connecting art & community

the emerging artist4 Bridges Arts Festival

+ in the art biz townsend atelier

+ applied arts wonderpress

+ art exhibition all member salon show

++ art info+ workspace

shadow may & rondell crier

a reflection on 2012

vol. 2 ~ 2012

a publication of

the BRIDGE

Creative direction & designMark Song

Front coverphotographed by Tim Searfoss

The Bridge is a publication of AVA.Produced by AVA at

30 Fravier Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37405

contents

the BRIDGEconnecting art & community

pg.9art happens

pg.274 bridges arts festival

pg.33art info

featured artists

pg.11

pg.5art biz

pg.17art exhibit

wonderpress

pg.21

art accolades

pg.35

from the editor.the Bridge vol.2 2012

It’s high summer in Chattanooga and we at AVA are enjoying a little slower pace. The Summer Salon Show, featuring works by AVA members, has just wrapped up. The reception in early July was great fun, good to see so many artists and friends in the crowd. We’re also planning the coming year (our year is July to June): momore exhibitions, more education outreach programs, more community arts projects, and the next 4 Bridges Arts Festival™!

Much of AVA’s work is around supporting those who make art - community members who are interested in strengthening their own creative skills, regional emerging artists and established artists, and national artists thartists through 4 Bridges. This issue focuses on several artists who are transitioning from emerging to established, a local printing company that frequently works with area artists, and a local arts couple who slowly and persistently built an internationally known business that has retained its strong local ties.

Why do we do we focus on artists? Community.

If we donIf we don’t have artists, we don’t have the arts. If we don’t have the arts, we are a broken society.

Thanks for joining with AVA and supporting artists - whether local, regional or national. We’re all in this together.

Anne WillsonAVA Executive Director

Connecting art & communitycontributors.the Bridge vol.2 2012

Mark Bradley-Shoup earned a B.F.A from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in painting and drawing and received his master's degree in studio art from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mark has worked with various non-profit agencies and educational educational institutions over the past 10 years, including the Hunter Museum of American Art; the Creative Discovery Museum; Discovery Museum; Chattanooga Parks, Recreation, Arts and Culture; and the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences. Aside fSciences. Aside from his work with the Association for Visual Arts, Mark teaches foundation courses at University of Tennessee Chattanooga and Chattanooga and Chattanooga State Technical Community College.

Katie BoeremaKatie Boerema graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in journalism and public relations from the University of TTennessee. She has extensive experience in communications for the non-profit and healthcare industries. Her strengths include strategic and ccreative thinking, project management, media relations, and the ability to write with stylistic and syntactical accuracy. She has worked in public relations for the Chattanooga Convention Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau and East Tennessee Children’s Hospital.

Caleb LudwickLudwick writes brand strategy, campaigns and verbal articulation for corporations, startups, nonprofits, and social innovators. His work has innovators. His work has won awards including display in the Smithsonian Institute’s National Design Museum and a grant for short fiction for short fiction (www.thefirsttimeshefell.com). But perhaps most of all, he loves promoting good design in Chattanooga.

Tim SearfossAn award winning film producer/director, author,

photographer, painter, sculptor and illustrator. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, he has traveled the world studying

fine art and makes his home in Chattanooga

Mark SongA marketing /design professional for more than 28 years. During his marketing career, Mark has worked with clients such as: clients such as: PlayCore, Herman Miller, Kimball Office, Holiday Inn Worldwide, Goodwill Industries, Habitat for Humanity, ShawIndustries, Industries, Wachovia Bank, Heil Environmental Industries, Litespeed Bicycles, The Krystal Company, Heatcraft Refrigeration, The Chattanooga Chamber Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, Chattanooga MetMetropolitan Airport, Shaw Industries, NAI Charter Real Estate, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, and Covenant College.

