Social | July 19 #ArtistHotline Guest Chat: Creative Materials

This month’s Guest Chat is all about finding innovative solutions to material needs.

On July 19, 2017, #ArtistHotline, the monthly Artist Professional Development Day, returns to Twitter from 9:30 AM – 5:30 PM EST.  As part of this month’s all-day Twitter chat, we’ll host a “Creative Materials” Guest Chat with Jennifer Collier, an artist specializing in upcycled materials, John Cloud Kaiser, Director of Education for Materials for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and Alex Sarian, cultural strategist and educator, from 1:00 – 3:00 PM EST.

In May 2017, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) reported that 40% of artists in New York City were often unable to afford their own art supplies. Many artists, nationally and internationally, have experienced this same financial strain around being unable to afford the supplies they need to make work.

During this #ArtistHotline Guest Chat, our three panelists and members of our online community will brainstorm possible solutions and workarounds for common challenges. We’ll discuss how to make the most of your arts supplies, and innovative ways to use and gain access to free or affordable supplies. 

Teaching artists, filmmakers, and visual, multimedia, and performing artists and arts professionals: the “Creative Materials” Guest Chat will be the perfect time to band together to share resources as you get your questions answered.

Guest Chat Bios

Jennifer Collier has led the way in the upcycling revolution in art and craft, and is a veteran maker of vintage material, investigating the re-used and recycled since 1999. “Giving new life to things that would otherwise go unloved or be thrown away,” is central to her practice. She transforms paper from books, maps, envelopes, wallpaper, or scrap into textural forms, using stitching to construct two or three dimensional objects like cloth, a contemporary twist on traditional textiles.

Collier completed a BA (Hons) in Textiles (Print, Knit & Weave) in 1999 at Manchester Metropolitan University, and has since evolved into working exclusively with paper. Her work has been featured in over 75 publications including Vogue, Elle Decoration, and Marie Claire. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, and has sold work through stockists such as the V&A, Liberty, and The Museum of Art & Design, in New York. In 2016, Jennifer was named Craft&Design Magazine Maker of the Year. Collier is the founder and director of Unit Twelve, a contemporary craft workshop and exhibition space in Staffordshire, England.

Find Collier tweeting @paperjennifer.

John Cloud Kaiser’s work focuses on giving people a creative participatory experience with an art piece. Through his position as Education Director at Materials For The Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and his work with his art group Free Style Arts Association, he has been making participation-based art in the museums, streets, and schools of New York City since 2000, appearing everywhere from The Queens Museum, to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, to The New York Times. 

Kaiser graduated from New York University with an MA in Art Education and has worked as a teaching artist and curator since 2003, organizing hundreds of Contemporary Art projects at New York and New Jersey public schools. He advocates that the reusable free materials around us make art possible for everyone. He teaches art teachers through professional development programs, advises schools, and lectures on his education approaches at conferences.

Find Kaiser tweeting @mftanyc.

Alex Sarian is internationally recognized for his work in the arts, having worked with cultural organizations and government agencies across the United States, Argentina, Chile, China, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea. Currently a senior cultural strategist at the firm LaPlaca Cohen, Alex leads consulting engagements across the country in the areas of cultural strategy, innovation, and management. Before joining LaPlaca Cohen, Alex held several leadership positions at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, including Director of the Lincoln Center Cultural Innovation Fund, Director of Lincoln Center International, and Director of Business Development and Operations of Lincoln Center Education. Prior to Lincoln Center, he served as Director of Education and Outreach at the off-Broadway company MCC Theater. Alex has served as an arts education advisor to Americans for the Arts since 2011, and has designed and taught courses on arts education, community engagement, and business management at New York University, Pace University, and City College of New York.

Find Sarian tweeting @alexsarian.

Inspired by the NYFA Source Hotline, #ArtistHotline is an initiative dedicated to creating an ongoing online conversation around the professional side of artistic practice. #ArtistHotline occurs on the third Wednesday of each month on Twitter. Our goal is to help artists discover the resources needed, online and off, to develop sustainable careers.

This initiative is supported by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

Images, from top: Melissa Thorne (Fellow in Painting ‘15), Screen Study, acrylic ink on existing cement wall, 2014; courtesy of Jennifer Collier, John Cloud Kaiser, and Alex Sarian