Filed under: Artst Interviews, Openings | Tags: First Friday, Kristi Howell, underbelly
Jax Artist: Kristi Howell
1. Hi Kristi. Thanks so much for taking the time to answer a few questions. I am curious to know how long you have lived in Jacksonville. What the personal connection to this city is for you? Oh, Jacksonville… I was born and raised in Jacksonville. I left for a bit, for college, and eventually moved back after graduating. I have a strong connection with the city… family, friends, memories. Although, honestly, there are frequent moments when I get a bit stir crazy and just wanna pick up and get out of the ‘ville. It’s events like this, First Friday, Art Walk, RAM, misc. shows at the beach, and other admirable strides people are taking to get this city up and running that keep me hanging on. I don’t know if I am just now getting to the age where I am recognizing some of the culture offered in this city or if it is truly growing and evolving, around me, as it seems to be. Either way, I appreciate it and am looking forward to witnessing future growth.
2. From what I understand of your work, it has strong ties to your graphic roots. Would you say that is correct? Can you elaborate on that? Actually, my “roots” are fine/studio art. It wasn’t until college that I was exposed to Graphic Design. I went to school for Studio Art and because of “practical reason” focused on Graphic Design. With the OBVIOUS influence of design on my work, I still feel it is a merge of design and the fine arts. I love the initial control I have (w/ graphic design) when it comes to laying out my beginning concept… and how I almost lose that very control with a more hands on execution.
3. Are you inspired by music? What are you listening to at the moment? Anything local? Yes, to question #1. Music, in my opinion, can absolutely affect your mood and as a result your work. There is nothing I love more than sitting down, making a playlist on my ipod, hitting play (with the volume rather loud, HA HA), and getting to work. My music interests are constantly changing, but there are a few that have kept my interest over the years. A few faves: Minus the Bear, Pinback, Death Cab for Cutie, Norah Jones, John Coltrane, Postal Service, Cursive, M.Ward, Thievery Corporation, Imogen Heap, and the list goes on and on.
4. If you could work for any design firm, who would it be? There are quite a few firms I admire around town. Ideally, I would be honored to work at any of them (not that I am not completely satisfied with my current employer, HA HA). I know there are many firms, around town, I haven’t come in contact with, but from those that I have, here are some that have left a mark: On Ideas, Burdette Ketchum, The Robin Shepherd Group, and I’m sure some others that have slipped my mind. The fore mentioned firms seem to produce inventive, out of the ordinary work, and I am very impressed by the products I have seen. Like I said before, I would be honored to work at any of these firms, but I know the talent is fierce and very competitive.
5. Are there any local Jacksonville artists you particularly admire? I know there is tons of talent in this city! With that said, I still feel like there is so much I have yet to see. For those, that I have been fortunate enough to take in, here are several that have stuck out: Tim Lenior (even though I think he is now a NYC transplant), Brittni Wood, Dan May, Terry Densford, Megan Cosby, the oh-so-talented Shea Slemmer, Devin Balara… and I am sure I have missed quite a few.
6. Thanks again for your time. Can you give a little insight into your upcoming show at Underbelly on March 5th? Hmmm… in a nut shell: mixed media, small to medium scale, a definite design influence, a little paint, a little wood, and lots of Modge Podge. Hope you guys enjoy it.
Filed under: Events, Gallery Happenings, Openings | Tags: Super Wonderful
Grand Opening Friday, Feb 12th from 6-9PM - 1992 San Marco Blvd
The line-up:
Matt Allison
Clay Doran
Barrett Fiser
Dustin Harewood
Tonya Lee
Kyle Lemstrom
Jen Morgan
photo by Laird
1. Hi Jim. Thanks so much for taking the time to do an interview. Tell me a little about your experience thus far in Jacksonville. How long have you lived here? I have been in Jacksonville since 1992, I guess that is eighteen years. In 1994 after deciding that I had to make my own art career, I quit my last real job and put together a way to work which included teaching part time at FCCJ, Flagler, UNF, The Cummer and just about anywhere else I could along with having my own work space. I did several large scale murals around town, the one that is left, though fragmented is the one at the corner of Ocean and Bay with the big Jaguars in the windows. I did that one along with Anne Banas with whom I worked at FCCJ (Florida State College.) During the late 1990’s I was active in a program sponsored by the Cultural Council called CANVAS. It was dedicated to form a link between inner-city kids and artists. The program was a huge success, not only were a lot of kids inspired to go on to great things, we were also able to pay over a hundred thousand dollars in salaries back into the community of artists. During that time my painting career took off and I was selling in galleries all over the country. I was part owner of a gallery called Pedestrian, an art supply store called Raw Materials, and an art center called Brooklyn. Now, I am teaching part-time at UNF and painting at my studio on King St. at Park.
