Cultural Passages
IDENTITY MADE VISIBLE
May 18 - June 22, 2007
OPENING & STREET FESTIVAL
Sunday, May 20, 1-4pm
Featuring
music, dance, food and visual art demonstrations representing
a variety of cultures. FREE
IDENTITY MADE VISIBLE SYMPOSIUM
Keynote performance: Fri., June 1, 7pm Actress
Judith Sloan will present excerpts from Warren Lehrer and
Sloan’s multimedia performance based on their critically acclaimed book,
Crossing the BLVD at the Little Theater, 1 Lincoln Way, New Haven. Reception
immediately following at Creative Arts Workshop. Seating
is limited. TICKETS: $10
CALL CAW: 203.562.4927
Symposium: Sat., June 2, 10am -
4pm
A daylong forum addressing
art and identity. Opening lecture with Ronald Kramer discussing
graffiti art and writing culture as means of expresing creative
identity, followed by panel discussions and lectures with artists,
curators, and educators. Teachers: CEU credits available through
ECA (203.562.4927). The Symosium will be held at the Little
Theater, 1 Lincoln Way, New Haven. Seating is limited.
TICKETS: FREE CALL CAW: 203.562.4927
AUDUBON ARTS ON THE EDGE COORDINATED
GALLERY OPENINGS Saturday,
June 9, 4-7pm
A
second reception
in with local galleries and more street festivities throughout
the day. FREE
I BREAK FOR ART!
Wednesdays, May 23, May 30,
June 6, June 13 at 12:15 pm
Enjoy special noontome presentations in the Hilles Gallery at Creative
Arts Workshop by curators and artists of Identity Made Visible. FREE
ABOUT IDENTITY MADE VISIBLE
The motives and processes of making
art can be intensely personal. An
artist’s connection to their work can be stated as directly
as a self-portrait, embedded within layers of abstraction, or
suggested in the ambient sound of a video installation. Cultural
Passages: Identity Made Visible seeks to expose and contemplate
the human element in art making by asking artists of Greater
New Haven the challenging question, “How does your art
express your identity?”
Chosen from a competitive pool of over a hundred, the exhibition
brings together the voices of seventy artists who reveal and
question commonly held assumptions about stereotypes, self-awareness,
and what it means to be an artist.
The ways in which they have chosen
to make their identity visible are numerous, diverse, and often
surprising. Some artists
chose to define identity as social or political. Others
identified with family ties, incorporating family photographs
or using traditional craft techniques, like quilting and assemblage,
which have been passed down through generations. Others
were inspired by ethnic, religious or spiritual heritage, reflecting
on their relationship to their country of birth and exploring
religious symbols and iconography. Professional artists,
students and people who have never before considered themselves
artists display work together. Contemporary art and folk
art appear side by side.
Cultural Passages: Identity Made Visible is
a groundbreaking project for Creative Arts Workshop. By
providing a forum for personal expression, it presents a fascinating
group portrait of the people of Greater New Haven. Come,
as you are, and celebrate with us.
A MESSAGE
FROM THE DIRECTOR
One of the greatest strengths of
this region is in its diversity. This
relatively small geographic area is populated with people whose
identity is influenced by cultural roots around the globe, shaped
by social and political surroundings, and defined by personal
experiences. Cultural Passages: Identity Made Visible celebrates
and honors the enduring and evolving identities of the people
of Greater New Haven.
After the highly successful exhibition, Cultural Passages:
Celebrating Life Through the Lens of Our Heritage in
2005, CAW made a commitment to hold a biennial show titled Cultural
Passages. This year the focus is Identity
Made Visible, examining the many ways that artists
express their identity.
We thank the three members of the community
who helped with the selection of work for this exhibition: Imna
Arroyo, a professor of art at Eastern Connecticut State University
whose own art focuses on issues of identity, Benjamin Ortiz,
an independent curator and former Curator of Art and Collections
at the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport, and Dorothy Powers, a
professional artist and teacher who recently received the prestigious
Pollock-Krasner Grant. It was
a difficult task and they did a wonderful job of selecting work
that reflects the great diversity of the region.
Creative Arts Workshop is fortunate
that more than one hundred artists submitted their artwork
for this exhibition and we thank all of them. It is from
their art that this exciting exhibition has emerged.
We also thank Program Director Kate
Paranteau for continuing to coordinate Cultural Passages and
special programming. We are also grateful to interns Julia
Hickey and Lauren Annicelli, who worked hard to ensure that artists
from a wide variety of communities participated, and other volunteers
who assisted in all aspects of Cultural Passages. Diane
Svigals, Chair of the Gallery Committee, and staff member Sandy
Bartle also deserve our gratitude for their hard work. A
special grant from The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
sponsored Cultural Passages: Identity Made Visible and
allowed us to provide auxiliary programs, including a symposium
and travelling exhibition. Further
support came from Suzio York Hill, NewAlliance Bank, and ACES
Educational Center for the Arts.
Susan Smith, Executive Director
Creative Arts Workshop
Cultural Passages: Identity Made Visible
is supported by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven,
Suzio York Hill, New Alliance Bank. Additional support for the
symposium came from ACES Educational Center for the Arts.
PAST CULTURAL PASSAGES SHOWS:
2005:
Cultural Passages: Celebrating Life Through the Lens of Our
Heritage,
the inaugural Cultural Passages exhibition, which focussed
on the diverse heritage of our region.
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