Lauren GoforthLauren Goforth earned

a B.A. in Art History with

a minor in Education

from Sewanee: The

University of the

South. During her South. During her

undergraduate studies,

Lauren completed

internships at both

Allied Arts of Greater

Chattanooga and the

Association of Association of Visual

Arts. She previously

worked as a Teacher's

Assistant at Sewanee

Elementary School and

has had many years

of experience as a

volunteer in the nonvolunteer in the non-

profit and educational

sectors.

Troy BowmanTroy Bowman recently graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

The Association for Visual Arts is a non-profit 501c-3 funded in part by

in the art biz.

gatherlearncreatePhoto by Tim Searfoss

Stan Townsend: Chattanooga native, long-time artist. Peggy Wood Townsend: Chattanooga native, long-time arts administrator. Townsend Atelier: Chattanooga native, long-time dream.

Tucked into the back of the Craftworks Building at the corner of Main and Williams streets in the Southside district (formerly the Chattanooga Paper and the Southside district (formerly the Chattanooga Paper and Woodenware building), is a small rise of stairs that leads to a loading dock. A set of double doors on the left side of the loading dock, near the top of the stairs, marks the modest entrance to a small business known more by its international customers than by most people in Chattanooga, the Townsend Atelier.

The “Atelier,” as most people refer to it, is Peggy and Stan’s vision made manifest; a vision grounded in their shared real-world knowledge of what it is to live and work in the arts. “Atelier” is the F“Atelier” is the French word for workshop, referring to 1) art students learning and working under the guidance of a master artist/teacher, or 2) a physical place used as a gathering point around art. Townsend Atelier is both people and place. Peggy and Stan describe it “as the art place they always wished Chattanooga had.”

The Townsends came together at AVA in the late 80’s. Stan was one of the founders of AVA and Peggy was the organization’s first paid director. A few years later, while continuing to work as a painter and sculptor, Stan also began working with a local chemical company to advise them on formulations artists would use. Peggy simultaneously left to get her masters advise them on formulations artists would use. Peggy simultaneously left to get her masters in arts administration after working for several years with both AVA and Allied Arts.

After Peggy returned to Chattanooga, the two first explored opening an art business of their own in 1994. However, for various reasons the timing was off. And in fact, it would be twelve more years for the timing, the site, the funding, and the business model to all come together. Twelve more years of first-hand experience working in the arts in Chattanooga. Twelve more years to build their vision.

townsendatelier the workshop

written by

Anne Willson

gatherlearncreate

Photo by Tim Searfoss

in the art biz.

Fast forward to 2006. With Stan’s chemical industry contacts and understanding, and Peggy’s marketing and business knowledge, the two have developed a small but consistent line of materials used for molding and casting. They moved the small business, then known as A-Z Solutions, to the Chamberas A-Z Solutions, to the Chamber’s Business Development Center on Cherokee Boulevard. Steady growth in the business ensued due to a strong Internet presence. The breadth of the client list grew as well. In addition to artists, their products met the needs of jewelers, doll-makers, toolmakers and historical phistorical preservationists across the world. The business took hold.

Three years later, when it was time to leave the BDC, Stan and Peggy looked for a locale for the second component of the business, product demo workshops and classes with highly skilled artists. The Atelier opened at the Main Stthe Main Street location in 2009. Since then, it has evolved into a fluid, multi-use art space where artists and art students gather and operates as a viable business model in a sector often marginalized as “starving” or “charity.” Their art-based work works.

townsend atelier - the workshop

theworkshop

art happens.

art at 45mph

WE INSPIREMotivated by the possibility of effec ting real community change, seventy-two students from Brown International and Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academies met in workshops to articulate which words best described their hopes and dreams for a better neighborhood.

For more info on this project...www.markmakling.com

hope is hovering over Martin Luther King Bouldvard

“we inspire”

Shadow May

Photo by Tim Searfoss

the featured artists.

Rondell Crier

written by

katie boerema

Great Expectations andA Tale of Two Cities

...there’s a lot of intimidating art out there.