2. Let’s suppose you were the “fly on the wall” for a sec. How do other people describe your work? Arrrggghh! I get all sorts of descriptions from glowing accolades to highly critical. Luckily I have had a pretty large fan base which has helped me do more. I did a series of Palm trees for several years around the year 2000. I think that those made
a large imprint and became a sort of brand.
3. Tell me about your new studio at Park and King in Riverside. Is the best way to see your work to contact you directly? Yes, I am open from 11-5 Tuesday – Saturday and have a phone, 655-4551. You can also send e-mail to draperjr@gmail.com.
Deciding on the studio at Park and King has been a really good thing for me. It is great being back in the Riverside area. I am doing a lot of new work.
4. Has New York ever been an influence on your work? How do you feel about that scene now that we are going into 2010? New York has become a bit of a Yawner as far as I can tell. There are some pretty interesting things going on in LA. So many good artists have moved out of New York and are scattered across the country. I have shown there at two different galleries. Each experience was pretty bad. One gallery sold several paintings and stiffed me for my part. The other sold 9 paintings and charged back everything from postage to utilities to me.
I think I got a check for $236.00 from that one, the first one was a big zero. New York is certainly not the answer.
There is good stuff out in the world. I like some of the books that are coming out and some multi-media exhibits. Regular, put-a-painting-up-on-the-wall stuff is
a little off. Hand-made prints are big all over the world. Young smart collectors can get into some pretty cool stuff for not a lot of money.
5. Where do you get your news from? Do you read any local Jax blogs? I stay pretty busy and have a lot to read. Most of my local news comes from hearsay. I wish there was a talk radio show that had a daily scene art and culture radio show. That would be very cool.
6. I’m sure you have seen quite a few changes over the years here in Jacksonville. What advice would you give to emerging Jacksonville artists? Advice: Work, stir it up. Be kind and supportive to one another. Watch each other’s back. Consider yourselves in relationship to the larger art world, not just local.
7. Thanks again Jim. Before you go, please tell us about the work you are exhibiting on Fri, February 5th at Underbelly in Five Points. I am delighted to show some older figurative work that has not been seen in a while. This will be fun. It may be more about me than anyone would want to know.
An Opening Reception for the Book as Vessel will be held at the UNF Gallery of Art Thursday, January 14 from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.
The Book as Vessel: an Overview of Contemporary Book Arts is an exhibition of book arts in including work by Carol Barton, Sarah Marshall, Lane Cooper, Werner Pfeiffer, Edwin Jager, Bridget Elmer, Jessica White, Marti Hobbes, Matthew Liddle, Sarah Bryant, Shanna Leino, Shawn Sheehy, John Smith, Todd Sanders, Anna Embree, Roberta Lavadour.
The event is free and open to the public.
The UNF Gallery of Art is located in Founders Hall Building 2.
The UNF Gallery of Art is open from 10-4 Monday-Friday.
For more information contact Gallery Director, Raymond Gaddy at rgaddy@unf.edu
UNF Gallery of Art
Filed under: Artst Interviews, Events, Openings | Tags: AIGA, Designers in Toyland, Karen Kurycki
Karen Kurycki: Vice President of AIGA
It was my pleasure to interview Karen Kurycki this week who is Vice President of AIGA.
1. Hi Karen. I am very excited to learn about what you have been up to these days. Let’s start with an introduction. Please tell me a little about yourself and how you are connected to Jacksonville. Hi, Shea! I have lived in Jacksonville for five and a half years now and I really love the city. I grew up in Rochester, NY and attended Kent State University in Ohio to earn my BFA in Visual Communication Design. In 2004, after graduating from Kent, I realized the world was pretty much wide open and what I wanted to do next and where I wanted to live was up to me. I chose Jacksonville because I love a warmer climate. (I can’t take the blizzards like I could growing up) and I had a couple ties to Jacksonville who were family friends. My mom was born in St. Augustine so we had been back to Florida for vacation once or twice a year since I was born, and I had done my internship down here the summer before I graduated. It seemed like a good fit for me.
As far as what I have been up to lately—it’s kind of crazy because there have been quite some changes over the past few months! After working as an art director at The Kurtis Group in Jacksonville Beach for five and a half years, I decided to take a position as Senior Art Director at BroadBased Communications this month. So I will be starting there in December.
