrate with
playwright Dominic
Orlando.
December . . .
It was a holiday event to remember as MacDowell Downtown showcased the music of
composer, Colony Fellow, and board member
Alvin Singleton along with three student violinists. The trio performed “Be Natural,” which
Singleton wrote in 1974 and for which he won
the prestigious Kranichsteiner Musikpreis.
below: Writer Roya
Hakakian (right)
with board member
Mary Garland.
March . . .
Playwright Dominic
Orlando collaborated
with Peterborough resident and drama instructor
Bob Lawson to present a
one-act play Terror of the
Physical Being. Four
actors studying at nearby
college Franklin Pierce
interpreted the play in a
staged reading.
February . . .
Iranian-American writer Roya Hakakian read
from her forthcoming memoir on her comingof-age experience in both countries. Hakakian’s
book, Journey Out of the Land of No, which she
completed at MacDowell, will be published by
Crown in January, 2004.
MacDowell in the Schools
February . . .
PHOTO: DAVID MACY
PHOTO: DAVID MACY
Composer Tom Varner met with students in grades one through
eight at Mountain Shadows School in Dublin, NH. After describing the French horn he brought with him, Varner played blues and
jazz music, then demonstrated improvisational techniques.
above: Elaine Agnew February . . .
(in center) makes a
Irish composer Elaine Agnew
circle of musical enthubrought her enthusiasm and talents
siasts at Peterborough
Elementary.
to a fourth-grade class at Peterborleft: Students in rapt
attention for composer
Tom Varner (at far
left).
ough Elementary. Agnew led the
students through games and exercises to illustrate rhythm in music.
10
In Their Own Words
What has sustained you on your artistic path?
W
hen I think of the word
sustain, I initially think
of what sustains not only the
human body but life itself; perhaps it’s the essential combination of nourishment and joy.
I have been making photographs in a variety of ways for
more than 30 years. The process
has been a continuous inquiry
into my own life’s questions. On
occasion, I have been lucky
enough to be rewarded with
what I feel are significant answers, and it is this process of
asking and receiving which has
ultimately sustained me. There
are days or even years when it feels like I’m accomplishing fairly little. But when I find that I’ve created something new that I’ve actually never seen
before, the feeling is like nothing else, and I’m encouraged to want to do it again.
In a more practical way, support from colonies
like MacDowell, grants, and sales have been invaluable in the continuing struggle to lead a creative life. I also credit an ongoing dialogue with my
friends who are artists. And living in New York,
with an awareness of the city’s amazing community
of creative souls, serves as a continual and essential
reminder that I am not alone in my pursuits.
— Bill jacobson
Bill Jacobson started making photographs when he
was fifteen. His work is in the collections of the
Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and many
others. He will have an exhibition of new photographs
in October at Julie Saul Gallery in New York.
P
ath just isn’t a slippery enough word to describe the way that work evolves. It scares me a
little to think about what keeps me on a path because believe me, I stray.
Trained in architecture, I used to spend most of
my time planning the future. As an interdisciplinary artist, I have had to un-learn a mighty part of
that training. I had to let go, to trust the process
rather than to control it. Long-term plans were
When I find that
I’ve created
something new . . .
the feeling is like
nothing else.
— Bill jacobson
The truth is that
somewhere along the
way, who I am got
wrapped up with
what I make.
— Chris Doyle
scrapped in an instant based on an instinct to
change direction. My newfound embrace of flexibility led to a comfort with unfamiliar media as
well. I love to plunge into a new project with a new
set of tools and fresh parameters. Like many people
who grew up in late twentieth-century America, I
come from a family that was nearly nomadic, moving from place to place almost obsessively. I have
laughed at my parents for their “promiscuity of
place.” And I have come to thrive on slipping between projects, materials, and media.
Ironically, their pattern of living has become
my pattern of working. I do a lot of different
things under the general category called work. The
day-to-day activities can vary wildly depending on
the project. That’s part of where the joy is; most of
those activities are a source of pleasure. Some seem
fairly urgent at the time, while others are more like
playing around. I trick myself into working by
burying the work inside the sensuality of play.
