Over the weekend, I traveled about 45 minutes to an organic farm called Park Ridge Organics in eastern Wisconsin. I was there for a farm dinner hosted by Milwaukee-based restaurant Braise, where numerous tables were set up with views overlooking rows of carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, kale, and other things rabbits love to nibble. I’ve always wanted to go to one of these guest-chef-meets-amazing-location kind of events, and it was such a joy to turn up in a field with a few dozen other folks from around the state and enjoy a meal prepared with local ingredients.
I happened to see an artist and fellow creative-about-town named Mel Kolstad there, who I haven’t seen in at least five years or so—I warned her I’d be writing about this!—who is an inexhaustible supporter of local arts and culture. Chatting with her is like stirring a big, comforting pot of something super yummy, and all of the good aromas emerge because you’re giving it some much-needed love and attention. It’s important to touch base sometimes.
There are few galleries and hardly any museums where I live. It’s probably not a coincidence that Wisconsin has been bottom of the barrel in per-capita arts spending (18 cents!) compared to every other state for a while now. I can feel it, especially when I pop over to neighboring Minnesota—which sports one of the higher rates at more than 9 dollars per capita—the contrast in energy, reception, and initiatives is palpable.
I live in a decentralized, agricultural area where conceptual rigor and funding for the arts is typically pretty low on the list of civic or institutional priorities across the board. It’s frustratingly easy, over time, to fall into a shoulder-shrug, c’est la vie torpor about it—or at least, it is for me. (And being a very arts-interested, arts-invested person, why is that??!) There are a lot of reasons I could point to, anecdotally and otherwise, but suffice it to say that when the opportunities are few, the artists become fewer. When it’s difficult to find the right outlet for something, the momentum fizzles or artists just leave. This happens in small communities everywhere.
But—of course, there’s a but—the flip side of the coin is that when artists in perennially underfunded areas want to get shit done, they basically have carte blanche to do things however they want to. There may not be much assistance, but there is always a lot of support. I think those are two very different things. And other creative people need to know about what’s happening in order to be able to lend the support. Sometimes it seems like there’s not much on the radar, but I’m beginning to learn that this usually means the right outlets don’t exist. Yet, at least.
Assistance, to me, says “I’m right alongside you. How can I help?” Support says, “I have resources. What do you need?” When these two things work in tandem, it’s like magic. Finding and fitting those puzzle pieces together is, on the other hand, seemingly a matter of luck. I ask myself all the time, How can we cooperate mote? How can we share knowledge and resources, lifting the proverbial tide and all the boats?
So much creative work is going on all the time, regardless of public-facing presentations or events, and I was so grateful for the reminder—over excellent food—that it needs to be sought out. When you’re in a small community, it’s not easy. Even less easy is considering how you—I definitely mean “I”—can facilitate genuine assistance.
Long story short, when you get to experience someone’s creativity come to life through something like a dinner menu or an exhibition, it’s a culmination of an enormous amount of emotional, mental, and physical labor. Being able to see the process shine in a medium other than your own is such a beautiful way to lend perspective to your own creative endeavors.
See you next week!
—Kate
P.S. I really did notice how much yellow made it into this week’s newsletter, and I love it! Hell, it’s high summer—let’s roll with it.
P.P.S. I have big-time FOMO right now about Upstate Art Weekend coming up, which runs July 18 to 21. I’m planning to road trip there for the whole thing next summer. In the meantime, if you go, check out some amazing shows and events, like Ashley Garrett and Brian Snow’s open studio/exhibition with Gracelee Lawrence and Courtney Pucket called UPSTATE GNARLY.
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What you’ll find below:
Featured artist: Hettie Inniss
Four exhibitions in London, Los Angeles, and New York
Featured opportunity: Adélard Immersion Residency 2025
Nine more opportunities for artists with deadlines coming up soon
Featured Artist: Hettie Inniss
A recent graduate of the Royal College of Art, Hettie Inniss captures dreamlike interiors, landscapes, and still-lifes as if viewed through reflective panes of glass. Enigmatic shapes and variations in the opacity of paint lead one through interiors and past forms that hint at recognizability but rarely allow the eye to settle for too long or comprehend the scene in its entirety.
