Visionary Awardee: John Rossi

John Rossi’s 30-Year Legacy of Luminosity at Ox-Bow

Looking back, my first memory of John Rossi is a fitting one. I initially met him during April of 2021 when I came to campus for a final round interview for what would become my first job at Ox-Bow. My encounter was brief. He stood atop a ladder in the old inn fixing an antique chandelier in place. He gave me a friendly hello, I returned it, and that was that. My first Rossi sighting.

Two years later, I’m walking around campus with John. It’s a cool sunny day in May. The sky shines blue, but only through a filtered haze of clouds. John wears, as he does most days, a plaid flannel. His hat, like most of his hats, is sun faded. I own the same one he does, a forest green in baseball style, but his has paled several shades from mine.

John Rossi, wearing a sun-faded baseball cap, tends to the canoe stand on campus alongside Nate Skiffington, Assistant Facilities Manager. Photo by Dominique Muñoz (Summer Fellow, 2024).

John has several titles here at Ox-Bow, from his official role as Facilities Manager to the cheeky title of Pricker Daddy. Today I’m here to learn why he’s earned one of his most infamous titles: The Light Wizard.

From the moment one walks onto campus there are lights to guide your way. If you arrive after dusk or before dawn, you’ll be greeted first by strings of pixie lights. In every room, you’ll find lamps intentionally selected and slightly altered to meet the aesthetics of our unique building environments. And of course, the tent under which Friday night dance parties take place has been adorned with the perfect mood lighting to fit the revolving party themes. 

John Rossi stands behind a work bench in The Rob (the campus’s maintenance building). Photo by Dominique Muñoz (Summer Fellow, 2024).

John isn’t alone in his adoration of lighting on campus. He notes that what originally drew impressionist painters was the natural light of the area. “It reminded them of France,” he said. For this reason, he’s partial to using warm lighting in the cabins and on exterior buildings. Daylight bulbs he finds too disruptive in how it attempts to imitate the sun. “For most of history, artificial light was warm,” he said, noting how its hue mimicked hearths and candles. Using these warmer bulbs rather than cool lighting helps John’s work imitate what it might’ve once been like to spend time on campus during the days when things were illuminated by gaslights and lanterns.

Of course, some of John’s work is much more bold, not so rooted in imitating nature. When he invites me into his studio space, many of the works in progress are lamps and lights. Just yesterday he spent the evening at the metals studio to work with the plasma cutter. Over the course of the night, he transformed various tin cans into lamp shades. This morning, one of the pieces hangs afresh over the entrance of the studio. The tin can lantern is complemented by a carnival chandelier, purple and orange, equal parts normcore and fabulous. Above that sits a string of blue and purple Christmas lights. Fitting, as that’s where John’s love of lights started.

John Rossi stands outside his studio and looks down at a pencil. Photo by Dominique Muñoz (Summer Fellow, 2024).

When I ask him about this passion’s origin story, John doesn’t hesitate: “Probably around age four or five,” aka the age that memory begins. For all we know, John’s love of lights could’ve been at first sight. He recalled playing with lights as a kid. He’d sneak into the closet where his parents stored the Christmas lights, stage them, then hide the lights away before his parents could find out. Eventually he took on the role of hanging the Christmas lights at both his parents’ and grandmother’s houses. Little did young John know, eventually he’d find a place where this passion would be prized and celebrated.

(left) A chandelier selected by John Rossi for the Talmadge cabin. Photo by Clare Britt. (right) Fairy lights in the trees. Photo by Jamie Kelter Davis.

John takes me to the tent on the meadow, underneath which he’s set up a variety of paper lanterns shaped as stars. He altered them himself to accommodate bigger sockets. While under the tent, John gives me a briefing on the physics of lights, explaining why LEDS produce a stronger spectrum than incandescents, which often fail to produce bright purples and blues. As he throws around jargon like diodes, prisms, and cones it becomes clear to me just how deep John’s knowledge of light goes. 

Across campus, other cleverly engineered solutions abound, all the work of Rossi. Some of these include collaborations with other studios: a hand blown glass vase that ensconces its light bulb and a full string of plasma-cut tin cans hanging behind The Rob (facilities headquarters). It can be said without exaggeration that in every building and even along pathways, John’s expertise and artistic touch literally light the way.

