Who Does She Think She Is?

This looks like a great film about the challenges of women in the world of art.  Check out the film’s website here.

F-Stops & Shutter Speeds

When I’m not working on my photography, chances are good that I’m teaching. This is the whiteboard on a recent day in my Photo 101 class at The New England Institute of Art.

Last Gasps of Summer: Arbor at Michael Mazzeo Gallery

Nights are getting chilly here in New England which surely means summer will come to an abrupt end any day now.  There is still time, however, to check out a fantastic online summer exhibition at Michael Mazzeo Gallery called RSVP: Arbor.  This is Michael’s first in a series of online-only exhibitions and I’m delighted to be a part.

Jill Medvedow: Art, Women, and Power

Jill Medvedow, director of the ICA Boston, discusses women artists and trends in the contemporary art world. Are women artists gaining power?

I found this video on the WGBH website recently and it resonated with my experience as a female artist.  Although the talk was several years ago, it still feels very relevant to me today.  Click below to watch the lecture.

via Jill Medvedow: Art, Women, and Power.

Featured in Fraction Magazine

Check out the latest issue of Fraction Magazine where my photographs are featured along with Katrina d’ Autremont, John Paul Caponigro, Kerry Mansfield, Kevin Miyazaki, Susana Raab, and Ken Rosenthal.

Artadia Awardee

Civilian Joshua Osborne playing the role of an Iraqi civilian, Wadi Al-Sahara, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, CA, 2008

I am very happy to report that I am among the seven recipients of the Boston Artadia Award, along with Ambreen Butt, Caleb Cole, Raul Gonzalez, Eric Gottesman, Amie Siegel and Joe Zane.  I’d like to thank the participating curators as well and the staff of Artadia, especially Lila Kanner and Ute Zimmermann, whom I got to know through the studio visit process, and also the LEF Foundation.  Receiving this award means so much to me, not the least of which is that I will be able to continue with my very expensive studio practice!

From the Artadia press release:

New York, NY—Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue is delighted to announce the Artadia Awards2009 Boston. For three consecutive days (July 29-Aug 1, 2009), three internationally prominent jurors— Peter Eleey (Visual Arts Curator, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis), Rita Gonzalez (Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art), and Randi Hopkins (Associate Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston)—conducted studio visits with 15 short-listed artists drawn from nearly 600 applicants in the metro Boston area. This is Artadia’s second cycle in Boston following the inaugural awards cycle in 2007.

Artadia Founder and Board President Christopher E. Vroom commented: “The vibrancy of Boston’s cultural community is reflected in the outstanding caliber of artistic production evidenced by the seven Artadia Award recipients. We are proud to support artists and the process of art-making both here and around the country. Artists, in their capacity as creative producers, educators, civic leaders, and mentors, truly represent a foundation upon which our creative legacy will rest. We are indebted to them and they must be supported, particularly during times of economic turmoil.”

“Boston is home to so many gifted visual artists,” said Thomas M. Menino, Mayor of Boston. “I wish to congratulate the awardees on their achievement and thank Artadia for highlighting our vibrant arts community.”

Artadia Finalist

I am honored to be a finalist for the Artadia Award. Read below for an excerpt from the Artadia press release, or learn more on the organization’s website here.

“New York, NY—The exceptional range of artists living and working in Boston was evident as three internationally prominent jurors selected the 15 Finalists for the second cycle of Artadia Awards 2009 Boston. Jurors Sanford Biggers (artist, New York), Dan Cameron (Founding Director, Chief Curator, Prospect New Orleans), and Randi Hopkins (Associate Curator, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston) named the finalists out of the nearly 600 applications received for the second cycle of Artadia Awards in Boston.

The 15 Finalists for the Artadia Awards 2009 Boston are: Claire Beckett, Cree Bruins, Ambreen Butt, Laura Chasman, Caleb Cole, Margo Cooper, Raul Gonzalez, Eric Gottesman, Wendy Jacob, Erik Levine, Steph Plourde-Simard, Nick Rodrigues, Amie Siegel, Suara Welitoff, and Joe Zane.”

Review Santa Fe & Review Albuquerque?