Whatever the medium, whether making drawings,
videos, or multimedia public projects, I am attempting to construct a sensual experience. My
pleasure comes from the immediacy of craft.
Is this enough in terms of sustenance? Is this
why I continue the struggle to make a big enough
space in my life to continue working? The truth is
that somewhere along the way, who I am got
wrapped up with what I make. I change gears in an
effort to surprise myself. If that never happened,
then I suppose I’d pack up the studio. But in the
most fleeting and oblique ways, I have tasted it.
And now it seems, I am a revelation junkie.
— Chris Doyle
Chris Doyle is an interdisciplinary artist. His work
has recently been shown at P.S.1 Museum of Contemporary Art, The Queens
Museum of Art, and The
Sculpture Center. He is
currently working on a
cycle of large-scale water
colors that documents the
making of videos and
performances for Jessica
Murray Project and a video
installation based on a live
helicopter performance for
The Sculpture Center, both
to open in September.
From November, 2002 to April, 2003,
The MacDowell Colony welcomed a
total of 117 artists from 19 states and
four countries. This group included 58
writers, 24 visual artists, 17 composers,
11 filmmakers, four interdisciplinary
artists, and three architects.
Elaine Agnew, composer
Larne, Co. Antrim, Ireland
Darol Anger, composer
Oakland, CA
Helene Aylon, interdisciplinary
artist
New York, NY
Jonathan Berger,
interdisciplinary artist
New York, NY
Suzanne Bibeau, painter
Somerville, MA
Matt Bloom, fiction writer
Astoria, NY
Shane Book, poet
Nepean, Ontario, Canada
James Boorstein, nonfiction writer
New York, NY
Barbara Bosworth, photographer
Somerville, MA
Alan Brown, fiction writer
New York, NY
Emily Brown, painter
Philadelphia, PA
Jane Brox, nonfiction writer
Dracut, MA
Bliss Broyard, nonfiction writer
Brooklyn, NY
Carole Burns, fiction writer
Washington, DC
Open Studio
Painter
Emily Brown
Q
uietude gets a bad rap these days; to be
heard, one gets the idea one must
shout. But Emily Brown, whose paintings
are disarming in their subtlety, offers the
kind of reprieve only found on the shores of
a private swimming hole, beneath an umbrella of oak branches, or lying in a field just
above a farm done for the day (all scenes she’s
painted). “I love to see the evidence of modest human lives within the larger context of
hills and wild growth and brilliant, changing
skies,” she says. “In the open countryside the
work and personal lives of people are organically connected; life seems to be whole and
satisfying and natural. Economic and social
patterns are more physical and visible than in
our urban settings, and a sort of Utopian
ideal seems to exist for the outsider.”
Brown has been painting landscapes since
the 60s and shows no signs of fatigue. For
her, the natural world literally “stands for aspects of life and emotional experience.” She
wants her work to become “an act of presence” for the viewer.
Her recent canvases seem to invoke several acts of presence. In these paintings,
superimposed on the overall landscape, are
smaller squares of the same scene from different vantages. The multiplicity of viewpoints offered by the squares furthers and
refines the natural moment afforded in her
work. Just when one might turn away, there
is a different way to see the same picture,
sense the same emotion.
Some may argue that the landscape is not
radical territory, but today, the quiet assertion of it could very well be the kind of revolutionary expression that keeps getting
louder.
