A lot has happened since the last update I sent out in June. As our country is no closer to containing the Coronaviruswe are still prohibited from physically holding our planned events at Ninth Wave Studio simply because we do not have the space to accommodate appropriate social distancing measures.
In order to continue to promote and support artists of Southwest Michigan I have created a virtual gallery for our exhibitions. The site went up a few days ago and is premiering with our September exhibition EQUINOX which was curated by Maryellen Hains and Anna Z ILL. You can find a link below. EQUINOX is also up in the gallery rooms and is available for small groups of visitors. Maryellen, Anna and I are hosting visitors by appointment only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
Equinox can be visited by appointment only – Tuesdays through Thursdays from 11am to 1pm
Putting an exhibition online is a whole different animal than hanging a physical exhibition. I'm realizing that I have to think about how many virtual exhibitions I can put up each year. I've had to rethink how to manage the exhibition work load and leave room to do studio work – these are my thoughts:
Moving from the commitment of having 6 exhibitions a year down to 3 or 4 – with each exhibition lasting 2 or 3 months.
Maintaining our relationship with the Arts Council by sending them photos and information in order to be included in their Virtual Art Hops.
Enforcing a mandatory compliance on the participating artists to submit the following by a given deadline: 1) emailed good quality photos of their artwork that are prepped correctly (300 ppi, width 1460 pixels); 2) an emailed document with info of artwork titles, media, dimensions and prices; 3) an emailed document with their artist statement and 4) participation in a video where they describe their work (this could be optional – see sample link below).
Please respond with your thoughts.
Onto other things. The finishing up of the Ninth Wave Studio kitchen is underway. We still need to do the electric, plumbing, put in a sink and countertop. The front of the house is in the process of being repainted – we hope to have that completed by the end of the month. And the entry way has been stripped of the carpeting and is in the process of being refinished.
I'm learning to be a ZOOM host in order to start having virtual meetings – you'll be hearing more about that later. I continue to be cautiously optimistic about all things! Let me know what questions or concerns you have.
Stay safe and healthy,
Linda
Our 12 Member Advisory Board
Lorrie Abdo
Don Ashcraft
Susan Badger
Mindi Bagnall
Tanya Bakija
Mark DeYoung
Maryellen Hains
Anna Z Ill
Beth McCann
Dave Middleton
Vicki VanAmeyden
Randy Walker
Click on the image above to link to a video of Randy discussing his Equinox artwork.
Ninth Wave Studio
Mary Louise Haynes House
213 West Walnut Street
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
The mission of Ninth Wave Studio is to promote, support and nurture the ingenuity and individual growth of the artists of Southwest Michigan by providing collaborative opportunities for exhibitions, creative events, experimentation, practice and dialog.
