“…artful things may often be ordinary and can go easily unnoticed. See a plain line drawn by a pencil, Sol Lewitt said. See that it can be straight, thin, broken, curved, soft, angled, or thick. Enjoy the differences. This simple test of sensory acuity is not hard to pass if your eyes and mind aren’t shut, and your concentration is full.”
—Michael Kimmelman, The Accidental Masterpiece (2005)
After a month-or-so of one. thing. after. another, it seems that balance is slowly being restored. A series of health issues have had me cancelling a couple of trips and stuck at home the past few weeks. Thankfully, it’s nothing too serious, but it’s always much easier to see in 20/20 hindsight. For the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to avoid doom scrolling myself down into Google medical search rabbit holes and trying not to stress out about the unknowns.
My sister gave me a great piece of advice, care of one of her friends’ therapists (gotta love those) that she said has also helped her a great deal in any stressful situation: “You don’t know enough about X to be stressed out about it.”
I thought this was great advice. It applies to so many things. I, for one, have a wild imagination when it comes to how I think things might go. Even objectively great things can turn into anxieties for me, like recently when I procrastinated sending an email for literally two months to simply set up an interview with an artist. They’re highly acclaimed and I’m a big fan, but still. Shouldn’t that have made me excited? I’ve been doing this long enough that these sorts of intros should not bring on this level of overwhelm.
Maybe it was the intimidation factor that comes with being a big fan of the work and wanting to do right by it, or maybe it was a little bit of my ol’ foe: impostor syndrome. Either way, I finally sent the email and, of course, had a wonderful back-and-forth with the studio manager, set up the interview without a hitch, and now I’m just genuinely stoked. What was I so freaked out about?
One thing I try to do—as often as I can remember to do it—is pan out of whatever thing I’m viewing too closely. As if looking through a microscope, I can sometimes lose sight of the broader context that X thing is part of—the context that establishes it within other things I understand or feel comfortable with. There is merit in homing in on the details sometimes—it’s really helpful to do this from time to time—but if the details distract too much from the bigger picture, that’s a recipe for just stalling out.
I love the quote above from Michael Kimmelman’s book The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa (which I recently received in the mail from artist Ann Weber). It’s a reminder to consider every aspect of something and how the characteristics relate to one another to construct a whole.
One of my favorite bits is at the very end: “and your concentration is full.” When it feels like too much is happening or you’re stretched a little too thin, focusing on the essentials and giving them your full attention can provide exactly the kind of perspective that comes in handy for seeing everything else more clearly.
And on that note, here are a few more things I’ve been reading—or looking forward to getting my hands on soon!
Weird Walk just released a zine, “Cromlech,” dedicated to a single monument: Devil’s Den dolmen in Wiltshire.
Rob Walker’s Substack “The Art of Noticing”—he’s also the author of a book by the same title.
Amelia Greenhall walks us through making a winter happiness plan.
I’m a big fan of M.C. Richards’s book Centering, so I nabbed a copy of Opening Our Moral Eye: Essays, Talks & Poems Embracing Creativity & Community.
A throwback to 2018 when The New York Times asked, “Does Having a Day Job Mean Making Better Art?” and then dove in even further last year re: a show literally titled Day Jobs at the Blanton Art Museum.
See you next week!
—Kate
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What you’ll find below:
Featured artist: Jose de Jesus Rodriguez
Four exhibitions to see in Albany, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City
Fifteen opportunities for artists with deadlines coming up soon
Featured Artist: Jose de Jesus Rodriguez
If I’ve had fomo about a painting show in the past few months, it’s Jose de Jesus Rodriguez’s Long-Winded at Deli Gallery, on view through this Saturday. The artist, who has lived in New York City for ten years, draws on his background as a muralist for his first solo exhibition in the city.
Rodriguez’s multidimensional tableaux draw the eye in, around, and through architectural details, surreal landscapes, and art history—especially references to religious Renaissance frescos or Ed Ruscha-esque text overlays—playing with scale and depth. Merging baroque details with kitsch—Bigfoot, for example—these works come together like a series of fever dreams or stream-of-consciousness stage productions.
Long-Winded continues through September 28. Find more on Instagram.