Bruce Busby, sculptor
Jackson Heights, NY
Catherine Bush, fiction writer
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Michael Chabon, fiction writer
Berkeley, CA
Jiyoung Chae, sculptor
Hopewell Junction, NY
Debbie Chapel, fiction writer
Sudbury, MA
Julia Cho, playwright
Brooklyn, NY
Seong Chun, sculptor
New York, NY
Cynthia Cruz, poet
New York, NY
John Dalton, fiction writer
Carrboro, NC
Anne D’Angelo, sculptor/painter
Brookline, MA
Richard Danielpour, composer
New York, NY
Traci Dant, poet
Bolingbrook, IL
11
Clockwise from top left: Darol Anger, Shane Book, Bruce Busby, Traci Dant, Seong Chun, Jiyoung Chae
12
Open Studio
Filmmaker Mitch McCabe
M
itch McCabe changes her hairstyle
frequently. No, make that a lot. Recently, she has sported the “bob,” the “layered,” the “long,” and the “real short.” These
days, McCabe is letting it down soccer-mom
style and spending her days at MacDowell
writing a script called Frosted Blonde with
Dark Roots.
“I’m obsessed with where you’ve been and
where you’re going,” she says. “I like characters who seem Darwinian in how they adapt
themselves to any situation.” How they do
their hair? Well, maybe not specifically, but
Frosted Blonde is about a sharp, ambitious
woman — the picture of feminist success —
who leaves her PhD studies in women’s history to marry a man whose family bankrolls
the religious right. Inspired by a true story,
the woman undergoes a “tailspin of identity”
and arrives at a very dark place. Hence the
title. And its embedded metaphors.
Appearance and reality may be a tried and
true theme, but McCabe is more compelled
by understanding the appeal of appearance
and the lengths people will go to preserve it
for the sake of acceptance. It is an interest, or
obsession, born out of her family and one
she explores poignantly in her film Playing
Amanda Davis, fiction writer
Oakland, CA
Nicholas de Monchaux, architect
New York, NY
the Part, which won the 1995 Academy
Award in the student category.
Playing the Part is also about a lonely, unseen young woman who feels the tug of adulthood and the responsibilities it implies. “I
think one of the things adulthood is about is
articulating what you want your life to be, but
I think we’re often scared of adulthood for
that reason. But the gift of adulthood is turning that corner and saying this is who I am.”
Coming of age and the loss of innocence
that defines it is something McCabe revisits
often in her work, but she embraces the onset
of adulthood in spite of its attendant losses.
She conveys how those losses become gains
by virtue of the truths they impart. “Being an
adult is knowing that time is not forever,” she
says before pulling her hair into a ponytail.
Judith Dupré, writer
Mamaroneck, NY
Jason Eckardt, composer
New York, NY
Merrill Feitell, fiction writer
Brooklyn, NY
Peter Filkins, poet
Cheshire, MA
Dennis Finnell, poet
Greenfield, MA
Laurie Foos, fiction writer
Shrewsbury, MA
Kenny Fries, nonfiction writer
Northampton, MA
Lise Funderburg, nonfiction writer
Philadelphia, PA
Nora Gallagher,
fiction/nonfiction writer
Santa Barbara, CA
Tara Geer, painter
New York, NY
Tom Gilroy, filmmaker
Brooklyn, NY
Jonathan Glatzer, filmmaker
Los Angeles, CA
Maximilian Goldfarb, sculptor
Brooklyn, NY
Edward Grazda, photographer
New York, NY
Richard Haas, painter
Yonkers, NY
Terence Haggerty, painter
Essex, England
Roya Hakakian, nonfiction writer
Woodbridge, CT
Joelle Hann, poet
Brooklyn, NY
Pagan Harleman, filmmaker
New York, NY
Joel Harrison, composer
New York, NY
Laura Hendrie, fiction writer
Brooklin, ME
Fred Hersch, composer
New York, NY
Jack Hitt, nonfiction writer
New Haven, CT
Simeon Hutner, filmmaker
Los Angeles, CA
Lee Hyla, composer
Boston, MA
Aki Ishida, architect
New York, NY
Rodney Jack, poet
Tallahassee, FL
Clockwise from top left: Nicholas de Monchaux, Judith Dupré, Maximilian Goldfarb, Simen Johan, Aki Ishida,Terence Haggerty