John Rossi stands in front of the floral, teal doors of his studio. Photo by Dominique Muñoz (Summer Fellow, 2024).

This article was written by Shanley Poole and was based on interviews conducted with John Rossi in 2023. Banner photo by Dominique Muñoz (Summer Fellow, 2024).

Visionary Awardee: Larry Gammons

A Lifelong Legacy of Community Impact in Saugatuck-Douglas

Born and raised in Big Rapids, Michigan, Larry Gammons spent many summers vacationing on Lake Michigan’s shoreline. He and his partner Carl Jennings especially enjoyed Saugatuck-Douglas and would take multiple trips with their boat to the quaint town during the sixties. In conversation, Gammons fondly recalled his visits to the Blue Tempo, a popular (and perhaps West Michigan’s first) gay bar, where his eventual partner worked as a bartender in the sixties. In 1976, the venue was destroyed by a fire. For several years after, its absence was felt by community members like Gammons and Jennings. Rather than sit idly by, the couple began scheming. The dream settled into an epic vision for a gay resort, which would feature lodging, a bar, restaurant, pool, and lots of parties.

Manifesting this ambitious dream proved no easy task. Though real estate options weren’t lacking in Saugatuck, local government support for a gay resort certainly was. Multiple times the city of Saugatuck denied the couple’s request to secure a liquor license. “​​They just kept turning us down and turning us down because they found out it was going to be gay,” Gammons confided. After yet another city meeting in which the majority voted against the resort, Gammons and Jennings went for a drive through Douglas to take their mind off the latest rejection. It was on that ride that the couple spotted the shuttered Amity Motel. The instant they set eyes on it they thought, “that could be a great resort!” From there, things finally began to fall into place. After Gammons and Jennings made an offer on the property, the Douglas council members approved its use at the next town meeting. In 1981, their resort finally opened.

Larry sits on a bench in the Pride Celebration Garden. Photo by Dominique Muñoz (Summer Fellow, 2024).

For nearly two decades, Gammons and Jennings oversaw what is still known as The Dunes Resort. Their vision was brought to life, including the restaurant at which Jennings served as the head chef. After buying the resort the couple became full-time residents in Saugatuck-Douglas. While the dream may have finally been realized, Gammons expressed that those first years held a number of challenges. In an article with the Holland Sentinel in 2019, Gammons told reporters, “We had bomb threats and Ku Klux Klan threats… just all kinds of things.” In striking contrast, the community today has come to embrace its reputation as one of Michigan’s queerest cities. 

Gammons hypothesizes that many young folks in the area might have trouble comprehending what the atmosphere was like forty years ago. It was for this reason that Gammons created the Pride Celebration Garden in downtown Douglas following Jennings’s passing in 2019. He wanted to build a memorial to commemorate community members as well as his partner. He also hopes the garden will serve as a reminder that the culture of Saugatuck-Douglas is not one to take for granted, nor has it always existed.

In 1999, Gammons and Jennings made the difficult decision to sell the Dunes Resort. “When you create something it’s hard to give it up,” Gammons explained, but he and Jennings knew it was the right time to pass it on. While the restaurant has since closed under new ownership, the Dunes still hosts a bar, pool, and an abundance of parties. After selling the Dunes, Gammons found new ways to engage with the Saugatuck-Douglas community. He and Jennings co-founded the organization West Shore Aware, which provides financial support to non-profits and awards scholarships to LGBTQ+ individuals and allies. Over two decades, the organization has given away over $1.4 million in scholarships and awards, all of which have gone to the benefit of the West Michigan community.

Larry amidst the flowers in the Pride Celebration Garden. Photo by Dominique Muñoz (Summer Fellow, 2024).

It was Arthur Frederick, former owner of the Button Gallery, that eventually invited Gammons to an Ox-Bow fundraiser. “That was 43 years ago… we had our heart in Ox-Bow from day one,” said Gammons. From the start, he and Jennings recognized the instrumental role that Ox-Bow played in the history of the area. Eventually, Gammons even served as a local board member.

