Thursday, May 28, 2009

Doug Russell busy during fellowship year


Doug Russell, an artist and assistant professor teaching drawing in the UW art department, sent the accompanying info as part of his final report for his 2008 Wyoming Arts Council visual arts fellowship. You'll be able to see Doug's work as well as the five other 2008-2009 visual arts fellowship winners at the biennial exhibit which opens Nov. 5 at the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne.

The main creative project in my life for the past year and a half has been a solo exhibition at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The show was entitled "Entangled Worlds." [The photograph above shows the exhibit's opening reception.] I created four drawings specifically for the space -- each drawing growing to nearly 20 feet long. I flew to Grand Rapids and spent a week installing the show and putting final touches on the drawings. Funds from the Fellowship were used to purchase paper, drawing supplies, ship the work to and from UICA, buy the roundtrip flight and pay for expenses while in Grand Rapids. Portions of this show may be included in future solo shows at Western Wyoming Community College and CSU in Fort Collins. Funds from the Fellowship were also used to ship work to and from several juried exhibitions.