Simen Johan, photographer
New York, NY
Open Studio
Tayari Jones, fiction writer
Mesa, AZ
Julia Jordan, playwright
New York, NY
Aviva Kempner, filmmaker
Washington, DC
Sabina Klein, printmaker
New York, NY
Andrea Kleine, playwright
New York, NY
Christopher Koep, painter
Hampton, NJ
Jocelyn Lee, photographer
Cape Elizabeth, ME
Joan Leegant, fiction writer
Newton, MA
Juhee Lee-Hartford, architect
New York, NY
Jadina Lilien, filmmaker
New York, NY
R. Zamora Linmark, poet
Honolulu, HI
Jeanne Liotta, filmmaker
New York, NY
David Lipten, composer
Mt. Pleasant, MI
Jennie Livingston, filmmaker
Brooklyn, NY
Anne Makepeace, filmmaker
Santa Barbara, CA
Martha McDonald,
interdisciplinary artist
Philadelphia, PA
Jo McDougall, poet
Little Rock, AR
Barton McLean, composer
Petersburg, NY
Priscilla McLean, composer
Photographer
Ferenc Suto
W
hen Ferenc Suto first had Internet access in 2001, he went to E-Bay and
looked for roller derby memorabilia. The
sport, a rougher and realer precursor to WWF
wrestling, disappeared in 1973, but somehow
what he had watched at age 12, tried to learn
professionally at age 19, and abandoned when
the idea of bruises outweighed interest, still
haunted him. “I started researching everything on Google, started wondering why I
was attracted to the sport, why I was obsessed
with it.” If obsessions reveal something true,
then for Suto, roller derby began to hint at a
deeper curiosity. A curiosity that began to
manifest itself in photographs.
The photographic series he worked on at
MacDowell — color pictures of athletes in
old derby gear poised in a nostalgic, romantic glow, faces angled anonymous — is held
counterpoint to black and white versions of
different athletes almost overcome by their
gear and the toll of athletic brutality. “To me
it’s about the fluidity of masculinity, where
you fit in. I’ve struggled with masculinity,
struggled not to be feminized,” says Suto. It’s
an interesting statement, coming from someone who looks like a professional athlete
himself, but it’s clear that Suto’s struggle is
about belonging to a kind of missing male
energy. He characterizes that energy as one
that does not choose between being macho
or effeminate but accommodates both.
The loss of that fluidity is palpable in the
photographs. Like a Greek torso, the subjects
in the pictures appear powerful and heroic in
their facelessness, and one can project a great
deal onto them. The overarching projection
seems to concern this lost masculinity — a
masculinity that acknowledges strength and
physicality, but also the vulnerability of
being of the body and the intimacy of men
expressed in a forgotten sport.
Petersburg, NY
Deirdre McNamer, fiction writer
Missoula, MT
Laura Mullen, poet
Fort Collins, CO
Deborah Navas, fiction writer
Hancock, NH
Abner Nolan, photographer
San Francisco, CA
Hugh Ogden, poet
Glastonbury, CT
Carole Oles, poet
Chico, CA
Dominic Orlando, playwright
Brooklyn, NY
Jena Osman, poet
Philadelphia, PA
Alicia Ostriker, poet
Princeton, NJ
Karen Ostrom, photographer
New York, NY
Brian Payton, fiction writer
Vancouver, BC, Canada
13
Clockwise from top left: Tayari Jones, Jocelyn Lee, Martha McDonald, Brian Payton, Hugh Ogden, Abner Nolan
14
Open Studio
Poet
Gail Taylor
T
he notion of home has been a theme
ever since Odysseus reunited with Penelope. But the idea of a home that you carry,
that is not a place but a state of mind, seems
in keeping with today’s virtual world. “With
this book, I thought about the AfricanAmerican Diaspora, how someone like Harriet Tubman and the 300 slaves she helped
had to leave homes, pack their belongings,
their gifts, and travel. It’s part of the AfricanAmerican tradition, always transcending
your current state,” says poet Gail Taylor,
Margo Rabb, fiction writer
Brooklyn, NY
Willa Rabinovitch, fiction writer
Oakland, CA
whose new collection Guest House took off at
MacDowell.