At this year’s Field of Vision: Summer of Love benefit, Ox-Bow recognizes Larry Gamons with the Community Honoree Visionary Award. Gammon’s impact and legacy in Saugatuck-Douglas—from the Dunes Resort to the Pride Celebration Garden, from West Shore Aware to his service at Ox-Bow—spans decades and will surely continue to do so. We look forward to honoring Gammons at the event. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased through June 24, 2024.

Lead support for Field of Vision: Summer of Love is provided by the Holly Palmer Foundation.

Summer Fellow: Christen Baker

Exploring the path less traveled with Christen Baker (Summer Fellow, 2023).

During Christen Baker’s sophomore year of college, she enrolled in her first and only studio glass course of her undergraduate years. That semester would ultimately go on to shape the path Baker pursues today. After graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute with a BFA in Ceramics, she enrolled in an MFA program at Tyler School of Art & Architecture to study glass. With almost no hotshop experience, she was a unique candidate. “Most people don’t want to try to learn new, crazy skills when they’re entering grad school because you’re already doing a lot,” Baker said. But she was invigorated by the prospect of pursuing a new specialty.

Baker describes her transition to glasswork as “largely trial and error.” But don’t let her humble words fool you into overlooking her alluring and thoughtful work. While glass often serves as a focal point, she doesn’t let her new degree define her. Instead, she identifies as a multidisciplinary artist in which “[glass] grounds the work.” Alongside glass, she has brought photography and printmaking into her practice. During her time at Ox-Bow, Baker spent her spare hours in the Works on Paper Studio, where she learned how to use the risograph.

Christen Baker at work in the studio. Photo by Jamie Kelter Davis.

Baker also leaned into research after discovering the ongoing environmental challenges facing Saugatuck. During the summer of 2023, numerous articles, demonstrations, and yard signs were erected in opposition to a marina that would be built on the Lake Michigan shoreline. In a city that prides itself on its unmarred lakeshore, many Saugatuck citizens were determined to raise hell. Their efforts garnered the attention of Baker, and her interest inevitably began to influence her work. 

At the group exhibition “The Hole” in Ox-Bow’s Betsy Gallery, Baker contributed three distinct pieces to the exhibition. The first of the pieces, a stack of risographs, revealed two-tone images of the dunes. Next to the pile was a note to viewers: “Take one image to transform this landscape.” Elevated less than two feet off the ground was a trail of glass vessels, filled with sand, and embedded with stake flags that a surveyor might use to map a property. The last piece featured an anchor tethered to a rope. Far from subtle and paying tactful homage to the Saugatuck community’s voices, Baker’s works portrayed the imminent danger the environment faced. In February 2024, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy denied a permit to the developers seeking to build a marina. To the relief of many Saugatuck citizens, this decision has ensured the protection of the lakeshore

Another of the most fruitfall aspects of Baker’s time on campus was the friendship that blossomed between Baker and Glass Studio Assistant, Pricilla Lo. “We both just hit it off immediately,” Baker said, adding that the common threads between their work allowed them to learn a great deal from each other.

As summer drew to a close, Baker was open about her hopes to return to campus. True to her ambitious tendencies, she wasted no time in making that dream a reality. Alongside friend and fellow glass artist, Pricilla Lo, Baker will return to Ox-Bow to teach Glass Multiples. Baker’s multidisciplinary approach will be well utilized as one of the course’s instructors. With much of the course centered in mold making, Baker will tap into her ceramic experiences that often centered around mold making. Prospective students can read more about this course in our 2024 Summer Course Catalog.

In the meantime, Baker—in collaboration with Ox-Bow Alumni Victoria Ahmadizadeh Melendez—is finishing a residency with She Bends and the Museum of Craft and Design. The residency will culminate with the exhibition Neon as Soulcraft at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco.

Christen Baker and Pricilla Kar Yee Lo at work together in the studio. Photo by Jamie Kelter Davis.

Christen Baker is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the complex relationship between attention, desire, and economies that emerge from it. Baker earned a BFA in Ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute and a MFA from Tyler School of Art and Architecture. She currently lives and works in Philadelphia, where she continues to explore the geographies of public spaces and objects, real and imagined.

This article was written by Shanley Poole and was based on interviews conducted with Christen Baker in August 2023 and May 2024.

Carousel images of The Hole Exhibition by Natia Ser (Summer Fellow, 2023).