Shadow May Preparing work for his junior year in the festival could have posed a formidable challenge for ceramist Shadow May.

"I think anytime that I do a show of this caliber I get a nervous feeling," May confessed. "There’s a lot of intimidating art out there. You really don’t know going into each show what acceptance you will receive when you display your work."

Compound that unease with the desiCompound that unease with the desire to rival his 2011 4 Bridges show, for which he won the Best in Ceramics award, and you have the perfect conflict for a classic coming-of-age story.

Fortunately, May likes a challenge. His artist statement claims he "has a fearless method of creating sculpture," and describes his sculptures as "intuitive and uninhibited and emphasize the value of taking risks."

TTrue to himself, May resolved not to play it safe and did something extremely unexpected.

"This was my first year showing my new body of work," he explained. "I had been doing pottery that was more sculptural in nature—large vessels, jars, etc. They always fell within the “pottery” category. However, this year I showed up with ambiguous laambiguous large, non-objective ceramic sculpture. My faithful customers were walking right by me, looking for me, not realizing that my work had changed so drastically."

In spite of the uncertainty surrounding sales and having a proven formula for success from his previous award-winning show, May threw caution to the wind and created a body of work based on his desire not to meet but to exceed expectations.

The point of The point of resolution in this plot reads almost like a fairy-tale. Not only did May win another award, this time a Juror's Choice award, but he also had a record-breaking show.

"Sales this year were epic for me. This was the first sellout in my ten years of doing juried fine art shows."

Selling out was an indescribable compliment accoSelling out was an indescribable compliment according to May. Combined with the honor of the Juror's Choice award, given to him by well-known painter Amy Pleasant, and he feels like his bold reinvention was validated.

"I’m making the right decisions for my work, the right decisions in my life and enjoying it. That’s what life should be about."

written by

katie boerema

...there’s a lot of intimidating art out there.

Rondell CrierRondell’s debut at the 4 Bridges Arts Festival was also positive, but for different reasons. For Crier, the festival fueled his desire to support the growth and development of youth artists and neighborhood residents in Chattanooga, something he has excelled at doing in his hometown of New Orleans.

Crier moved to Chattanooga from New Orleans in 2005, after he was displaced by Hurricane Katrina, but he continues working in New Orleans displaced by Hurricane Katrina, but he continues working in New Orleans as the Creative Director of YAYA, a position he has held since 2001. YAYA (Young Aspirations/Young Artists) is a youth arts organization that Crier has been involved with for more than 20 years. He also works on large projects commissioned by YAYA that involve talented youth artists and neighborhood residents.

Crier has been busy in Chattanooga as well. You have probably seen his work driving ahis work driving around town. Yes, you read that correctly. Crier was one of five artists whose designs were wrapped on CARTA shuttles through a public art collaboration between CARTA, Public Art Chattanooga and River City Company called Art in Motion. Also, his meaningful sculpture True Sound of Change is part of Public Art Chattanooga's Art on Main, a rotating sculpture exhibition along Main Street.

When asked to compaWhen asked to compare Chattanooga and New Orleans, Crier said the two cities have some general similarities, and he noted a few: "Both cities have some tourist attention as vacation sites. Both cities reside along a river which adds a certain sense of beauty and elegance to the neighborhoods and street grid. Both cities have been rebuilding quality of life through creative industries, and also both have a connection to African American music." As for his personal ventures in both cities, he says each is a he says each is a rewarding and unique experience.

"I feel that I'm more creative here in Chattanooga with my personal works, but I conduct most of my community work in New Orleans."

Crier would like to strike a balance between these two important aspects of his life and not have them always be separated by 500 miles.

"I have future plans to build my community presence here in Chattanooga, but I want to reshape how I approach personal and community work. I think its important to maintain both and community work. I think its important to maintain both practices, having them complement each other."

