The Power To Create: Celebrating Women and the Arts by Kathleen Fogarty
Any day of the week, an artist is working. She may be installing a sculpture, transforming a shoe into an autobiography, touching the tip of a brush to paint and dotting it onto her canvas—then always stepping back to get perspective.
Beginning this month, women artists from all disciplines—including music, dance, literature, and theater—are in the spotlight. With a project called “Minds Wide Open,” the Virginia Commission for the Arts celebrates the flowering of female creativity with exhibits in big museums and intimate galleries all over the state. After a dreary winter, reconnecting with art may be the healing balm we all need. In the visual arts, we find a creative path to wellness in the language of image, color, and form.
LOVE FOR THE EARTH Take a walk through the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia in Virginia Beach, and you’ll discover a treasure in the L-shaped Butler Gallery. “Forest Thrall” is a collection of 290 bright yellow glass leaves attached to a winding array of steel tubing that beckons visitors into a kind of story, enticing imagination and encouraging a child-like sense of play. It’s a commissioned sculpture by artist Jenn Figg, 35, first-place winner in the CAC’s New Waves juried exhibition in 2008. Jenn is one of the schooled artists of her generation. She brings to her work a passion for classic fairy tales, a deep love of nature, and the ability to succeed in academic settings. Currently completing a Ph.D. in Media, Art, and Text from Virginia Commonwealth University, Jenn lives as an artistic nomad, traveling to artist-in-residence programs all over the country and exhibiting from coast to coast. While an artist’s life and work has a solitary aspect, “Forest Thrall” is a true collaboration. Even the materials, which seem disparate, work together. How did Jenn decide to turn glass and metal into trees and vines? “I had a model built that had metal and plastic and other materials that would have been part of this piece, like print and foam and paper, imagery as a stand-in for nature,” Jenn explained. But then, she had a two-week residency in Tennessee with other artists who were using found and recycled objects to create art that would not produce waste. A colleague in that residency, artist/teacher and glass blower Matthew McCormack from Columbus, Ohio, suggested that Jenn use glass. “It was one of those moments that felt like the idea burst open,” she said, smiling. Jenn and Matthew worked out how the glass would be supported, making sure the structure would be safe for art patrons, yet would suggest movement. Between Thanksgiving and February, their artistic partnership—and the sculpture—grew. Together, they came to Virginia Beach, unwrapped all of the glass leaves, attaching them with curly wire, to create an indoor garden. “It’s almost like Adam and Eve!” Jenn shared. In fact, the innocence of Eden is part of Jenn’s vision in art, reflected in her youthful zest and healthy perspective. Her work rises out of a love for the earth and for the beings that live on it. “My joy in life can be found everywhere, but most completely when I’m immersed in the work, when I’m talking about it, when I’m making it,” Jenn said. “And in a collaborative process, it’s the joy of how we really have the power to create, and that resonates through all of our life.”
PERSONAL VISION Some artists create while raising a family along with the other work they do in the world. For these women, art serves as an expressive way to release tension and awaken personal vision. Norfolk painter Kathy Jublou, 55, is enjoying a marvelous time of life for an artist: midlife. She retired as a Navy commander four years ago; her three children are between 22 and 38 years old; and aside from long walks with her beloved Westie, Ali Baba, she has plenty of time to paint. “I’ve always been an artist,” said Kathy, “though my art took a back seat during the years when I was in the Navy and raised my sons.” Yet the prompting to create wouldn’t be silenced. She started taking Saturday art classes at the d’Art Center with Joan Rushin-Folsom, who became her mentor. She believes she learned more within this teaching relationship than all the years of classes in college. For twelve years, Kathy followed Joan all over Tidewater, starting a piece on the weekend, then adding to it whenever she got time at home. And at 50, Kathy decided she would devote all her time to art. “One thing I learned from Joanie: As an artist you going to figure out if you’re doing your art to make money or as a creative venture for yourself,” Kathy said. “The paintings most people like to buy for their houses we call the BBBs: Birds, Boats, and Barns. And I do paint and sell some of those,” said Kathy. “But the art that I put more effort in is the more creative stuff that I enter into competitions.” Her art is all over Tidewater these days. You can see it hanging at Andi Helfant Frye’s new gallery at Art Space in Pembroke Mall, in the inaugural show of the new Art Institute of Va. Beach, and in the Halls of Art at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton. A painting by Kathy Jublou has an unmistakable feel: flowers appear to dance and statues come to life in the thousands of paint-dots of the pointillist style. She is grateful for the good fortune of her supportive husband, Brad, and a private room where she can work at home. She admits that her work reflects her own challenges, especially the pieces she did in colored pencils when her boys were in their teen years. “And when I work, that is my therapy, unbeknownst to me. I don’t do a lot of thinking about it,” she said. “When I paint, everything just goes away.”