Press Release: NEA Grant

Ox-Bow School of Art to Receive $50,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

Longform Artists-in-Residence (2023) at work in the Krehbiel Ceramics Studio. Photo by Natia Ser (Summer Fellow, 2023).

SAUGATUCK, MICHIGAN –  Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists Residency is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $50,000. These funds will support Ox-Bow’s Longform Artist Residency. 

This is the eleventh grant designated to Ox-Bow by the NEA and is to date the largest grant received from the institution. In total, the NEA will award 1,135 Grants for Arts, totalling to more than $37 million as part of its second round of fiscal year 2024 grants. It is through grants such as this that Ox-Bow is able to realize their mission to connect artists to a network of creative resources, people, and ideas; an energizing natural environment; and rich artistic history and vital future.

“Projects like Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency exemplify the creativity and care with which communities are telling their stories, creating connection, and responding to challenges and opportunities in their communities—all through the arts,” said NEA Chair, Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “So many aspects of our communities such as cultural vitality, health and wellbeing, infrastructure, and the economy are advanced and improved through investments in art and design, and the National Endowment for the Arts is committed to ensuring people across the country benefit.”

The funded project, Longform, is a studio residency that seeks to provide an intensive, creative development experience, fostering deep connections amongst facilitators, visiting artists, and participants. One facilitator, three visiting artists, and a group of residents from any career stage, generation, and practicing any media shape the residency experience through a robust schedule of lectures, readings, studio visits, workshops, critical discussions, and studio time. In 2024 artist kg will return as the residency’s facilitator.

“Ox-Bow is so grateful to the NEA for this recognition and support,” says Executive Director, Shannon Stratton, “Ox-Bow is always looking for ways to evolve and strengthen our program to meet the needs of artists where they are at today and the NEA’s acknowledgement by way of this grant affirms that we are on the right track. We are so appreciative of this funding as it helps us to continue to establish Longform as a mainstay of our programming.”

Founded in 1910, Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency is an arts-based nonprofit with a rich legacy of empowering and investing in artists. Their year around programming welcomes degree-seeking students, professional artists, and those new to the arts. The 115 acre campus – located alongside and protected by the dunes, forests, and waters of Saugatuck – cultivates a space that does not simply host its residents but enhances their practice. Both its facilities and faculty edify their longstanding mission: to serve as a network of creative resources, people, and ideas amidst an energizing natural environment inspired by its rich artistic history and fueled by the potential of a vital future.

Banner photo by Natia Ser (Summer Fellow, 2023).

Press Release: Ox-Bow Announces Culinary Artists-in-Residence

Ox-Bow Announces Culinary Artists-in-Residence

SAUGATUCK, MICHIGAN (May 9, 2024) – Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency announces the inaugural cohort of a new Culinary Artists-in-Residence program. This year-long program intends to bridge artists, food, and community both on Ox-Bow’s campus and beyond through a unique annual residency program for artists working at the intersection of food and art. This year’s artists are Edward Cabral, Sara Clugage, Dan Fethke, Hyun Jung Jun, and MAGNET.

“Artist residencies have always built community around food,” says Ox-Bow’s Executive Director, Shannon Stratton, “so naturally, it made sense to make food a bigger part of our programming. And in the studio, artists have been working with food and hospitality for years, so inviting a focused cohort together to experiment, collaborate with our kitchen, and produce some special programming was a natural fit for Ox-Bow.”

The residency invites the selected artists to campus in three installments during Summer 2024, Winter 2025, and Summer 2025. The artists will be supported with stipends, travel, and room and board at Ox-Bow. 

The yearlong program begins with individual one-week residencies during the summer and fall of 2024 that each culminate in a meal-based public event. The group will reassemble in winter 2025 for a 10-day residency and will conclude their tenure with a one or two day Art on the Meadow workshop, available for public enrollment in the summer of 2025. This first cohort will work with Ox-Bow’s team to help vision the program going forward, offering their insights and feedback.

Culinary Team Member Ren Rodriguez prepares a plate for the annual Field of Vision Benefit. Photo by Jamie Kelter Davis.

The new initiative plays upon many of Ox-Bow’s traditions, including their appreciation for the culinary arts and the organization's belief that quality food is central to fueling and inspiring artists.

