Interdisciplinary Arts Archives

May 7, 2018

Sam Shear to Install “Upside Down Church” in Virginia City

Upside Down Church + “An Acoustic Gospel Hour with Jenni & Jesse of Dead Winter Carpenters.” Located in Virginia City, Nv. on the site of an old tailings pile, the opening will take place on Sunday, May 27 at 1 pm.

The Upside Down Church a 1/20 (7′ tall) scale replica of a 19th century Midwest style church, pulled, upside down by 1/3 (2′ tall) scale figures of the Artist Sam Shear. The installation is a physical representation of a personal, visceral experience Sam had during his Grandmother’s funeral service. The piece is a depiction of the stress and weight put on individuals caused by religious viewpoints, greed, power, stature or political stance. Through scale and perception with an American pastoral landscape backdrop, the Upside Down Church conjures thoughts of decay, wear, commitment and contribution.

The construction of four walls, a roof, and a steeple represents the purpose of bringing the community together under a spiritual advisor. Churches are places where people come together and form community bonds. They are a spiritual home, a place of communion and divine intervention. These qualities make abandoned and forsaken churches all the more gloomy and unnatural.

Even in its’ dilapidated state, the Upside Down Church casts a strong and overpowering shadow in the presence of the 1/3 scale figures. Whose struggle is captured in their stance as they pull the weight of the church across the picturesque landscape of Virginia City, NV. The deep trench or rift that trails the church is a metaphor for life and as described in the defects above. The trench is the accumulation of the impact on the individuals around everyone.

In addition to the Upside Down Church, 2018 installation, a 20-minute homily by Father Anton of St. Mary’s in the Mountains will take place. Also during the opening, an Acoustic Gospel Hour w/ Jenni & Jesse of Dead Winter Carpenters will be performed. The installation will remain for three weeks at the “Marshall Tailings” site. The Upside Down Church, 2018 will then be moved to Sagehen Creek Field Station in Truckee, CA as the permanent installation site.

What is it?
Upside Down Church, 2018 Art Opening + “An Acoustic Gospel Hour with Jenni & Jesse of Dead Winter Carpenters”

When is it?
1pm- 3pm on May 27th 2018 (5/27/18) See Bulletin Below.

Where is it?
“Marshall’s Tailings” at the corner of Union & R Streets. Across from St. Mary’s Art Center, Virginia City, NV.

RSVP and Directions: attending.io/events/UpsideDownChurch2018
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/215370299047127/

April 11, 2018

Lupita’s Artist Project Grant awarded to Elena Kendall Aranda

We are pleased to announce the selection of Elena Kendall-Aranda as recipients of the 2018 Lupita’s Artist Project Grant.

Elena Kendall-Aranda is an American, Spanish and French artist currently living and working in New York. Through the investigation of gender theories, Internet culture and mass media practices, she addresses issues of identity and embodiment with photography, text, and new technologies. By conjuring narratives that coalesce and collapse, Kendall-Aranda seeks to use online applications that can operate simultaneously in physical and virtual space to create new meaning that makes us reflect about our social-political culture.

The Lupita’s Artist Project Grant will support the continuation of her project Ghost Town Initiative / Los Despoblados which utilizes Google Maps’ Street View features to create an online space where Internet visitors will be able to virtually stroll through abandoned villages in Spain amongst recreated ghost inhabitants, and by doing so, provide a new perspective on our collective past and present.

November 30, 2017

Winter 2018 Low Residency MFA faculty & application deadline

SNC MFA-IA winter 2018 residency faculty

Kelly Nipper / Sameer Farooq / Christine Heindl / Ayanah Moor / Scott Oliver / Rob Reynolds

There are a few spots still available to start in Winter 2018! Please get in touch with Julia Schwadron immediately should you have an interest in attending the MFA Interdisciplinary Arts residency this winter.

July 20, 2017

Kelly Wallis – SNC MFA-IA Class of 2017

“Emerging from the human psyche and showing characteristics of abstract expressionism, minimalism and Russian constructivism, graffiti removal has secured its place in the history of modern art while being created by artists who are unconscious of their artistic achievements.” – The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal

July 18, 2017

Aaron Czerny – SNC MFA-IA Class of 2017 – echo/locator

“We see on our shelves, in Handsome Volumes, the Works of old Authors who lived and wrote before the invention of printing; but how few of us ask ourselves the questions: Where are the originals of which these books are the copies? And what authority have we for the genuineness of the text?” – William Forsyth

July 10, 2017

Richard Petrucci – SNC MFA-IA Class of 2017 – Tactical Maintenance

Richard Petrucci is something of a landscaper. Or rather, an archivist of landscapes. Petrucci’s work throughout the Sierra Nevada College MFA-Interdisciplinary Arts program has focused on the human management of our appreciation of nature. As Christopher Thacker writes in The History of Gardens, the first gardens were likely discoveries — “…such spots are the gardens of the gods, or of those favoured by the gods, so that they need do no work to keep the place in order.” Petrucci’s work explores this question then, exploring our enjoyment of nature, and the notion of “enjoyment” itself as a product of our time.

July 7, 2017

Nicole Harper – SNC MFA-IA Class of 2017 – Sensory Superfluous

Nicole Harper seeks the everyday, the banal, the overlooked. When she finds a niche there, she exploits it and activates it with combinations of the materials present with video projection, drawing, signage and sculpture.

July 3, 2017

Susan Bass – SNC MFA-IA Class of 2017 – Embodied Alchemy: Rotating Creation

As part of her fast approaching graduation as a member of the inaugural cohort of Sierra Nevada College’s Low-Residency MFA-Interdisciplinary Arts program, Gray Space Gallery presented Susan’s MFA Thesis show, Embodied Alchemy: Rotating Creation. The show took place February 3 to March 19, 2017.Read More

June 27, 2017

Current MFA-IA Student, Karen Krolak – “This is going to take a while to process…”

Karen Krolak is deeply concerned with pathways. A choreographer at heart, her work winds its way through life’s processes, bringing the audience to sets of instruction and action that result in revelations both in her work and in the participants.Read More

January 30, 2017

Winter Residency 2017 – Recap

Our students completed their Winter 2017 residency on January 13th, 2017. The 10-day residency began in Incline Village with the arrival of 13 students and 9 Visiting Faculty. The roster for this residency included Julie Weitz, Rob Reynolds, Dan Ruby, Bill Fox, Maria Sykes, Jared Stanley, and Russell Dudley.Read More