On Monday, 1708 Gallery launched their new summer sessions project, 5 x 5, a program that welcomes local artists into their West Broad Street space to showcase their work throughout the summer.
On Monday, 1708 Gallery launched their new summer sessions project, 5 x 5, a program that welcomes local artists into their West Broad Street space to showcase their work throughout the summer.
The 5×5 program will focus on five artists in Richmond including undergraduate and graduate students. Local artists were asked to submit proposals for how they might utilize the gallery space in an innovative and exploratory way; to test an idea, to experiment with a project, or engage with new audiences.
The gallery presented a similar program last spring, entitled 10 x 10, where it invited 10 local artists and other organizations into the space over the course of the summer to create their own pieces.
Emily Smith, Executive Director for 1708 Gallery said their space for the program is meant to be an “open platform” for the artist to use.
“We want the artist to be able to use and take advantage of the space by trying new things out and engaging with the community,” she said.
The first two weeks, June 13-26, is titled Fifty/Fifty and will showcase artist, John Freyer who will use the gallery as a community facing storefront where the public can stop in to chat over five cent coffee. Freyer is also using it as a working studio space for the design and build out of the recovery roast pour-over coffee cart.
Emily McBride will bring her performative piece, clean slate to the gallery from June 27 to July 10. The artist will utilize 1708’s gallery to accomplish the task of sorting through all of her possessions, minimizing to what is essential.
During the weeks of July 11th to the 24th, Mackenzie Williams and Nima Jeizan will showcase A Whole New American Ball Game, a multimedia exhibition space that challenges the formal qualities of traditional painting, sculpture, and performance while exploring the relationship of two friends from vastly different backgrounds.
Pattern Language for a Social Fabric will come to 1708 Gallery July 25 to August 7 from artists Brooke Inman, Molly Fair, and Jesse Goldstein. It will be an experiment of open-printing. The public will join the artists in printing on large pieces of paper and fabric and learn the basics of screen printing.
For 1708 Gallery’s final two weeks of the program, David More will showcase The Fool from Aug. 8 to Aug. 20. The Fool is a continuation of The Idiot and The Idiot Annex previously exhibited at Black Iris and Anderson Gallery. For these exhibitions, objects were made with discarded materials found near the James River, the streets of Richmond, and in dumpsters. A six channel sound installation made from field recordings in and around the James River.
In addition to these exhibitions, there will be at least one public event during each project’s session. You can find that information here.
1708 Gallery’s 5×5 program will run from Tuesday June 14, to Sat. Aug. 20.
