RESIDENT ARTIST: LENKA NOVAKOVA
Lenka Novakova was born in the Czech Republic, received her undergraduate degree from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia and MFA from the Concordia University in Montreal. Her practice is concerned with an ephemeral poetic quality a moment of recreation and reflective thought through constructed environments, simple technologies and moving light; with crossover in cinema and theatre technologies.
Within this foundation she explores qualities of space, architectural environments and installation by means of moving light. She has been recipient of numerous fellowships, awards and has an active exhibition record in Canada and abroad. Recent fellowships included Coring Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, Urban Glass, Brooklyn, New York, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont or La Chambre Blanche in Quebec. Recent solo exhibitions included Cambridge Public Art Gallery, Grimsby Public Art Gallery, Fofa Gallery and others. Further, selected awards included Anne Fish Award in fibres, Campaign for Concordia Graduate Award, Campaign for New Milllenium Graduate Scholarship and Gley Sperling Award.
To see more of Lenka’s work, please visit www.lenkanovak.com
STUDENT ARTIST:
Name: Christopher Byers
Age:23
Home: Danville, Ohio
School: The Ohio State University
Major: Bachelors of Fine Art- Art and Technology program
Christopher is interested in creating different environments for various anatomic forms of the human body using three-dimensional models, animation, video, and photography. He finds this intriguing because he feels we often don’t think about our inner structure in terms of concept. The idea that one-day we will all perish is something that Christopher thinks about often in his work, and in order to come to terms with certain aspects of death, Christopher believes we must appreciate our inner workings as they relate to our creation. To make such aspects of his work come to life, Christopher often relate his ideas to mediums of technology. Recently, an animation piece titled "Diagnostic Space" created by Christopher was showcased in a film series titled "Ohio Shorts" at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio.
YOUTH PARTICIPANTS:
Name: Azrien Issac
Age: 14
Home: Trotwood, Ohio
School: Stivers School for the Arts
Azrien enjoys working with light graffiti and constructing things with Legos.
“Ive had many great comments about my work. Some have even wanted me to sell them photos of my work.”
Name: Prentiss Haney
Age: 17
Home: Dayton, Ohio
School: Wright State University
Prentiss enjoys writing and making videos. Prentiss thrives in his abilities as a filmmaker. Current work includes Best PSA @ Sundog (Dayton Summer Arts), Best Experimental @ Sundog Film Festival 2009 (Life Stepped In P.2), and 2nd place in Ohio’s short Film and Video Showcase (Life Stepped In P.2).
Name: Kyla Estelle
Age: 13
Home: Dayton, Ohio
School: Trotwood Madison High School
Kyla enjoys cheerleading, tumbling, and Dancing. Kyla is an aspiring Photographer. Currently her work has focused on capturing family gatherings through photographs.
Name: Alexandra Morris
Age: 17
Home: Dayton, Ohio
School: Oakwood High School
Alexandra likes to act, sing, dance, read, write poetry, and go on shopping sprees. She finds her medium in theatre and drama as well as creative writing. So far Alexandra has participated in plays and musicals at her high school and has written several interesting poems.
Name: Desiree McDermott
Age: 15
Home: West Carrollton, Ohio
School: West Carrollton High School
Desiree likes to paint, draw, and sculpt. She is also an active performer who indulges her talents in Silent Dramas. In the past, Desiree has participated in speech contests where she has won competitions district wide.
Name: Kelly Sharp
Age: 16
Home: Franklin Township, Ohio
School: Stivers School for the Arts
Kelly is an avid reader and music buff. This fuels her passion for creative writing and theatre. So far Kelly has won several speech contests and poetry contests. She has also acted in multiple school plays and at local festivals. Most recently she performed at the 2010 Cityfolk Festival in Dayton, Ohio.
Name: Ray Graetz
Age: 17
Home: Dayton, Ohio
School: The Miami Valley School
Ray is strategic individual who enjoys Chess and debate. He is also an artist who enjoys sculpting time through paint, writing, and 3D displays. Ray has had work in a congressional art show as well as his school. Work that he has been apart of now hangs in an airport.
Name: Erin Cox
Age: 16
Home: Originally from North Carolina, Erin now lives in Dayton, Ohio
School: Oakwood Senior High School
Erin enjoys reading, drawing, and playing with her cats. As an artist, Erin finds the good old #2 her weapon of choice though she also loves working in charcoal and digital mediums.
Name: Sierra Blumenthal
Age: 15
Home: Dayton, Ohio
School: Stivers School for the Arts
Sierra is a writer and a sculptor. Specifically, she enjoys creative writing and bronze casting.
Our creative group is interested in:
SPACES: we think and work in various spaces are interested in ways in which they are occupied and ways in which these spaces can be transform. We dream of transformations and work on converting the dream into an illusion.
THEATER AND CINEMA: we are interested in the idea of theater and ask how we can expand this idea. In other words what is the idea of theater and can we insert the idea of theater in the spaces which we approach? How does this transforms not only the space but also this idea of theater?
In my group I introduce a graduate level research to teen aged teem of artists and put both sides myself and my team through this challenge purposely and ask what we can learn from this journey. So far my team proves absolutely brilliant and points me to directions I would have never imagined. I hope this works both ways!
