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"Every city offers its own unique experience, and I expect that Lawrence will be the same." Meet the two artists in residency at the Lawrence Arts Center
"Accumulation" is a piece by Lawrence Arts Center artist-in-residence Christy Witmer. Whitmer, 41, is from Mansfield, Ohio, and specializes in sculpting and ceramics.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
RYAN WRIGHT
@ryanwaynewright
This August, the Lawrence Arts Center welcomed Christy Whitmer and Amanda Macuiba to its year-long residency program.
Whitmer, 41, is from Mansfield, Ohio, and specializes in sculpting and ceramics. She said she has always been a creative person and decided to pursue art as a career when she took a ceramics class in high school.
"When I started taking ceramics I felt right at home," Whitmer said. "I experiment and observe, and I thought being in ceramics legitimized that as an artistic experience."
"I had to stop, for a year and a half, making anything with clay. I was able to get back into it gradually but I don't have the strength that I once had." Whitmer said. "I guess as I age, I'm concerned about my strength."
During her career, Whitmer developed an inflammatory joint disorder in one of her wrists, which made it difficult for her to continue.
After recovering from her injury, Whitmer returned to ceramics and earned her master's degree at the University of Cincinnati. While there, she met Katie Parker, one of Whitmer's professors who she identifies as one of her biggest role models.
"She takes advantage of every
opportunity," Whitmer said. "She has come to her success because she is just constantly making work and helping other people make their work. She just says yes to everything."
Before coming to Lawrence, Whitmer did residencies in cities across the world including Berlin and Jingdezhen, China. She said each city had nuances that made it interesting to create her art.
A lot of Whitmer's work comes from experimentation, she said. She likes to take several different materials and create sculptures that are delicately balanced between
"Every city offers its own unique experience, and I expect that Lawrence will be the same." Whitmer said.
handmade and manufactured materials.
Amanda Macuiba, a printmaker from Buffalo, N.Y., also joined the Lawrence Arts Center. Like Whitmer, she became interested in art as a child, which turned from a hobby to a deeper interest that eventually led her to pursue it as a career.
She's currently working on a collaborative piece with fellow artist Julia Sebastian, based on things they found during their time in China. After that, she plans to begin working on a new installation.
Macuia, 28, earned her bachelor's degree in visual studies from the University of Buffalo in 2009 and her master's degree in printmaking
"You begin to see how we make these unsustainable decisions to the environment and it became really apparent when I moved to the Midwest," Macuiba said. "Climate change is huge in my work, especially how we ignore it."
from the University of Iowa in 2015.
A lot of Macuiba's work revolves around the environment and how the audience interacts with it. Her interest in the environment was spurred when she moved from the urban sprawl of New York to the prairies of the Midwest.
Macuiba's work is also inspired by her experiences. Right now she doesn't have a specific project she's working on, she said. She's researching
Lawrence and the surrounding area for inspiration for pieces that she'll create at the arts center.
"My work is a direct response to the things that I experience," Macuila said. "The actual artwork is not about my personal life but making them interesting to a wider audience."
Both artists' work will be displayed at the Lawrence Arts Center throughout their residencies, which began Aug. 1 and will end on July 31. The artists will also share their professional experiences with Lawrence Art Center students and local artists.
- Edited by Leah Sitz
Rogers: The 2015 'song of summer' wasn't a song - it was an artist
JARRET ROGERS
@jarretrogers
The arrival of the school year means the informal end of summer. There are a few more weeks to quench your thirst for UV rays, but hey, you'll probably be in the library.
Accompanying the end of the season on the thermometer is the end of the summer jam season on the radio waves. If you're anything like me, the end of the summer jam season is comparable to going back to school. The new experiences will be great, but letting go of the past three months will be more arduous than expected.
As an optimist, it's hard to see the fall being a letdown in what has been the best year in music since 2010. Releases from Kurt Vile, CHVRCHES and Neon Indian are just a few reasons to look forward to the next few months.
Now, we have to answer the most pressing question: What has been the song of the summer? Since 2012 — when Carly Rae Jepsen dominated with "Call Me Maybe" — the summer soundtracks have been relatively weak. If we could have just listened to Daft Punk and Pharrrell in 2013 and left Iggy Azaela off the mic in 2014, things might have been
CINDY ORD/AP PHOTO
Recording artist Fetty Wap on June 3
in New York City.
different, but instead we had two humdrum summers leaving the door open for 2015 to be the best in recent times.
As classes kick off, it comes down to which song comes to mind thinking about the music scene between June and August. It doesn't matter what the "best" was or which song had the most complex rhythm; what matters is if it had the energy to get you singing and dancing.
Songs that might usually have been something to turn away from (I'm looking at you, "Cheerleader") have charm that songs in 2013 and 2014 were missing. This was such a welcome surprise because as ubiquitous as the big hits can be, hearing the same song that makes you think of nails on a chalkboard takes away from the energy that summer should have.
The best song of the summer, one 1 rushed to time and time again, was the Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face." The 25-year-old Canadian singer blasts lyrics of drugs and sex — staying true to his script — but, rather than feeling like a song that's better after experiencing at least one of his favorite topics, producer Max Martin turns the song into a pop hit that feels like it could have worked in 1985 or in 2015.
The lesser-known music of 2015 was some of the best in years, as well. Vince Staples' hauntingly real "Summertime '06" demands to be closely listened to. The songs are filled with stories of a childhood growing up in Long Beach, Calif. Vince aggressively rhymes on beats that cover wide ranges of pace and sound while being quick and concise with his words. Staples doesn't waste his listeners' time.
So we've talked songs that charm, the best song and something you may have missed. But we still don't have our song of the summer. And, at this point, I can be honest with you: There is no song of the summer. There is an artist of the summer.
This year will forever be the summer of Fetty Wap. With "My Way," "Trap Queen" and, most recently, "Again" and "679," Fetty brings everything to the table. He has the charisma you want, makes great music and came out of nowhere. Now he has graced the same stage as Taylor Swift—the most 2015 thing of 2015.
Fetty's collection will live past the end of summer. When the snow falls down in February, "Trap Queen" will come on and, for a moment, numb tues from walking up a snow-covered hill will be irrelevant.
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