Jane Fulton Alt: The Burn

 

Jane Fulton Alt, Burn 55

Award-winning Fine Art Photographer, Jane Fulton Alt will discuss her recently published book, The Burn, at the Book Release Party hosted by the DePaul Art Museum, on Thursday, November 7th from 6-8pm. The work captures the beauty and violence of controlled prairie burns. The photographs are a mystical journey into the place between life, death and rebirth. Fulton Alt explains:

While observing controlled prairie burns, I was drawn to the ephemeral quality of the moment when life and death are not contradictory but are perceived as a single process to be embraced as a whole.

The beginning of this project coincided with my sister’s diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer, more than four years ago. The parallels between the burn and chemotherapy were immediately revealed to me. Just as the burning reduces invasive vegetation that crowds out native plants, chemotherapy destroys unwanted growth, allowing for new healthy cells to establish themselves. These images were created and inspired with this deeper awareness and understanding of the life cycle.

The Burn, book release party will take place on Thursday, November 7th from 6-8pm—Fulton Alt will speak at 7pm—at the DePaul Art Museum located at 935 W. Fullerton Avenue, Chicago. Admission is complimentary. This event is presented in cooperation with The Ragdale Foundation and the DePaul Art Museum.

Jane Fulton Alt, a Chicago native, received her BA from the University of Michigan and MA from the University of Chicago. She studied art at the Evanston Art Center, Columbia College and the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, New Orleans Museum of Art, De Paul University Art Museum, Southwest Museum of Photography, Beinecke Library at Yale University, Centro Fotografico Alvarez Bravo in Oaxaca, Mexico, Center for Photography at Woodstock, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, and the collection of William Hunt. Alt is the recipient of the 2007 Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award, the 2007-2009, 2011 Ragdale Foundation Fellowships and winner of Critical Mass for her Katrina and Burn portfolios in 2007, 2009 and 2011. She has authored Look and Leave: Photographs and Stories of New Orleans’s Lower Ninth Ward and her Crude Awakening portfolio was been picked up by multiple publications worldwide. Most recently she received the Photo District News 2011 Curators Choice Award. Jane Fulton Alt is represented by the Corden Potts Gallery in San Francisco.

Maggie Meiners, Winner of the Ragdale Prize

Maggie Meiners has been selected to receive the Ragdale Prize from her participation in the "From Nature" exhibition at Gallery 180 of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago. The winner was selected by a committee of Ragdale Administrators who attended the opening reception to review the work. Meiners' subtle high-key composition, titled "Snow Abstract", got the committee's attention. Meiners will receive a two-week residency at Ragdale, where she will have the time and space to work on a project of her choosing. I look forward to the opportunity of reviewing the work she creates. Additional work by Meiners can be found on her web site: maggiemeiners.com. Take a moment to look through her work. There are some wonderful images.

A little background on Ragdale... from the Ragdale website:

At Ragdale we believe that time and space are not luxuries but necessary elements for creating important new work. Ragdale provides these necessities to artists in the form of two- to eight-week residencies. Add eleven other creative individuals to the mix, acres of idyllic prairie, a family-style dinner each night, and you have Ragdale.

Residency Experience
Ragdale artists come from all over the country and around the world to create, write, experiment, research, plan, compose, rejuvenate, brainstorm, and work. Residents' uninterrupted time at Ragdale is their own. In this community of unique individuals, Ragdale also offers the possibilities of dialogue and connections with other artists.

Location
Located at the historic summer home of Arts and Crafts architect Howard Van Doren Shaw, Ragdale exists in a peaceful setting adjacent to over 50 acres of prairie. Residents reside in live/work spaces in the Ragdale House, Barnhouse and Friends' studios. Ragdale is located one mile from downtown Lake Forest, and just 30 miles (only one hour by train) from downtown Chicago.

Additional information on the Ragdale Residency Program can be found at: ragdale.org

Benefiting Ragdale...

The Friday night reception for the "From Nature" exhibition at Gallery 180 was a wonderful event. Many of the exhibiting artists were in attendance. And—as always—the Culinary School of The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago, catered the event with amazing food and friendly service.

The exhibition was produced to help call national attention to the Ragdale Foundation and to raise money to support the Ragdale residency program. A little background from their web site... "Ragdale artists come from all over the country and around the world to create, write, experiment, research, plan, compose, rejuvenate, brainstorm, and work. Residents' uninterrupted time at Ragdale is their own. In this community of unique individuals, Ragdale also offers the possibilities of dialogue and connections with other artists."

Commissions from the sale of all work presented in the "From Nature" exhibition will be donated to the Ragedale Foundation. The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago is committed to supporting the arts as well as to supporting Ragdale by purchasing at least one of the exhibited pieces for inclusion into the school's permanent collection. Many of the works are still available. Please take a moment to review the work on line at gallery180.com


I attended another Ragdale benefit this rainy Sunday afternoon. The event was held on the fifty-acre grounds of the Lake Forest compound. I had visited a time or two before but I never had the opportunity to explore the surroundings. The environment is peaceful and spectacular... even in the rain. It's obvious why this space would be a wonderful place to create.


The main house