“Ox-Bow is about building community,” Stratton continues, “so when we think about what new initiatives or programs to develop, we are always considering what we already are, what we already do, and what we already have that we can offer to more people. Food and shared meals have always been part of our legacy, so we are excited to invite more people to the table.”

Tickets for the public programs can be purchased at www.ox-bow.org/culinary-events.

About the artists:

Edward Cabral is an artist, baker, and maker. Born 1987 in Indiana, Cabral is currently based in New York. Cabral previously lived in Chicago, Illinois and has spent time throughout central Indiana, west Texas, and Kentucky. His work has been featured on Food Network, Disney+, and galleries through the midwest and New York.

Sara Clugage’s art practice focuses on economic and political issues in craft and food. She is Editor-in-Chief of Dilettante Army, an online magazine for visual culture and critical theory.

She has most recently been core faculty for the MA in Critical Craft Studies program at Warren Wilson College and her most recent publication is the 2021 monograph from the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, titled New Recipes: Cooking, Craft, and Performance. Sara is currently at work on a book project about Jell-O, animacy, and abstraction.

Daniel Pravit Fethke is an interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and educator from New York's Hudson Valley. Teaching is a central part of his practice, and he regularly facilitates workshops, cooking classes, and creative gatherings that center food and recipes as ways to explore identity, narrative, and culture. Daniel co-founded the mutual aid Thai+Chinese food pop-up Angry Papaya, and has hosted arts workshops at Dia:Beacon, Socrates Sculpture Park, and Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency. He recently published an autobiographical Thai-American cookbook through Pratt Institute, where he also received his MFA in Fine Arts in 2023. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn.

Born in South Korea and based in Chicago, Hyun Jung Jun is an artist whose installations are measures and meditations which take up more time than they do space. Working with commonplace commodities such as candles, bread, wooden structures, Jun’s work borrows from familiar, domestic language to describe and search the ornate identities of our individuality and culture. In recent years, Jun has expanded her work to include edible forms in a cake project titled Dream Cake Test Kitchen. Jun received her BFA at SAIC and an MFA in Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University. Her recent exhibitions include Goldfinch, LVL3, the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelly Foundation with Chicago Artists Coalition, No Place Gallery, Hans Gallery, The Drawing Room at Arts Club of Chicago and EXPO Chicago. Jun is one of Newcity’s breakout artists for 2021.

MAGNET (b. 1993) is an undisciplined artist, pastry chef, and disrupter working at the intersection of food and art anarchiving Black servitude and hospitality in the U.S. and the Caribbean. MAGNET creates works that embrace embodiment, play, and community collaborations. MAGNET's intention is to expand upon understandings of domesticity and carework using cake installations and food pop-ups, rugmaking, print, and painting. They have shared work and spoken on panels at the Museum of Contemporary Art: Chicago, Williams College Museum of Art, Women Made Gallery, Recess Art, Happy Gallery Chicago, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, Chicago Read/Write Library, and the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel. MAGNET is also the founder of THEIRS!, a variety performance night that highlighted queer and trans artists of color who are often overlooked and underrepresented.

Founded in 1910, Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency is an arts-based nonprofit with a rich legacy of empowering and investing in artists. Their year around programming welcomes degree-seeking students, professional artists, and those new to the arts. The 115 acre campus – located alongside and protected by the dunes, forests, and waters of Saugatuck – cultivates a space that does not simply host its residents but enhances their practice. Both its facilities and faculty edify their longstanding mission:to serve as a network of creative resources, people, and ideas amidst a energizing natural environment inspired by its rich artistic history and fueled by the potential of a vital future.

Fashion as Intuition

Hansell shares about their gift for reading the style palm of others and tuning the gender dial.

Gurtie Hansell’s love for fashion and connection to altered clothing stems far into their past. At a young age their grandmother taught them to sew and from there it seemed, in Hansell’s words, “I always made clothes or augmented clothes to fit my weirdo personality.” However, Hansell started to make a more communal and consistent practice of it in 2015. For the retirement party of Chicago’s Chances Dances, Hansell was approached about facilitating a fashion show. The project materialized into something substantial. Hansell reminisced on the crowd’s positive reactions. “And I had a lot of fun and the models really liked it,” they added. That Hansell would receive such positive reviews from all around didn’t surprise me. It’s in their nature to honor and connect with others, something I’ve experienced first hand in all my encounters with them. 