I have also been doing a lot of collaborating with friends on projects as well. One of my good friends Ashley Hazen and I have been working on some illustrations; we both participated in the past two atomic sketches (live painting and drawing) at Art Walk that AIGA Jacksonville hosted and we contributed to the book Things Drunk People Say that can be found on sale at Urban Outfitters. I think our styles work well together because we like to work both loose but in a controlled manner—she draws and I paint and we are both trained as designers but love the fine art side of illustration, so it seems to work for us.
collaboration with Ashley Hazen for the book "Things Drunk People Say" for sale at Urban Outfitters
I’ve also collaborated with Dog and Pony Showprints on a couple of posters this year, contributed illustrations to the Jacksonville Public Library card campaign and contributed to the book 1000 Tips by 100 Graphic Designers, which comes out this month.
And, of course, being Vice President of AIGA takes up a big chunk of my time, but I love that it keeps me busy because I believe in the organization and what it offers to designers like me. Right now I’m pretty busy planning a toy show that AIGA is hosting for the December Art Walk called “Designers in Toyland;” it will be up at 229 Hogan Street.
2. How would you describe AIGA and what have you gained by being part of that organization? AIGA is the professional association for design. It’s a national organization of designers (mainly focused in the field of graphic design/illustration) whose purpose is to maintain the standards within the field. The mission of the organization is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force. We work together to address current cultural/social issues, promote and educate people on how design impacts their life and how powerful good design can be in conveying information; it also provides a community of like-minded individuals who can discuss issues within our own field, such as spec work, pricing, etc.
I have been a member of AIGA since I was a student member in college and when I moved down here, my boss Kurtis Loftus was very involved in the organization in Jacksonville so it was easy for me to get involved. I met a lot of the members through the social events they held every month. I started volunteering at events with my best friend Sarah Butsch and then eventually became volunteer chair, next moved to community outreach chair and now am Vice President of the Jacksonville chapter.
AIGA has provided me with a network of friends and colleagues who are a great resource when I have an issue with a program or a question about a font, need a printer review or a recommendation for a freelance designer, etc. I have used this network to my advantage for the five plus years I’ve lived down here. I often tell people when they join: “AIGA is like…instant friends!” Which is true in a way—we are all very supportive of each other, and I’m sure there are people out there who think we are this pretentious, exclusive club, but we are pretty much the opposite.
3. Your profile describes you as “a strong proponent of volunteerism”, and as “Community Outreach Chair for AIGA Jacksonville”, can you elaborate on that? What projects are you working on right now such as Discover Design? I have actually taken on the role of Vice President this year but have a strong hand in the outreach branch of our chapter because it means so much to me. I believe any professional organization is what you make of it and what you give to it. If you’re just paying your membership fee and not attending any of the events, not volunteering at any of the outreach events we organize, not participating in discussions about current issues, then you’re probably not going to get as much out of the organization as someone who is doing those things.
We welcome everyone, member or non-member to a majority of our events and are really trying to get as involved in the Jacksonville community as much as possible this year through hands-on outreach projects. So far we’ve volunteered at the Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens, the Jacksonville Zoo Spooktacular, City Rescue Mission’s Bed race, and are hosting the toy show to raise money for The Big Fun Box. We are looking forward to several more outreach projects throughout the year and are very open to collaborating with other organizations like Hands-On Jacksonville to give back to the city.
The outreach branch of our chapter started with the Discover Design mentoring program that Florence Haridan and I started in 2008; it gives high school students a chance to work one-on-one with a professional graphic designer to finish a project that addresses an issue within our community. That started with the Get out the Vote poster campaign and last year we did a project that promoted library cards for the public library system here in Jacksonville. Starting in January, we’ll be doing a project called “Create Don’t Hate” in which mentors and mentees will work together on the design of a billboard that addresses the theme of tolerance.
4. I see that your professional career has strong ties to Jacksonville’s Urban Arts Movement. What are your thoughts on “Graphic Designer” vs. “Fine Artist”? I love what I’ve been seeing with Jacksonville’s Urban Arts movement. I like that the fine art/design lines are being blurred and that you see a more graphic approach to the arts which, in my opinion, are just beautiful to look at, whether they are leaning more toward the fine art side of things or the graphic side of things—and when those two are combined into one piece and done well, you can’t really beat it, in my opinion. I know a lot of fine artists will disagree with me on this one but my roots are in design and illustration; that’s what I know, so that’s what I’m going to say.
I also know that I’m loving the stuff that I’m seeing on some of the buildings downtown. And the fact that Jacksonville has been mentioned on Wooster Collective a couple of times now is HUGE. I think things like that give our city life—and take away the depressing factor of that building that’s been sitting there for 5 years, abandoned.