Guest House, a book Taylor describes as an
“echo of incidents,” is a good title as it challenges the idea of a native home. A child of
civil rights activists, Taylor bounced from
Alabama to Washington, D.C., from Appalachia to Normal, Illinois. The idea of
being a guest in one’s own home was not far
off, but more significantly, Taylor says her
itinerant lifestyle taught her “to be myself
wherever I am. Why do we think that the
‘home on the range’ is the ideal?”
What also comes to play in the collection
is how a stranger can interrupt a community,
something that resonates racially for Taylor.
“It’s threatening when a stranger walks into a
neighborhood,” she says, referencing the histories of gypsies, the Bedouins, and AfricanAmericans. Those who carry their homes
with them are the objects of prejudice. “I’ve
been that girl in the neighborhood.”
While Taylor confesses that her rootless
life took a long time to accept — in fact, she
still admits to a fascination with traditional
domesticity — she readily acknowledges that
what she cannot pass down in heirloom furniture or generational mementos, she can
with words. “Poems are the only real thing
from my family that you can pass down.”
Ed Radtke, filmmaker
Los Angeles, CA
David Rakowski, composer
Maynard, MA
Peggy Rambach, fiction writer
Andover, MA
Lisa Eunice Reisman,
nonfiction writer
Branford, CT
Frances Richard, poet
Brooklyn, NY
Mary Ruefle, poet
Amherst, MA
Mary Jo Salter, poet
Amherst, MA
Daniel Scott, fiction writer
New York, NY
Jessica Sharzer, filmmaker
Los Angeles, CA
Alvin Singleton, composer
Atlanta, GA
Daniel Smith, nonfiction writer
New York, NY
Rosalind Solomon, photographer
New York, NY
Russell Steinberg, composer
Encino, CA
Allyson Strafella, painter
Brooklyn, NY
Barry Strauss, nonfiction writer
Ithaca, NY
Ferenc Suto, photographer
New York, NY
Stephen Tourlentes, photographer
Somerville, MA
Jonathan Treitel, fiction writer
London, England
Katrina Tuvera, fiction writer
Paranaque City, Philippines
Tom Varner, composer
New York, NY
Ayelet Waldman, fiction writer
Berkeley, CA
Frances White, composer
Princeton, NJ
Susan White, nonfiction writer
Brooklyn, NY
Mark Winges, composer
San Francisco, CA
Rae C. Wright,
interdisciplinary artist
New York, NY
Carolyn Yarnell, composer
San Francisco, CA
Emna Zghal, printmaker
New York, NY
Clockwise from top left: Willa Rabinovitch, Ed Radtke, Russell Steinberg, Emna Zghal, Mark Winges, Katrina Tuvera
Susan Zielinski, painter
Somerville, MA
Remembering
Sally Avery
Colony Fellow
and board member Sally Avery
died January 9,
2003. She was 100
years old. Avery,
who joined the
board in 1988,
was a three-time
Colony Fellow in
the 1950s in
painting. Along
with her husband,
Milton, Avery
Sally Avery
established The
Milton and Sally Avery Fellowships for
painters of outstanding ability. Just recently, Avery was given the honor of
Trustee Emeritus by the MacDowell
board of directors. The honor recognizes the lifelong commitment and
service by an individual to MacDowell.
Only two other individuals have been
so honored in MacDowell’s 96-year
history.
Amanda Davis
Writer Amanda Davis, who had just
completed her second residency at the
Colony in January, died on February 18,
2003. She was 32. Davis said her first
novel, Wonder When You’ll Miss Me, “was
born at MacDowell” during her stay in
1999. In addition to that novel, Davis
had also pubAmanda Davis
lished the short
story collection
Circling the
Drain. Both
books were critically lauded,
and Davis herself was often
described as
a promising
young writer. The New York Times said
she “wrote gently, even poetically, about
extraordinary brutality,” and that her
work offered “a well-guided tour of
scarred souls who’ve witnessed
terrible things, and surprisingly,
found odd bits of beauty in
them.” Davis, who was working
on a new novel during her last
residency, was well-loved by staff
and her fellow residents, who,
upon hearing of her death,
united to make donations to the
Colony in her honor. Contributions in Davis’ memory may be made
to The MacDowell Colony, 163 East 81st
Street, New York, New York 10028.
