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Sunday, January 09, 2005

Art in America, The Vermont Studio Center, Money, Fame, Power.

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Went to the bookstore yesterday and finally took a look at the new Art in America, the issue that lists some artblogs. Congratulations to all.

My art magazine browsing has pretty much come to an end, thanks to all you artblogs, but I'm glad I flipped through this issue because I noticed a lot of names familiar from my residencies at The Vermont Studio Center. I've been there three times and very much recommend applying for a residency - you can stay for a couple weeks or three months, most people stay a month.

The VSC is a year-round program hosting a good fifty residents per month, so your chances of acceptance are much greater than someplace like Skowhegan or Provincetown (Skowhegan's program is once a summer, hosting about sixty-five residents). Another nice thing about the VSC is the intentional mix of residents, Yale MFA grads with people who never went to art school, visual artists with writers, young and old, from all across the States and abroad. It isn't simply a slice of the same people you hang out in Brooklyn with. Not to knock Skowhegan, because I know a lot of people who have been there and say it is fantastic, but there definitely seems to be an attitude there of being "the better residency" - one guy I know who loved VSC and later attended Skowhegan was even told by a fellow Skowhegan resident "you can't go back".

But looking at the current Art in America, I see that the VSC is well-represented, and I am only talking about the names I recognize from my own residencies. I'm sure there are other artists featured who have also been residents at VSC, I just don't know them.

So what names do I recognize? I'll tell you - PLUS!

Don Gummer - Nice feature story on Don Gummer. Don was a visiting artist, and not mentioned in AIA - the husband of Meryl Streep!

Don Joint and Brice Brown - This couple had their collaborative exhibition reviewed and Don had his solo exhibition reviewed seperately! Wow! How often does an artist get that?! Two reviews in one issue! Not mentioned in AIA - they are RICH. Extremely nice guys, very generous.

Jon Gregg - Jon had a deservedly good review. His work gets better and better. Not mentioned in AIA - he is the Founding Director of the Vermont Studio Center! Can't say Jon is an especially nice guy, but he has a very nice wife, and he's certainly worthy of a great deal of respect because his paintings are good and the VSC is awesome!

Take a look at the Vermont Studio Center website, see what visiting artists and writers are scheduled, and get your application in by February 15 to be considered for a full fellowship.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

so I guess I am supposed to be immpressed by the billionaire artist and his hanger on boy friend?? Average artists illicit average comments about their average art. If you chose to take a closer look at Mr. Brown and Mr Joint's work you will notice that it is just a hackneyed copy of better artists.

Martin said...

Anonymous - Wow! It's July! How did you end up at this old post?

Thanks for your comment but if you re-read the post you'll find that I don't say anything about their work either way, positive or negative. I'm actually being sarcastic in mentioning Don's two same issue AIA reviews. I don't care how good or bad he is, they don't need to review the same -okay I'll say it - mediocre artist twice in the same issue. that space could have been used to talk about another artist, maybe even a show not in NYC! It is called Art in AMERICA right?

Anyways, I can't win for losing. You wouldn't believe the angry e-mail Don sent me. I think he got the gist of the post better than you do.

As for their relationship, I don't think there are any "hangers on", I think they are in love.