Exhibitions
ALBANY | OPALKA GALLERY at RUSSELL SAGE COLLEGE
Painting at Night
I remember sharing the open call opportunity for this show a while back, a collaboration between Collar Works and Artist/Mother Podcast, which celebrates artists who are also caregivers, “with all the joy, frustration, and ambivalence that comes with balancing the two.” More than three dozen artists are included, and the work pictured above is by Jodi Hays.
Runs through October 12
NEW YORK CITY | GALERIE LELONG & CO.
Leonardo Drew
Leonardo Drew translates plywood and other materials into remarkable “exploded” sculptures and wall installations that emphasize the nature of creating and re-creating. The artist doesn’t title his presentations, allowing the viewer to enter the dialogue, in a sense completing the work.
Runs through October 19
CHICAGO | PATRON
Alice Tippit: The Deep Element
Alice Tippit’s deceptively simple compositions explore the nature of objects and our relationship with our surroundings. Opposing forces often feature in her works, like a hammer bent and dangling from the top of the picture plane or an abstracted sheep horn morphing into a snake.
Runs through November 2
LOS ANGELES | SIDECAR
In and Out
Sidecar, a special project space organized by Night Gallery, presents this group exhibition organized by Rachel Uffner Gallery, featuring work by Bianca Beck, Anne Buckwalter, Bernadette Despujols, Heather Guertin, Sheree Hovsepian, Sacha Ingber, Melissa Joseph, Talia Levitt, Abigail Lucien, Anna Jung Seo (pictured).
Runs through November 2
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.
Paid subscribers, check out the whole list anytime at yngspc.com/opportunities and enter the password you received in your signup email. Can’t find it? Just shoot me a note. Thank your for your support!
Artist-in-Residence at the Vladem Contemporary/New Mexico Museum of Art
Deadline: September 30
New Mexico Museum of Art will be accepting applications from mid-career and established artists for the artist-in-residence program at the Vladem Contemporary. Two applicants will be selected for the period between November 2024 and September 2025. The Museum of Art will provide studio space at the Vladem Contemporary in the Dee Ann McIntyre in Memory of Scotty McIntyre Artist Studio. Selected artists will work with the curatorial team ahead of the residency to establish local connections, schedule research in museum collections, and/or to collaborate with our education team or another organization. The duration of each residency is a minimum of two weeks (14 days) and maximum four weeks (28 days). Each artist selected will receive an honorarium of $10,000.
Submission fee: none
The Image Centre IMC Research Fellowships
Deadline: September 30
For 2025, The Image Centre is offering four fellowships:
The Nadir Mohamed Postdoctoral Fellowship
This fellowship includes a CAD$10,000 stipend for travel, research, and other related expenses. Candidates must hold a PhD degree. Candidates’ research should utilize the collections and resources of The Image Centre and/or Toronto Metropolitan University Archives and Special Collections. The fellow will be expected to carry out their research on-site for a minimum of one (1) to a maximum of three (3) months, between February 1, 2025, and February 28, 2026.The Penny Rubinoff Fellowship
This fellowship includes a CAD$5,000 stipend for travel, research, and other related expenses. Candidates must hold a master’s degree; this includes PhD students or candidates, and excludes applicants who hold a PhD or are postdoctoral researchers. Candidates’ research should utilize the collections and resources of The Image Centre and/or Toronto Metropolitan University Archives and Special Collections. The fellow will be expected to carry out their research on-site for a minimum of two (2) to a maximum of six (6) weeks, between February 1, 2025, and February 28, 2026.The Elaine Ling Fellowship
This fellowship includes a CAD$4,000 stipend for travel, research, and other related expenses. Candidates must have recently completed a master’s degree, or be working toward its completion. Students who are currently enrolled in a doctoral program, hold a PhD or are postdoctoral researchers are ineligible. Candidates’ research should utilize the collections and resources of The Image Centre and/or Toronto Metropolitan University Archives and Special Collections. The fellow will be expected to carry out their research on-site for a minimum of one (1) to a maximum of four (4) weeks, between February 1, 2025 and February 28, 2026.The Howard Tanenbaum Fellowship
This fellowship includes a CAD$4,000 stipend for travel, research, and other related expenses. Candidates may hold any level of education, and/or be independent artists with relevant experience and demonstrated interests. Candidates’ research should utilise the collections and resources of The Image Centre and/or Toronto Metropolitan University Archives and Special Collections in support of their artistic practice; applicants should propose creative methodologies and outputs. The fellow will be expected to carry out their research on-site for a minimum of one (1) to a maximum of four (4) weeks, between February 1, 2025 and February 28, 2026.