After being a part of 4 Bridges, Crier believes the festival would be the perfect venue to bring action to his intent. He envisions establishing booths at the festival for local youth artists to display their works, something he managed for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and also being an exhibitor himself, if selected.

"I have a passion for art and sharing art. I see many points of c"I have a passion for art and sharing art. I see many points of crossover with the two communities and the work I do, and I'm moving closer to a place where I could start developing these possibilities."

art exhibit...salon art exhibit.

Not your mama’s day at the salon.

An art exhib by ava members

written by

Lauren GoForth

The Association for Visual Arts was established more than 25 years ago to promote both professional and emerging artists, and the visual arts in the Chattanooga aarea. One of AVA’s goals is to provide opportunities for its members to exhibit their work in a public venue.

On display throughout July was AVA’s annual All Member Show. This non-juried exhibit illustrates the diverse range of illustrates the diverse range of styles, media, and points of view of AVA’s members. There are over 40 pieces of original artwork on display — all from local artists.Artworks are hung from floor to ceiling in true salon fashion, allowing a laallowing a larger quantity of pieces to be displayed than in regular exhibitions, and thus allowing Chattanoogans to view a sizable sampling of the artistic talent within our own community.

art exhibit.

An art exhibit styled

by AVA members.An art exhibit styled

by AVA members.

Participating artists:

Jeanne AbbottSylvia A. AgostiniBillie AlexanderPeter ArrowsmithKaren BeardFennel BlytheFennel BlytheHelen BurtonElizabeth Chetta McCordTerry ChildersMaddin CoreyHollie Berry ElizondoPamela GlaserKhambKhambrel GreenMolly GuerinMichael JenkinsCarol KimmonsJodi KoskiNadine KoskiMichael LargentSherry LearySherry LearyDemetria (Meak) LindseyAlex LozaPatty MaroneyJames McKissicEilin MidtboLawrence G. MillerChandra MoChandra MorganLeslie O’RearMignonne PearsonDebby PhillipsDarana RatledgeGabriel RegagnonWilliam RichAudAudrey RobertsonToneeke Runinwater HendersonThomas ShawMadeline SimesRoslynne SteinbergCatherine StetsonDaniel A. I. SwangerTheTheresa Winter

ava all member exhib

The Association for Visual Arts was established more than 25 years ago to promote both professional and emerging artists, and the visual arts in the Chattanooga area. One of of AVA’s goals is to provide opportunities for its members to exhibit their work in a public venue.

On display through July 28, 2012 was AVA’s annual All Member Show. This non-juried exhibit illustrates the diverse range of illustrates the diverse range of styles, media, and points of view of AVA’s members. There are over 40 pieces of original artwork on display — all from local artists.Artworks are hung from floor to ceiling in true salon fashion, allowing a laallowing a larger quantity of pieces to be displayed than in regular exhibitions, and thus allowing Chattanoogans to view a sizable sampling of the artistic talent within our own community.

Michael Jenkins

Alex Loza Karen Beard Fennel Blythe

the applied arts.

written by

caleb ludwickowner, 26 Tools

the applied arts.

the candy storefor designersFor more than a decade, we’ve been hearing that business is going paperless. In many ways it’s true, but there is still a place for paper in today’s world. Just ask any communications designer – there are some messages that can’t be communicated as well digitally, as they can on a printed piece. Catalogs, direct mail, posters and banners in stores and restaurants, packaging and business caand business cards all still look much like they did ten years ago.

But the landscape of paper is changing. Percentages of recycled content are way up, particularly postconsumer waste paper being recycled into new paper. And the capabilities of digital printing have come a long way, now rivaling the high quality and fine detail of printing presses.taris has been innovating in Internet technology since before Chattanoogans knew what to call it..

written by

caleb ludwickowner, 26 Tools

the applied arts.