After the fashion show, Mary Eleanor invited Hansell to display in the window of the boutique and gallery space Tusk. From there Hansell thought, “Okay, I guess this is what I do now.” They credit the encouragement from their community as the spark to transition to an entrepreneurial artist. At the time they’d been working for six years doing corporate level branding and graphic design for Whole Foods. “I lived in front of a computer,” Hansell said, “And I’m a very tactile person,” making their transition to the material world of fashion and alterations a natural one. Though that’s not to say their practice is without challenge. Mostly recently, they’ve been struggling to decipher how to maintain the political heart that fuels their work without capitalizing off of tragedy. Much of their altered fashion consists of upcycling t-shirts by screen printing on them. They do not shy away from imbuing political statements with humor, referring to such t-shirts as “an analog meme.” With hefty doses of intention and goofiness, Hansell’s work hits with a heartfelt relevance and their humor buoys grave subjects with a zany spirit of hope.

Ox-Bow, its traditions and culture, have largely influenced Hansell’s practice. They first visited in 2020 to volunteer at a Halloween event, which has since become one of their annual reasons to come to campus. “Halloween has become [a] part of my practice because of those visits,” Hansell said. These experiences have encouraged Hansell to more deeply explore drag, which they say is “directly linked to the freedom [they have] experienced at Ox-Bow” during Halloween each year. This sense of liberation is one they hope to facilitate in their workshops and one they’ve clearly achieved in years past. In particular, Hansell loves to twist what they refer to as the gender dial. “If I wear a dress, and I love to wear dresses,” Hansell explained they’ll tune in the dial by “then [throwing] on a ballcap” to add a dash of masc to the fem look of a dress.

Hansell rocking the dress and ballcap combo.

Interpretations of gender and willingness to play with them comes naturally to Hansell. They even enjoy twisting this dial when they stylize for others. When I asked Hansell how they go about creating looks for another person, they said, “I think it’s always been a facet of who I am.” They described it as a form of listening to others. When one lends their ear to how others present themselves, it becomes easy enough (for Hansell at least) to offer that individual a look that honors them. Hansell refers to this act as “reading the style palm” of others.

One of Hansell’s favorite parts of Art on the Meadow Workshops is watching folks settle into the space. At the start of the class, participants learn to shed their fears and grow comfortable with the sense of whimsy and spontaneity in Hansell’s workshop. Hansell describes that the four day workshop has a kindred feeling to getting ready for a party as they sift through clothes and help each other find and modify objects to achieve a desired look. The intergenerational aspect, hosting students from 16 to 60+ has also fueled Hansell’s time on campus. “It’s always such a wild mix,” Hansell said. The exchange of creativity between all ages in the workshop and the friendships that form over just four days is truly remarkable.

Those looking to revamp their wardrobe and encounter the enthusiasm and inspiration that Gurtie Hansell always provides, should consider enrolling in their upcoming workshop Renewed Ready-to-Wear.

Gurtie Hansell is a multimedia artist, teacher, and entrepreneur working out of their home studio and backyard in Chicago. They draw on fashion, printmaking (and print-breaking), as well as graphic design to outfit their community for pageantry, protest, and pleasure. Their wearables are deeply inspired by decades in queer nightlife, camp craft, and generally being loud in public. Gurtie owns a gender-expansive streetwear brand called Kangmankey which they've run since 2015, and they also co-operate a production and costume design company called MotherTwin. This is their fourth year teaching "Renewed Ready to Wear" at Ox-Bow.

All images are courtesy of the artist.

Research and interviews were conducted by the article’s author, Shanley Poole, Engagement Liaison & Storyteller. The article was originally published in Experience Ox-Bow 2024.

Partner Profile: zakti tea

Janeil Engelstad and Pamela Miller share their passion for tea and all its varieties, communities, and rituals.

In 2004 Janeil Engelstad and Pamela Miller took a trip to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. Little did they know how much the trip would transform their future. By the close of their experience, they were dreaming of an entirely new business venture that intersected with the couple’s newfound passion: tea. This passion would eventually grow into the formation of zakti, a speciality, loose-leaf tea company. Engelstad had incorporated tea into her life decades prior, though her partner Miller never held much interest. While in Kuala Lampur, Miller ordered a cup of Shu Puer tea that changed everything.

