event
Artist's Talk: Jane Ingram Allen

About the event

Jane Ingram Allen
Site Maps – Red Hook, Brooklyn

ARTIST'S TALK: May 24, 2003, 2 pm

Project for Kentler International Drawing Space, Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York
Dates of the Project:  May 24 – June 30, 2003
 
Project Description:  I will create a site-specific installation for the gallery during a one-week artist in residency in Red Hook to include a two-day workshop at a neighborhood school and one community workshop as well as a gallery talk at the opening reception for the exhibition.  The installation will incorporate handmade paper map-like constructions created from recycled paper and other materials collected at the site and involve the participation of school children and community members in collecting materials, making the paper for the installation and collaborating with the artist to create parts of the installation for the gallery exhibition.  The installation will focus on raising community awareness about environmental problems faced by the Red Hook area and the special characteristics of the neighborhood and its unique place in the world. 
 
Description of School Workshop
 
I would like to work with students in a local school classroom (4^th grade or above) for two days during the week of May 23-30.  During this time I would conduct workshops in the school to teach the students how to make paper and create map construction pieces that would be used in a collaborative installation work to be exhibited at Kentler International Drawing Space through June 30.  If possible, I would like to work with two classrooms for two days approximately two hours each day so that there is time to make the paper, get it dry and construct the individual unique map pieces for the installation.  The children would learn about hand papermaking, collecting materials, creating installation art and making a site-specific gallery installation focused on environmental issues and Red Hook.  Before the workshop students would be asked to collect materials related to the neighborhood including scrap paper for recycling  (this can include newspaper, old school papers, junk mail and any paper that is free of plastic and metal and does not have a slick finish) and other bits and pieces of materials connected to the neighborhood (such as leaves, twigs, soil, small stones, fabric scraps, hair, thread, ribbon, etc) that could be used in the paper pulp and added as collage materials to the pieces that the children will make working with the artist.  The artist will talk with the two selected classroom teachers prior to the workshops and coordinate all activities and plans for the workshops.
 
The artist will bring the necessary supplies and equipment to make the paper and do the artwork in the school.  The school will need to provide a classroom that can be used as a studio and workshop space.  The room should have large work tables and access to water and electricity.  It is best to have something like an art room, but an ordinary classroom can be used.  There should be ready access to the outdoors for pressing the handmade paper, and tables and floor may get wet during papermaking activities.  The artist has many years of experience as an art educator working with children of all ages and has conducted many papermaking workshops in schools, museums, art centers and other organizations throughout the country and internationally.
 
The artist will install the work made by the children during the workshops in the Kentler International Drawing Space gallery and the children, teachers, parents and community members will be invited to an opening reception at the gallery.  The site-specific gallery installation will also contain other elements created by the artist and other community participants prior to and during the week-long residency in Red Hook. 
 
Description of community workshop:
 
The artist will conduct a community workshop for adult members of the community interested in art and environmental problems and the Red Hook community.  The workshop could be held at the library or other community meeting place and would last for approximately two hours.  The space that is needed for the workshop is a meeting room with tables and chairs and good lighting.  Tables can be covered with plastic, and water can be brought in if needed.  During the workshop the artist would make a presentation about the site-specific installation (Site Maps:  Red Hook, Brooklyn) she is creating with the participation of school children and community members for the Kentler International Drawing Space.  Workshop participants would be invited to help with the collaborative installation artwork by collecting and providing materials to be used in the piece and making individual collage Red Hook map pieces that would be incorporated in the site-specific gallery installation.  Publicity prior to the workshop would ask people to bring collage materials that they collect to be used in the collage work during the workshop.  The collage materials could include bits of newspapers, magazines, menus, junk mail, letters, fabric scraps, leaves, twigs, pebbles, sand, flower petals, ribbons, strings, etc. and anything that could be attached to a paper surface and that has some connection to the Red Hook, Brooklyn area. The artist will provide handmade paper to use in the collage constructions, glue and adhesives and other art materials to be used in the workshop.  The artist will install the collage constructions that participants create during the workshop in the Kentler International Drawing Space as part of the collaborative installation work that will include individual parts created by the artist, school children and other community members.   Workshop participants will be invited to the opening reception at Kentler for the exhibition that will be on display through June 30. 
 
 
 
Brief Biography of the Artist
 
Jane Ingram Allen is a sculptor/installation artist originally from Alabama, now living in Troy, New York.  She was the art instructor at the State University of New York in Morrisville, NY, 1988-2001, and presently teaches art courses at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY and is a presenting visual artist for the Capital Region Center for Arts in Education..  Jane has taught papermaking and installation art workshops in public schools, colleges and other community organizations such as Humboldt State University in CA, Sierra Nevada College in Nevada , Women’s Studio Workshop, Seastone Papers, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. 
 
In 2001 Jane had solo exhibitions at the Phoenix Gallery Project Room in New York City; at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education in Philadelphia, PA; and at the Rome Art and Community Center, Rome, NY.  In 2001 she did outdoor installations in Cazenovia, NY, at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia, PA, and at Spirit of Place-Site Ecology, Huntington, VT.  In 2000 her handmade paper bird sculptures were exhibited in downtown Ithaca, NY, and in Rochester, NY, as well as on the Mino Bridge in Mino City, Japan.  She has done public art installations in a New York City subway station, on an abandoned barn along a public highway and on bus shelters, boardwalks and in public parks.  She has been an artist in residence at the Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, MA; Connemara Conservancy, Dallas, TX; Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Harpers Ferry, WV; the Duntog Foundation, Baguio City, Philippines; the Paper Art Village Project, Mino City, Japan; the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia, PA; Nepal Crafts Collection, Kathmandu, Nepal and the Sacatar Fopundation, Itaparica, Bahia, Brazil.  She has received grants to support her work from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ruth Chenven Foundation, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Artists Space and the New York Foundation for the Arts and local and state arts councils.   She makes viewer participatory installations and collaborative community art projects using handmade paper and map imagery that focus on environmental issues.