For designers, however, the reduced use of papers has meant that they have far fewer choices. When a graphic designer or writer comes up with a great project, they are often told that they have restricted options. Particularly if they want to use a unique paper, with high recycled content or a unique look, color or feel to it, they often hear “sorry, but it’s not possible.” That it’s not in stock, that it can’t be found.found.

In an industry that has come to be characterized by “can’t”, Cy DeVilbiss has made his name among designers, for starting with a “yes” rather than a “no”. For more than twelve years he’s worked in printing in Chattanooga, most recently pushing the potential of digital printing forward for designers and marketing agencies.

Cy’s company, Blair Digital, was rebranded as WonderPress two years ago by local branding and design agency Widgets & Stone.

“In industries that a“In industries that are dominated by an attitude of ‘It can’t be done’, innovators often take a ‘Why not?’ approach,” said brand strategist Caleb Ludwick of 26 Tools llc, who worked with Widgets on the project.“ But with Cy we wanted to go deeper. So we started his rebrand where he always begins a project – with a series of ‘What if’ questions?”

What if a designerWhat if a designer’s potential wasn’t hampered, but was expanded by paper choices and printers’ capabilities? What if a printer could produce small print runs with the same quality that usually necessitated runs of 10,000 pieces or more? What if printing could help designers sell their services, rather than being something that designers had to apologize for?

Cy had been asking these questions for years, and working on the answers. He set out to prove that Wonderpress could live up to this promise – and designers have jumped on board because in their minds it comes down to a simple differentiator. With Wonderpress, you can create high quality, short run print jobs without breaking the bank.

And CyAnd Cy’s abilities go beyond simple printing – to include die cutting, custom envelopes, duplexed thick cards for business cards or invitations, book binding, boxes and packaging and more. All with high quality digital imaging and a phone number that rings straight through to Cy himself.

TTo prove what WonderPress can do, last year Cy teamed up with the UTC Design Department to create “the Wonderful Series”. Designed to showcase what is possible with digital printing and to celebrate the wonderful papers offered by Neenah Paper Mills, the series is a seventeen month calendar of designs created by students and printed by Cy. Series I covered sixteen months; and response has been so positive that the collaboration extended to a second, positive that the collaboration extended to a second, eight-month series.

The students chose some of the most unique papers in the Neenah line, tapping Cy’s trademark enthusiasm, approach-ability and expertise to create innovative, beautiful and ambitious work – the sort of design project that every graphic designer longs to create but assumes won’t work out well. Not only did Cy pull off the projects, he also mailed them to designers and agencies around the Southeast to promote the amazing work that WonderPress (and UTC) students can do.

And the result? Neenah became not only a vendor but also a customer of WonderPress, because they wanted copies of the series. Oof the series. Orders for short run print jobs have shot up, designers feel like kids in a candy store – and WonderPress is enjoying a growing reputation as a place where paper questions aren’t framed as “Yes or No”, but as “What if…”.

written by

caleb ludwickowner, 26 Tools

the applied arts.

4 BRIDGES ARTS FESTIVAL 2012

REVISITED

the applied arts.

4 BRIDGES ARTS FESTIVAL 2012

REVISITEDFor more than a decade, we’ve been hearing that business is going paperless. In many ways it’s true, but there is still a place for paper in today’s world. Just ask any communications designer – there are some messages that can’t be communicated as well digitally, as they can on a printed piece. Catalogs, direct mail, posters and banners in stores and restaurants, packaging and business caand business cards all still look much like they did ten years ago.

But the landscape of paper is changing. Percentages of recycled content are way up, particularly postconsumer waste paper being recycled into new paper. And the capabilities of digital printing have come a long way, now rivaling the high quality and fine detail of printing presses.taris has been innovating in Internet technology since before Chattanoogans knew what to call it..

SEE EVERYONE NEXT YEARAPRIL 13 & 14, 2013 - CHATTANOOGA, TNwww.4BRIDGESARTSFESTIVAL.org

THANKS FOR A GREAT 2012

art info/fact.

reason no.02 for investing in the arts

In 2010, spending by arts providers and arts audiences in Chattanooga

alone provided 4.5 million in tax revenue to our local government and 7.5 million to our state government.* And yet public funding for the arts is challenged at both the

local and the state level every year at budget time. Really?