I know there are blogs in Jacksonville dedicated to the topic of design vs. fine art, but I’m not sure I’m the right person to talk about it, considering I have a hard time defining my own style! Am I considered a fine artist? I guess I have a hard time considering myself one. It’s hard for me to think that way, because I was trained in design and illustration, so that’s what I call myself. I guess it’s like…I can take pictures but I would never call myself a photographer. I guess the truth of the whole thing is that I think labeling it kind takes away from the fact that it’s a creation. To me, whether it was done solely on canvas, or done with a combination of mediums, one of those including a computer, if it’s done well, that doesn’t really matter.
Do I think some fine artists look down on designers or think they’re sell-outs because they get paid on a regular basis for their craft? Sure. Do I get annoyed when a fine artist tells me that they don’t think you need to go to school for design and then I see a postcard with bad typography that they’ve laid out for one of their shows? Yeah, I do. In that sense, I think there is a division, because good typography isn’t easy and I think a lot of fine artists don’t really appreciate that as a craft of its own.
But like I said, I’m probably not the one to comment on this. I love a lot of fine artists in this town and I love a lot of designers here, and I think what they do is different, but in the end it’s a creation, and whether I respond to it viscerally, intellectually or neither, it is what it is.
5. Thanks for your time Karen. Before you go, please tell us about the upcoming show: DESIGNERS IN TOYLAND. Designers in Toyland is a custom toy show being put on by AIGA Jacksonville and the artists of 229 Hogan. Over 80 artists will be exhibiting toys built from scratch or evolved from existing toys—the point of the show is to come up with your own unique toy creation, whether that’s building a toy from scratch, working off of a blank toy, like a Munny doll or a Mighty Mugg, or combining toys to make something new. If an artist chooses to sell his or her toy at the show, 25% of the profits will go to The Big Fun Box, an organization that provides activity kits to children who are hospitalized frequently and for extended periods. So come join us at December Art Walk at 229 Hogan Street, between 5 and 9 pm. It should be quite a sight to see over 85 unique toys in one space!
Thanks Shea!
Meet Matt Allison.
A breath of fresh air. Just see for yourself.
1. Hi Matt. Can you introduce yourself? Hi, my name is Matt Allison and I am very happy to be here. How long have you lived in Jacksonville? Since the summer of 2005. Previously, I lived in Sarasota FL. where I attended Ringling School of Art and Design and met my wife and collaborator Kathryn Nudo Allison. Well before that I spent my days roaming the shopping mall wastelands of the South Florida.
2. How would you describe your work? Collections of things arranged into very specific configurations, with the intent that the total becomes something greater than the sum of its parts. Haphazardly perfectionistic. Would you consider yourself an installation artist? Very much so. What I make is always informed by the space it will exist in. I tend to find inspiration in the things that are completely unique to a particular space. It can be as simple as a weird architectural element or the vibe I feel when I walk through the door (given there is a door to walk through.)
3. Where have you shown your work in Jacksonville thus far? Here and there. One of my biggest needs, creatively speaking, is to work within spaces that personally resonate with me. My involvement with Opaq Gallery was entirely rooted in that need. I created a piece for the old library basement and was really happy to work with those folks. Earlier this year, I did a couple of interactive projects that were designed for specifically non art spaces. One was in a delinquent office space downtown and the other was in Riverside Park. Most recently, I built an installation in the atrium of City Hall. It was a collaboration with the Sulzbacher Center to raise awareness for the services they provide our community. Do you think your audience has been receptive to your ideas? For the most part yes. I am not really interested in making one liners, so sometimes the work requires a little more effort. I value art that takes a certain amount of personal and intellectual investment, and I know that there are others who share the sentiment.
4. Tell me about the title of your new exhibition: “Strategies for Making Time Stand Still”. Have there been any recent occurrences in your life that inspired this series? Yes. The show is rooted in a very personal feeling of wanting to, even if for just a moment, subvert the natural order of things. If I could pause the progress on the time line, nothing would have to change.
5. Are there any Jacksonville artists you particularly admire or draw inspiration from? Absolutely, and I apologize if this takes a while… Kathryn Nudo Allison, Mark Creegan, Dustin Harewood, Tonya Lee, Mark Estlund, Madeleine Peck Wagner, and Clay Dorian. All of those in Jacksonville who have a seemingly endless supply of “do-it-yourself” energy. The gentlemen in After the Bomb Baby. Paul Paxton and Crash the Satellites. The Carlisle Group. Matt Butler. Jacksonville’s independent film community. The Plaindown Collective. And as far as I am concerned, there is no better display of excellence in Jacksonville’s arts community than the combination of Eric Riehm, Von Barlow, and Lawrence Buckner.
6. Thanks again Matt. We are looking forward to your exhibition at Underbelly on Friday. Do you have any final thoughts you would like to add? Thank you so very much.
