Next Tuesday, 1708 Gallery will invite 10 local artists and other organizations into the gallery over the course of the
Next Tuesday, 1708 Gallery will invite 10 local artists and other organizations into the gallery over the course of the summer to create their own pieces as part of its new summer program, 10×10.
The program, which starts June 2 and runs through Aug. 9, is a first for the West Broad Street non-profit gallery.
Emily Smith, Executive Director for the gallery, said the 10-week program was inspired by a similar project by Nurture Art, a gallery in New York.
“We thought it was really compelling and seemed like an interesting way to engage with a whole variety of different folks, whether different artists or different audiences and felt like summer was the time to do that,” she said.
Each week will have a different “theme” or idea surrounding it that came from the participating artists that submitted proposals to the gallery.
Smith said there was an overwhelmingly positive response when the gallery asked for submissions.
“We did a more informal call and were completely thrilled with the response we got,” shesaid. “We had a hard time picking the ones we picked.” There’s a variety, there are single artists, collaborative teams, they’re non-profits, they’re all doing something different.”
The first week, entitled “People Via Plants,” will involve local artists Valerie Molnar and Matt Spahr rehabilitating abandoned, mistreated and neglected plants.’
The second week Milk River Arts, a local group that provides support for artists with special needs, has invited people with developmental disabilities to the gallery to work with professional artists.
Performing Statistics, Storefront for Community Design, The Houff Foundation, Community Room and Bridgepark organizers are among the participants in the summer program. See the full schedule and more on the artists involved here.
Bridgepark.
Smith said the gallery has been talking about doing a program like this for a couple years, but seriously started working on it in the last nine months. The purpose for 10 x 10 is to bring the community together and have artists and other organizations use it as a communal space.
“There’s a lot of movement in contemporary art toward social practice, social engagement, community engagement in ways that are kind of issue driven, but all of those projects share an interest in comm organization,{and} an interest in relationship building,” she said.
Smith said the gallery will get together at the conclusion of the program, and depending on the success, possibly hold the program again next summer.
Performing Statistics.