**Data provided by Americans for the Arts, The Economic Impact of

Nonprofit Arts and Culture Organizations and Their Audiences in the

Greater Chattanooga area (Fiscal Year 2010)

The arts bring home the bacon in Tennessee.

So, where’s the love?

btw...ART IS NOT A CHARITY

for more information on how you can invest in the arts

contact AVA423 - 265 - 4282

avarts.org

in the art biz.

Phillip Andrew Lewis may not be a household name when it comes to contemporary art yet, but given his recent track record, that all may be changing sooner rather than later. Born in 1973, Lewis was raised in Memphis, Tennessee, where he received his Bachelor of Arts of Psychology from the University of Memphis and an MFA in Photography from the Memphis College of Art. This unlikely pairing will prove fortunate later in his career; more on that in due time. To say his work ethic and dedication to the field of visual art, as well as its impact on community, is resolute would be an understatement.

After graduate school, Lewis set his ambitions high when he established the Medicine Factory: After graduate school, Lewis set his ambitions high when he established the Medicine Factory: an independent arts organization dedicated to providing space for the exhibition of experi-mental contemporary art free from the constraints and curatorial controls common among other exhibition venues. In addition, the Medicine Factory provides low-rent studio spaces for progressive area artists, creating a micro-community in Memphis dedicated to the production of contemporary art and practice. Certainly this industrious endeavor helped seal his fate as a serious and committed artist, which no doubt caught the attention of the University of Tennes-see at Chattanooga, which was fortunate enough to attract this rising talent. Since arriving in Chattanooga in 2008, Lewis has had the responsibility of developing and implementing the UTC Department of Art’s Photo Media Arts program. No doubt a daunting task, but a challenge he did not shy away from. But amid all of Lewis’s countless exhibitions, grants, career goals, and community impact, there remains one consistent driving force for Lewis: that is both the production of sincere work, as well as an unyielding commitment to his own studio research and growth as an artist.

phillip andrewlewis written by

Mark Bradley-Shoup

commitment. affirmation.

in the art biz.

Lewis’s steadfast commitment paid off. Early in 2012, it was announced that Phillip Andrew Lewis was awarded the Creative Capital Grant. For those not familiar with the Creative Capitol program, it was initiated in 1999, shortly after the culture wars of the 1980’s ensured that no more taxpayer dollars would be allocated to directly fund individual artists. In partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Warhol Foundation, Creative Capitol was born to provide both financial and advisory support for artists who are pursuing groundbreaking approaches for art production in various creative fields. Creative Capital provides funding, counseling and cacounseling and career support to ensure that an artist’s project comes to fruition, as well as establishing a sustainable and lasting career for the selected artists. It has quickly established itself as one of the most prestigious awards among contemporary artists, and Lewis is still stunned by the news. This is where his psychology degree comes in useful. Lewis’s work has distinct motivations and is firmly rooted in his life experiences.

“My exploration revolves around the investigation

of light, sound, space, and time; studying drone,

repetition, vibrations, and the subsequent patterns

that emerge. I construct environments with a constant

and dominating tone or mood; presenting

atmospheres for mental and physical navigation.

I often work with the horizon line, which formally I often work with the horizon line, which formally

and historically alludes to the landscape and

provides a sense of orientation. Themes of comfort

course through the work, intertwined with references

to psychology, architecture, the landscape,

atmospheric science, and astronomy. These ideas

can be traced through my use of photography,

installation, digital media, video, sound and drawing.”installation, digital media, video, sound and drawing.”

phillip andrew lewis

in the art biz.