Submission fee: none
Tsung-Yeh Arts and Cultural Center AIR in Taiwan
Deadline: September 30
Tsung-yeh Art and Cultural Center is a governmental institute, operated by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Tainan City Government, Taiwan. The theme for 2025 is “Site-Specific Art." All forms of artistic expression are acceptable. The residency includes placements of up to three months with free accommodation and studio space; living and working expenses in Taiwan (NTD 30,000 per month max.); presentation expenses up to NTD 150,000; administrative support; and compensation for presenting one to three workshops during the residency.
Submission fee: none
Artadia Awards: Atlanta
Deadline: October 1
The Artadia Awards provide financial support, exposure, and recognition to artists. The awards are unrestricted, allowing artists to use the funds in any way they choose. Three Awardees receive unrestricted funds of $15,000, as well as access to the Artadia Network. Awardees are determined based on the sole discretion of the jury. Marciano Artadia Awardee receives unrestricted funds of $25,000. Applications in additional program cities open on a rolling basis throughout the year.
Submission fee: none
The Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency
Deadline: October 1 (extended from September 1)
The Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency (EMAR) program by Collar Works is designed to provide emerging, underrepresented, and established artists an immersive, supportive, productive, and communal atmosphere for art-making and dialogue on a bucolic 77-acre farm in Granville, NY. The summer residency offers 2 and 4-week residencies for individual artists and 1-week residencies for families. In 2017, the Murray-Holman family partnered with Collar Works to design a summer residency program for visual artists, with unique opportunities for individuals and families.
Submission fee: $15 (waivers may be available)
Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants
Deadline: Rolling (next deadline October 1)
These grants of up to $5,000 support direct treatment expenses that have been incurred, or are needed, for medical, dental or mental health treatment. Artists practicing in the visual arts, film, video, electronic, digital arts, and choreography are eligible. The program is offered approximately every two months in rolling cycles.
Submission fee: none
Mophradat Grants for Artists' Practice
Deadline: October 1
The program provides grants of either 4,000 USD or 8,000 USD to six artists per year and invites them to participate in approximately eight conversations organized by Mophradat, which supports artists from the Arab world.
Submission fee: none
Rijksakademie Two-Year Residency
Deadline: October 1
The Rijksakademie is a two-year residency program that annually offers 50 artists space for research, experimentation and for the production of new work. Residents are supported with a studio, a work budget and a stipend and can seek advice from leading art professionals from a wide variety of cultural and creative backgrounds. In addition there is a rich research and production infrastructure, consisting of various technical workshops operated by specialists, a library and a historical and contemporary art collection.
Submission fee: $45
The Bennett Prize
Deadline: October 4
The Bennett Prize, created in 2018, awards $50,000 to a woman artist to create her own solo exhibition of figurative realist paintings, which then travels the country. The prize propels the careers of women painters who have not yet realized full professional recognition, empowering new artists and those who have painted for many years.
Submission fee: $40
2025 Craft Research Fund Grant
Deadline: October 4
The Craft Research Fund was created to encourage, expand and support craft research. Grants up to $15,000 are awarded to support new and interdisciplinary research about craft in the United States.
Submission fee: none
National Sculpture Society Marilyn Newmark Memorial Grant
Deadline: October 7
The Marilyn Newmark Memorial Grant is a $5,000 prize for a sculptor, specializing in animal sculpture, who has demonstrated a commitment to sculpting and outstanding ability in his/her/their body of work. Applicants cannot be elected members of the National Sculpture Society. All applicants must be citizens or residents of the United States.
Submission fee: none
National Sculpture Society Alex J. Ettl Grant
Deadline: October 7
The Alex J. Ettl Grant is a prize of $5,000 sponsored by the National Sculpture Society. It is awarded annually to a figurative or realist sculptor who has demonstrated a commitment to sculpting and outstanding ability in his/her/their body of work. All applicants must be citizens or residents of the United States.
Submission fee: none
See all opportunities
Paid subscribers can access a full list of all current opportunities anytime—updated at least a couple of times each week.
Whether you’re a free or paid subscriber, you can also browse through listings in earlier digests in the archive.
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