Lucy Grealy
Noted memoirist, essayist, and fiction
writer Lucy
Grealy
passed away
on December 18,
2002. Grealy
was in residence at
MacDowell
three times
and wrote
Lucy Grealy
Dancing a
Sad Thought and Pony Party at the
Colony. Grealy is perhaps best
known for her memoir Autobiography of a Face, which chronicled her
facial disfigurement from cancer at age nine and the resulting ordeals of growing up with
the affliction. In a Boston
Globe feature about the writer,
author and friend Sven Birkerts wrote, “When the writer
Lucy Grealy died, some of our
most consoling notions went with
her.” Grealy was 39.
15
Lou Harrison
Composer and 2000 MacDowell Medalist Lou Harrison died on February 2,
2003. He was 85. Harrison had a long,
distinguished
career as a
composer, instrument
builder, critic,
activist, and
professor.
Throughout
his life, he collaborated with
Lou Harrison
several MacDowell notables, including composer
and critic Virgil Thomson and composer Michael Tilson Thomas. When
Harrison spoke at Medal Day, he said
about his music, “There’s almost no joy
like making the first sounds…” It was a
fitting statement from someone whose
sounds have become so lasting.
Glen Seator
Sculptor Glen Seator, whose work was a
part of the 1997 Whitney Biennial, died
on December 21, 2002. He was 46.
Seator was a two-time Colony Fellow
who was known for creating works that
The New York Times said “blended realism and surrealism but also commented
on social issues.” In 2000
and 2001,
Seator was a
scholar-in-residence at the
Getty Research
Institute in Los
Angeles. He
had been recently working
Glen Seator
on large-scale
photographs. He is survived by his
mother and three sisters.
Join Us for Medal Day
Sunday,
August 17,
2003
Free and open to the public.
Edward MacDowell Medal Award Ceremony for
Merce Cunningham under the tent. Colony Fellow Meredith
Monk, presentation speaker.
12:15 pm
Picnic Lunch on the grounds near Colony Hall.
Bring your own picnic lunch or reserve a basket lunch using the
reservation form at right.
1:15 pm
Open Studios by artists-in-residence. Visit some
of the 32 artist studios at the Colony.
2:00-4:00 pm
Contributions to support
Medal Day are welcome and
help make this wonderful
community event possible.
Medal Day Sponsors are
listed in the program and
receive two complimentary
basket lunches:
■ Supporter
$1,000
■ Benefactor
$500
■ Patron
$250
■ Friend
$100
MEDAL DAY LUNCH RESERVATION
RSVP by August 1, 2003
NAME _____________________________________________________________
ADDRESS __________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
TELEPHONE ________________________________________________________
■
Enclosed is my Medal Day Sponsorship:
Includes two complimentary basket lunches(at left)
■
I would like to order basket lunches
____ Regular + ____ Vegetarian = _____ Total lunches x $20:
(The value of each lunch is $20.00 and is not tax deductible.)
$_____________
■
I would like to make a contribution to support Medal Day:
$_____________
Additional baskets may be ordered
using the reservation form at right.
■
Amount Enclosed
or
■ I cannot attend Medal Day
■
Visa/Mastercard # ___________________________________________________
■ The two complimentary
basket lunches should be:
____ Regular
____ Vegetarian
and, therefore, do not wish
to reserve two complimentary basket lunches.
$_____________
TOTAL
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Name (as it appears on card) _____________________________________________
Signature ____________________________________________ Exp. Date ________
Make checks payable to: The MacDowell Colony, 163 East 81st Street, New York, NY 10028
Special thanks to our Medal Day Corporate Partner, Jefferson Pilot Financial.
The MacDowell Colony
100 High Street
Peterborough, NH 03458-2485
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Peterborough, NH