Mr. Lewis submitted a project that responds to a rather unusual and powerful event that happened in his formative teen years. Lewis spent two years in an experimental government-run drug treatment program, which stripped him of all freedoms and civil liberties. During this tumultuous two-year stint, Lewis was not allowed to read, listen to music, or even speak unless prompted. In addition to being forced to sit in church pews and stare endlessly at a blank wall, he was only permitted to see his family every three months. This scenario sounds more akin to a scene taken from a page of Orwell’s 1984, and is hard to imagine such a scenario ever existing in a truly evolved modern civilization. The result, as Lewis describes it, was “psychic murder”. This controversial program was dismantled over 20 years ago and only existed in a handful of major U.S. cities, but its roots are part of the Synanon organization, established by Charles Dederich in Santa Monica in 1958. Initially founded as a drug rehabilitation program, it quickly grew into an alternative community in the early 1960’s and attracted a cult-like follow-ing for those interested in living “a self-examined life”, which was fostered by group truth-telling sessions know as the Synanon Game. As the organization grew, it established itself as the Church of Synanon in the 70’s, but ultimately disbanded in the late 1980’s due to allega-tions of money laundering, tax evasion, harassment, and, of course, no honest cult could go without a few murder charges; however, before the movement was completely dismantled, Dederich found a partial government buy-in during the Reagan era’s “Just Say No” campaign, and support was continued during the first Bush administration. Reagan supported both the Straight Incorporated and The Seed programs, both endorsing ‘tough love’ approaches to substance abuse rehabilitation, which had direct ties to the Synanon movement. Eventually this would dovetail into governmental programs that were using controversial behavioral modification tactics based directly on the Synanon model. But as the Synanon organization began to fall apart in the late 1980’s, it quickly became apparent that it would be in the government’s best interest to cut any ties associated with Synanon, and all funding was eventually rerouted. The story behind the Synanon movement is a movie in and of itself, and how it became intertwined with governmental policy is both bizarre and fascinating. What is of paramount interest, however, is how all of these events intersected with one teen who later described these life-altering experiences as an intriguing pdescribed these life-altering experiences as an intriguing process of acclimating to a foreign world upon exiting such a harsh, ill-fated program. What is of even greater significance is that the “psychic murder” that Lewis underwent did not take hold. The very fact that he survived such an experience and came out of the other side stronger is a true testament of the human will, as well as the importance and strength of the creative spirit.

When asked how he will combine this autobiographical experience into a work of art, he remains unsure of exactly what it will be, but his studio research is in full swing. He is open to the possibilities of a short film, documentary, site-specific installation, sound piece, or photography.

phillip andrew lewis

Until then, Phillip insists he is going “radio silent” after April to fully commit himself to this project and see it to fruition, investing whole-heartedly into good old-fashioned research and development. As there are only a few records that remain of this program, Lewis is starting from scratch to retrace not only the origins of the organization, but his own footsteps during the time that his path intersected with the Synanon movement.

After this project is completed, Lewis insists that he will not be resting on his laurels, as this endeavor only raises the bar of what is expected from him. Poised for a long-lasting career in the visual field, he is incapable of slowing down. When asked what advice he would give in the visual field, he is incapable of slowing down. When asked what advice he would give to an artist, his reply was immediate and succinct: “Don’t base your work or success off of your accolades. You need to be inspired. You need to be energized. Make the art you want to make.”

For more information on Phillip Andrew Lewis, visit his website at www.phillipandrewlewis.com.

in the art biz.

workspaces.the Bridge vol.2 2012

Studio of Jake KelleyChattanooga Artist, teacher and AVA Member

One of my favorite mantras related to the act of creation is this: “When you enter the studio, you bring with you all of the people, voices and thoughts of the day. After you work for a while, those voices start to drop away until eventually, you are by yourself. Now, if you are really lucky, even you leave the room, and then there is only the act itself.” This “emptiness” is the Zen state that I strive for when I am working in my studio. My garage is my temple. for when I am working in my studio. My garage is my temple.