“THE NEW NORMAL,” for Rockport, Texas Artists, in partnership with The Alice L. Walton Foundation and Tatagliano Foundation.
“Aiming to jumpstart the creative economy by helping Rockport artists get back to work while the galleries, shops, and museums that drive their careers remain closed, “THE NEW NORMAL” grant initiative is the first of its kind in the United States. The intention of this program is to foster healing, and begin to bring a community back together, through the connections we all make with each other during and after the creations of art.”
TAMU-CC MFA candidate Jamie Speck has been selected as one of the recipients of The New Normal Rockport grants!
As Jamie wrote in her proposal:
For this project I propose creating 16 miniature ink and encaustic landscape paintings with hand-stitching, on raw canvas. The miniatures will measure approximately 4 x 4 inches and will be hand sewn with black thread to white artist grade non-acid paper.
These images will represent my diverse memories of Rockport; albeit not perfect and abstracted, and even with some fragmentation (like the challenges we continue to face), but the landscapes are “repaired” with needle and thread. As an artist, the simple repetitive motions of each ritualistic and restorative stitch—the sutures for the wounds of life—continues to propel me forward when facing personal obstacles.
The needle and thread element in the paintings symbolize the mending that must be made to the place we call home, to discover and perpetuate community healing.
– Jamie Speck
http://www.jamiespeck.com