Inniss begins with the concept of olfactory memory, in which our sense of smell can generate strong associations with certain places, people, or events. In a quasi-diaristic approach, she records instances where a scent spurs her to recall certain sights and sounds. Her solo exhibition Rememories from the Floating World at GRIMM Gallery gathers together many of these fragments and layers of places. Like half-remembered dreams or abstract evocations of light and shadow, her pieces mirror liminal spaces and the relationship between past and present.
Rememories from the Floating World continues in London through July 20.
Exhibitions
LOS ANGELES | JAMES FUENTES
Daisy Parris: Weird Rain
I continue to be a big fan of Daisy Parris’s emotive, poetic works, which are constantly expanding and deepening through rhythmic gestures and mark-making. They have some real show-stoppers at James Fuentes right now.
Runs through July 20
LONDON | BLUE SHOP COTTAGE
In Absentia
In Absentia at Blue Shop Cottage brings together some stunning paintings by a group of nine artists: Joshua Armitage , Charlotte Brisland, Deirdre Byrne, Phoebe Evans, Miho Ichise (pictured), Clara Bull Nielsen, Harriet Porter, Louise Wallace, and Charlie Yates—all revolving around uninhabited spaces.
Runs through July 28
NEW YORK CITY | ANAT EGBI GALLERY
Mama’s in the Kitchen
Continuing the theme of summer group shows, “Mama’s in the Kitchen focuses on the ways in which domestic labor and care can be radical acts in our hyper-capitalist modern culture,” says the gallery statement. It also involves a lot of food by artists like Stephanie Temma Hier, pictured here, and around a dozen more.
Runs through August 16
NEW YORK CITY | CHART
Facture Fracture
I’m increasingly a fan of a group show that includes just a handful of artists—thoughtfully curated but with plenty of opportunity to get a sense of each of their practices. Facture Fracture includes wonderful pieces by Sam Branden, Kadar Brock (pictured), Shayna Miller, and Jack Arthur.
Runs through August 23
Artist Opportunities
Young Space emphasizes fully-funded opportunities with low or no entry fees and programs that focus on creative and professional development for visual artists. Deadlines are coming up soon to apply for these grants, fellowships, residencies, and more.
FEATURED OPPORTUNITY
Adélard Immersion Residency 2025
Deadline: August 25
Adélard announces its call for projects for Summer 2025. Artists are invited to submit a proposal for the Immersion residency program. This program is for professional artists, emerging or established, practicing all forms of visual arts. The residencies, each lasting six weeks, take place between May and September in Adélard’s heritage barn in Frelighsburg, Québec, Canada. The residency program includes: a working studio; an exhibition space on the upper floor of the barn; private lodging; an honorarium of CAD$2,000; a CAD$300 honorarium for each cultural mediation activity; CAD$500 exhibition royalty for the artworks presented on the upper floor of the barn; and access to local resource persons, among other things, to facilitate contact with the community and organize cultural mediation activities.
Submission fee: none
Open Call for Exhibition Proposals at INDUSTRA ART
Deadline: July 25
INDUSTRA ART announces an Open Call for exhibition projects for 2025. The gallery supports original projects by art school students, graduates, and established artists whose exhibition projects can cover the entire space of the industrial gallery, located in a former compressor factory in Brno-Židenice, Czech Republic. The gallery especially appreciates site-specific projects that bring new curatorial solutions and that develop current themes in the field of contemporary art. The call is intended for Czech and foreign artists, art groups, and curators in the field of visual arts.
