SHEARWATER FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES HOLOGRAPHY GRANTS FOR 2003
FT. Lauderdale, Florida, December 31st, 2003 - - The Shearwater Foundation announced today that its Board of Directors has awarded $123,500.00 in grants through its Holography Program this year. The Shearwater Foundation provides funding to groups, institutions and associations that contribute to the understanding and appreciation of art holography world-wide.
The Shearwater Foundation Holography Award was given to three artists in recognition of their outstanding activities in the field of creative holography. They have demonstrated a clear understanding of the aesthetic and technical qualities of the medium and developed an individual body of work which extends beyond the optical and physical qualities of the holographic process. Each artist received a personal award of $10,000.00. They were:
Pearl John, UK
Waldemar Mattis-Teusch, Romania
Martin Richardson, UK
This award cannot be directly applied for and is given based on nominations of excellence by an international group of advisors (which is newly appointed each year the award is made). All other grants were applied for based on the Foundation’s guidelines, and are listed below.
Benton Vision, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, received a grant of $5,000.00 towards the costs associated with organising the meeting, which took place in November this year, to honour Dr. Stephen Benton, at the MIT Media Laboratory. This special meeting brought together a diverse group of science and art professionals, academics, students, friends and family to recognise the enormous impact, on an international scale, Stephen Benton had made through his research and teaching. Everyone at the Shearwater Foundation would like to express their deep sadness at the death of Stephen Benton. He touched the lives and work of so many different people around the world and will be greatly missed.
Practical Holography XVIII/SPIE, Electronic Imaging ‘04, Symposium, San Jose, California, USA, received a grant of $11,000.00 to support artists who wish to attend the practical holography sessions of the conference. Chaired by Professor Tung Jeong, this meeting will include several art/creative papers from an international submission. With this grant, and support from SPIE, artists will have an opportunity to interact with science and research professionals, as well as display their own creative use of the holographic process. A special tribute evening is to be included in the meeting for Dr. Stephen Benton, and the published proceedings will be dedicated to him.
The Royal Photographic Society Holography Group, London, UK, received $10,000.00 as part of a two-year grant to support their international art and design conference which will be held in the UK during 2004. This will build on the very successful conference organised by the group in 2002 and aims to invite and support a larger international group of artists and practitioners.
The Glass Studio at the Sonoran Art Foundation, Tucson, Arizona, USA, received a grant of $3,500.00 towards the cost of organising a week-long, hands-on, workshop which will introduce practical holography to glass artists. This will be taught by Ana MacArthur and August Muth, both accomplished artists in their own right, and take place in 2004 at the Sonoran Art Foundation’s glass studio in Arizona.
The New Media Program, St Mary’s College, Indiana, USA, received a grant of $500.00 towards the cost of distributing the “Leading Lights: Women in Holography” catalogue to a wider international audience. This publication documents the exhibition, organised and curated by Professor Douglas E. Tyler, which was held at St. Mary’s College during February 2003.
Holographic Networks, Berlin, Germany, received a grant of $2,500.00 to purchase and distribute copies of the book produced to document the Holographic Networks symposium and exhibition held in Berlin during 1996. Edited by Professor Dieter Jung, who also organised the symposium and exhibition, this German/English publication provides an insight into creative holography and the diverse individuals who work with it.
College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales/Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Paddington, Australia, received a grant of $3,000.00 towards the mounting of “Light from Shadow: The Legacy of Chiaroscuro in Spatial Imaging”, curated by Dr. Paula Dawson and Dr. John Gage which took place during October and November 2003. This exhibition included pieces from a selection of artists working with holography shown alongside more traditional works from Rembrandt, Goya, Tiepolo and Piranesi.
The Academy of Media Arts Cologne, Germany, received $12,500.00 as part of a two-year grant for its recently established Artist-in-Residence program within the holography department directed by professor Dieter Jung. This new program will allow a number of creative individuals, selected from around the world, to spend time within the Academy’s holography department so that they can carry out creative research.
The Center for the Holographic Arts, Long Island City, USA, received a maintaining grant of $40,000.00 towards the further development of its Artist-in-Residence program. Established in 1998 under the directorship of Ana Maria Nicholson and Dan Schweitzer, this program has offered artists the opportunity to produce a diversity of work using the Center’s pulsed laser laboratory. Many of these works have subsequently been displayed in group and solo exhibitions world-wide.
Fine Arts Center Galleries, University of Rhode Island, USA, received a grant of $5,500.00, as part of the Foundation’s Holography Purchase Project , to assist with the purchase of a holographic work by American artist Harriet Casdin-Silver. The unique hologram of Dorothy Taylor is taken from the “Celebration of Aging” series produced by Casdin-Silver which was shown in her solo exhibition at the Fine Art Center Galleries during 2001. The piece will initially be installed in the University’s Multicultural Center.