I recently had the good fortune to attend Review Santa Fe, a great photo-world meeting and sharing event that is hosted annually by Center.  I met many amazing photographs at Review Santa Fe, and I encourage you to check out their work here.  I was also delighted to reconnect with old friends and colleagues including my Kenyon College classmate Sonja Thomsen (we used to work in the darkroom together back in the day!),  my former colleague at UConn Janet Pritchard, and fellow Mass Art alums Billie Mandle and Stefanie Motta.

Among the many wonderful reviews I had while at Review Santa Fe, perhaps the most memorable was the final one, due to its unusual circumstances!  I met Michael Mazzeo of Michael Mazzeo Gallery as I was checking out of the hotel on my final morning in Santa Fe.  Michael ended up riding with me back to the Albuquerque airport where I proceed to be delayed for 8 hours due to bad weather. On the up side, with all that extra time I had a chance to share my pictures with Michael.

Michael Mazzeo of Michael Mazzeo Gallery reviews my pictures in the ABQ airport

Blanche E. Colman Award

With the Marine Corps

I’m delighted to be a recipient of the 2009 Blanche E. Colman Award!

The Blanche E. Colman Award has been awarded yearly since 1959, and was established under the terms of the will of Blanche E. Colman, a former art instructor at Boston University.  According to the Colman Foundation: “Grants are made each year to New England artists who have completed their formal education, have exhibited considerable talent in the area of painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, mixed media and photography and exhibit financial need.”

Oh Zimbabwe!

At home with some of the girls in better times

As many readers of this post will know, a piece in my heart resides in Zimbabwe. Not just any part of Zimbabwe, mind you, but in the home of a special family in the Harare neighborhood of Cranborne. The family will remain nameless here because times are very difficult in their country and any mention could bring unnecessary attention and trouble upon them. Instead of using their actual name, I will call them the Mwoyo family.

I got to know the Mwoyos when I lived with them as a foreign exchange student during college, and subsequently visited them a few years later. At that time, both parents had professional middle-class jobs and their 5 daughters were all in school. The oldest daughter was just about 2 years younger than me, so I fit right into the family.

While my American classmates spent their evening out on the town I spent my time hanging out with the girls. We did homework, we ate dinner together and we watched TV. On the weekends when Amai (Mom) and Baba (Dad) were out we girls had dance parties in the living room. The girls taught me to make popcorn in a pot on the stove (at home in the US I only knew the air-popped and microwaved varieties), and how to make sadza, the starchy national dish of Zimbabwe. I introduced the girls to the idea of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and amongst all our chatter I ended up unintentionally teaching the youngest to speak English with some strange American slang. Back in the US I was an only child, so discovering a home full of sisters meant so much. In short, during out time together, the Mwoyo family became very dear to me.

Zimbabwe was once full of optimism, with good infrastructure, schools, medical care, employment opportunities and a food surplus. Today Zimbabweans face a breakdown of their political process, a rapid and frightening devaluation of their currency, widespread starvation, and a cholera epidemic.

Now it has been about eight years since I last visited Zimbabwe. In this time the Mwoyo family has faired as well as one might imagine given the circumstances. Sadly, Baba passed away last year. Amai still works to support her family, although the economic crisis makes survival difficult. The older girls have finished school and they are married and have children of their own now. The youngest two Mwoyo girls are still trying to complete their high school educations. Recently I learned that the girls were sent home from school because the family cannot afford to pay their school fees. The girls will not be allowed to go back to school until their school fees are paid in full. This is a critical year for the older of the two girls because she is supposed to sit her A-level examinations, without which she cannot graduate high school. This girl is heart- breakingly bright, and was very accomplished in school already at the age of 7 when I met her. Last year she passed her O-Level exams with straight 10s (like getting straight A’s in AP classes in the US).

In the next few weeks I will be raising funds to send to the Mwoyo family in order to get the girls back in school. If you would like to join me in this effort, please consider sending a donation. Even a donation of $5 would be a great help.

To make a donation, you may click on the donate button below to contribute via Paypal. If you prefer to send a check, please contact me by email at info@clairebeckett.com.

To learn more about the situation in Zimbabwe, check out the BBC Zimbabwe page here.