INDUSTRA ART gallery will provide selected exhibition projects with:
gallery facilities
promotion and production of the exhibition
artistic fee within the framework of the awarded grants
transport of works of art
travel and accommodation for the duration of the implementation
possibility of up to a month-long residency depending on the characteristics of the project
Submission fee: none
Open Call for Exhibition Proposals at INDUSTRA ART
Deadline: July 25
INDUSTRA ART announces an Open Call for exhibition projects for 2025. The gallery supports original projects by art school students, graduates, and established artists whose exhibition projects can cover the entire space of the industrial gallery, located in a former compressor factory in Brno-Židenice, Czech Republic. The gallery especially appreciates site-specific projects that bring new curatorial solutions and that develop current themes in the field of contemporary art. The call is intended for Czech and foreign artists, art groups, and curators in the field of visual arts.
Submission fee: none
Bothy Project x Visual Arts Scotland 2024 Residency
Deadline: July 28
This opportunity offers a Visual Arts Scotland member the chance to spend a week-long residency at Sweeney’s Bothy on the Isle of Eigg, Scotland. The residency will take place from October 5 to 12, 2024, and includes seven nights of accommodation at Sweeney’s Bothy, all reasonable travel and accommodation costs to and from Eigg, and an artist fee provided by VAS. Applicants can work within any discipline of creative practice but must be a VAS member at both time of application and time of residency. For further information on VAS memberships, see the VAS website.
Submission fee: none (membership required)
Fundación Ama Amoedo Grants
Deadline: July 30
Fundación Ama Amoedo announces the second edition of the organization's grant program. With the aim of providing resources and opportunities for the strengthening of the art ecosystem and its institutions, 10 grants of $10,000 will be awarded in four categories:
Artists (four grants)
Art and Social Engagement (two grants)
Organizations (two grants)
Publications (two grants)
Grants are intended for artists, artistic collectives, nonprofit organizations, institutions, and foundations that have a significant connection with Latin America, either by nationality, cultural heritage, and/or the site where the project will be carried out.
Submission fee: none
Gallerie Nvyā Grant for Emerging Artists in India
Deadline: July 31
2024 marks a landmark year for Gallerie Nvyā as it completes 20 years. This initiative offers three young artists under the age of 35 a financial grant of ₹2,00,000 each, along with the opportunity for a group or solo exhibition. Artists resident in India are eligible.
Submission fee: none
Prisma Art Prize
Deadline: August 3
An international platform, Prisma showcases a diverse and inclusive array of paintings, drawings, and engravings from emerging visual artists. Awards include €2,000 in cash per year and the opportunity to participate in an exhibition at the Contemporary Cluster, Palazzo Brancaccio, Rome.
Submission fee: €29
SculptureCenter In Practice Open Call
Deadline: August 4
In Practice 2025 will generate a yearlong series of solo presentations. SculptureCenter invites artists who have not yet had an institutional solo exhibition in New York City to submit proposals for solo exhibitions in designated gallery spaces at SculptureCenter. Artists are also invited to propose off-site projects, publishing initiatives, performances, and nontraditional formats, which will be considered based on feasibility. Up to seven artists will be selected to participate in the program from spring 2025 to winter 2026. Each exhibition will be on view for approximately four to six weeks.
Submission fee: none
Breck Create Residency
Deadline: Rolling
Breck Create’s Artist-in-Residence program offers regional and national artists of all disciplines an opportunity to focus on process rather than product while engaging with the local community in a meaningful way. Artists-in-Residence spend 2 to 4 months in a live/work studio in the Breckenridge Arts District, an intimate campus of historic structures nestled under majestic snow-capped peaks in cozy downtown Breckenridge. Artists are expected to facilitate two weekly open studios (on campus), instruct weekly lessons in schools and on campus, participate in on-campus public events, and collaborate with a community partner. Artists with teaching experience will be given priority. Artists receive a biweekly stipend of $600 to cover expenses and may take classes and open studios at no cost, based on availability.
Submission fee: none
Artsin Square Monthly Micro-Grants
Deadline: 31st of every month
A $300 grant and chance for an interview, offered every month.
Submission fee: $20
Sponsored featured opportunities directly support this newsletter and more. If your organization hosts valuable opportunities for artists and you’d like to learn more about featuring it in this digest and on Instagram, I’d love to hear from you! Reply to this email to inquire or check out yngspc.com/sponsor.
See all opportunities
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