HARMONY & BALANCE “Minds Wide Open” inspired another local gallery to create an invitational exhibit dedicated to women’s love of shoes. Opening March 5 and showing through April 16, “A Shoe of Her Own” at Norfolk’s d’Art Center showcases shoes submitted by artists across the state, which symbolize aspects of their lives. Susan Bernard, d’Art Center director, explains that the show is “a metaphor for artists who must step out, stride forth, and strut their stuff.” Award-winning fiber/mixed media artist, Lynne Sward, is pondering her own contribution to the show. Despite fashion designers’ love of heels—beautiful to see but hard to wear—Lynne Sward loves comfy footwear, like Croc’s and Merrill’s. “I don’t care if they’re ugly!” the cheerful seventy-something said with a laugh. “My feet are so grateful. I can walk for hours and hours,” Lynn learned to appreciate art growing up. “I was inspired to create in fiber arts because one of my aunts, Laurel, made all her own clothes and clothes for me,” Lynne said. When Lynne was a newlywed, she got a sewing machine and made what she calls “weird and strange” outfits for her children. Soon, her creativity expanded to quilts, sculptural pieces, dolls, and the whimsical, original pieces that Tidewater art lovers have come to love. Lynne is one of the resident artists at d’Art Center. Being in community with working artists has been life affirming for her, especially since she passed through her own healing journeys. She survived breast cancer, discovered when she was 46, and the death of her son, Scott, several years ago. A wonderful therapist, a long marriage, her dedication to spiritual life, and her artwork support Lynn as she continues to create. “I’m Jewish by birth and heritage, and yet I feel very open spiritually,” she said. “The words harmony and balance define me. If we don’t think along these terms, how can we be really healthy and well?” Lynn says her shoe in the exhibit will be a blend of the many aspects of who she is. “It represents symbols, visuals, and beliefs, my favorite things, and maybe a photo or two,” she said. “And of course, it will be one of a kind!” d’Art Center’s Susan Bernard believes that “A Shoe of Her Own” along with all the exhibits this month are keenly connected to art’s gift of wellness. “Art brings a balance to our life that is essential to our psyche,” she said. At the brand new Art Space in Pembroke Mall, Andi Helfant Frye, painter, gallery owner, and art networker, says that art is vitally important for women’s well being. “It’s always a challenge for women to have their own identity when we are used to fashioning ourselves to what our families need us to be,” she said. “But I really believe, as the Dalai Lama says, that the purpose of life is to be happy. So if doing art makes us and others happy, that kind of energy can change things.” n
For more information • Minds Wide Open is the first statewide celebration honoring contributions by women to arts and culture. Between March and June of 2010, thousands of special events will take place across Virginia. www.vamindswideopen.org • Jenn Figg’s “Forest Thrall” is on display through May 23, 2010, in the Butler Gallery at the Contemporary Arts Center, 220 Parks Ave., Va.Beach. www.cacv.org • A Shoe of Her Own, featuring work by Lynne Sward and selected artists, opens March 5, 2010, at the d’Art Center, Selden Arcade, 208 E. Main St., Norfolk. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. and Sundays 1-5 p.m. www.d-artcenter.org • Kathy Jublou’s paintings are on exhibit at Helfant Frye FineArts at Pembroke Mall’s new Art Space. Hours for all the galleries are Thurs.-Fri. from 5 to 8 p.m., Sat from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sun. Noon-5 p.m.
Kathleen Fogarty is a music educator and freelance writer. She lives on a farm in Va. Beach with her husband, John.
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