Island Arts Council’s Whidbey Telecom grants give local artists a needed boost

Published 12:00 pm Saturday, January 28, 2006

With each brush stroke, Joyce May was channeling Renaissance artists of the past. As she sat in a classroom at the Seattle Academy of Fine Art earlier this month she knew the experience would last a lifetime.

She was one of only 11 students accepted for a six-day workshop that had the students painting seven hours each day.

“It exhausted everyone because it’s such an intense process,” May said.

Their teacher was British painter Geoffrey Laurence, who is known for his expressive paintings of the human condition.

“He’s one of the few artists who still paints in the Renaissance tradition and he only visits the area every couple of years to teach workshops, if that,” May said.

Laurence is one of the leading modern painters working with the gris technique, the name given to the Renaissance painting method that uses layers of glazes to bring out light and shadow.

It was during those six workshop days that May tuned in to Renaissance artists of the past, learning a painting technique that when placed on canvas surpasses the test of time.

“You look at work by many of the Renaissance artists and it is still there on the canvas, just as they created it,” she said.

The students learned every painstaking step of the process, albeit with a little adjustment.

“The method we learned was quite different, almost a synthetic process since we had to use dryers to speed things up for the workshop. Back then paintings would take them months, if not years to complete.”

May has been a full-time artist since moving to Whidbey in 1996. She now focuses her work in oils, dabbles in printing and is formerly a pastel artist.

“Oh, and I love to draw,” May said.

The workshop helped her add a new skill to the repertoire of this artist who has a passion for painting portraits.

“I love faces, and I often like to create work that tells a story, like Laurence does,” she said.

May’s once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was made possible through the Island Arts Council’s Whidbey Telecom grants for established artists. May was one of two recipients — along with Coupeville photographer Sally Slotterback — when the grants debuted last year. And the Island Arts Council wants to spread the word of the grants so that more artists, such as May, can use the grants to open doors of opportunity of their own.

The number of grants to be awarded each year will vary depending on the funds available. But, the number remains steady with two grants of $500 each that will be awarded in May.

Funds for the grants are generated through the annual Island Arts Council sponsored Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour and are distributed by IAC’s Visual Arts Committee.

“As the studio tour continues to grow we are continuing to look at how we can use that success to give back into the artists community,” said Arts Council member Mark Fessler.

To be eligible, artists must produce original work, live on Whidbey Island and not use the funds for work that accrues academic credit. Applying artists have to show a dedicated need for the grant and how it relates to an ongoing or ensuing work. This can include costs for research, documentation, equipment or materials, workshops and classes or studio upgrades — but a specific project must be the focus.

“So many artists have projects where a small influx of cash can make the difference and give them the opportunity for success they wouldn’t have otherwise,” Fessler said.

Fessler said that 13 artists applied last year, representing widely varied geographical area of Whidbey and visual arts medias.

The Whidbey Telecom grants awarded by its Visual Arts Committee fall in line with a few of Island Arts Council’s lead mission points:

• To act as a catalyst for artistic growth and a resource to support and encourage the artistic community, its artists and its patrons.

• To further art education, including community arts activities and a partnership with school-based arts programs.

• To foster multicultural artistic endeavors.

The Arts Council’s Visual Arts Committee additionally gives $1000 visual arts scholarships to graduating high school seniors, with the number distributed depending on funds available. The Island Arts Council itself also gives two $1000 scholarships annually for general arts students. The Arts Council also hopes to expand its grants program in the future to include programs such as craftsman emergency funds, Fessler said.

Skip Smith, chairman of IAC’s Open Studio/Visual Arts Committee and others with the Arts Council are strong advocates of supporting artists — could be that many of them are artists themselves.

Smith said that established artists need to have grants available to them such as the Whidbey Telecom grants as seed money to keep projects going. For the students, the scholarships are an opportunity to encourage them to keep going in the arts and pursue the arts in their future.

Fessler said that supporting artists and the arts is not just a bonus for the artists themselves but also the communities in which they live.

“Many times not only visual surroundings are enriched, but the local economies receive a boost,” Fessler said.

No matter what the reasoning behind it, artists such as Joyce May couldn’t be more happy about the grants opportunity.

“I really felt privileged and validated to have the opportunity I did with my grant,” she said. “I really felt like I had to do my best each day in class and give it my all because I felt supported.”