“I smelled it and it just took me right away to my grandparents' farm in Germany. It was so earthy and musky,” as Miller described the memory, I could see her crawling back into the comfort of that moment. “It’s still my go to drink.” Throughout the rest of the trip, Engelstad and Miller enjoyed a variety of quality loose leaf teas. “The experience there led us to really think about starting a business, a tea company,” shared Engelstad.

In time, Miller’s newfound passion for tea took an academic twist. “ I spent a few years studying and learning all I could and buying tea from all over Asia,” she shared. Enrolling at the Speciality Tea Institute and the American Tea Association, Miller began to pursue more formal training. This desire to learn has also progressed in a desire to share that knowledge with others. “Education for me and talking about tea… that's my happy place,” Miller said. It’s clear she thrives in these educational contexts. She compares the complexities of teas to that which people often associate with wine. “All wine comes from grapes, right? And all tea comes from camellia sinensis,” explained Miller. “Those varieties excited me.”

As the two tea connoisseurs shared about the history of zakti, Engelstad painted a crisp picture of what drives them, “The three P’s are central to our business: people, planet, and profit.” The latter being rather self explanatory, Engelstad expounded on the philosophy of sustainability that drives their company’s relationships and environmental investments. “It’s everything from packaging to the people we work with.” A quick glance at the zakti website showcases paper packaging and partnerships with small, family-owned farms, but their commitment extends far beyond these choices. Zakti returns a portion of its profits to the communities with which it partners. Engelstad, an artist herself, emphasized the importance of supporting the arts in communities from which they source their tea. In 2023 this meant supporting a play in South Africa—where zakti’s rooibos is sourced—directed by renowned theatre artist Selloane (Lalu) Mokuku.

Of course, Engelstad and Miller also believe the tea itself has something to offer. It has the power to connect individuals to themselves and others. As a coach for executives, Miller often starts meetings with clients by offering them tea. Similarly in her role as a professor, Engelstad enjoys bringing tea into the classroom to share with students. “I try to encourage people to build rituals that are infused in their daily life,” Miller said. She lauds these rituals not just because of the benefits of polyphenols, alkaloids, and other compounds found within tea, but because these rituals can encourage individuals to slow down and reflect. If you can create a ritual, then it becomes part of your life,” explained Miller.

In April, zakti will bring their knowledge, passion, and of course, tea to Ox-Bow’s campus. As one of the partners for the upcoming Tea & Trails event, they will conduct a tea ceremony as the Tallamdge Woods celebrates its induction into the Old Growth Forest Network. Learn more at ox-bow.org/tea-trails.

Miller and Engelstad have traveled throughout the tea growing regions of Asia, learning about and tasting teas along the way. Participating in the culture of tea around the world has led to continual research and study, learning how people around the world grow, process, prepare and enjoy tea, which are as diverse as the types of tea. From Chinese Kung Fu, to the Japanese Tea Ceremony (also called The Way of Tea), to Moroccan Mint tea, and more. With joy and enthusiasm, Pamela and Janeil create opportunities to share tea and their learning and passion connected to “The Culture of Tea®,” with clients, friends and family. Learn more at zakti.com.

This article was written by Shanley Poole, Engagement Liaison & Storyteller, and was based off of an interview conducted by the author in April 2024.

LeRoy Neiman Fellow: Jack Holly

Jack Holly (Summer Fellow, 2023) discusses their path to photography and the portrait series they developed during their summer at Ox-Bow.

At age 18, Jack Holly bought their first camera and has ever since been entranced by what appears in the view lens. Through photography, Holly has captured everything from the landscapes of rural America to intimate glimpses of BDSM culture, at times even intertwining the two as seen in How to Steal a Plane. Their ongoing portrait series sits in thoughtful juxtaposition to their past career as a model. Ultimately, they were unsatisfied with their experiences in front of the camera. “It made me feel like a hat rack for other people,” Holly shared. This perspective deeply informs how they aim to render images of others. Their untitled project, which documents genderqueer and gender-nonconforming individuals through portraiture, prizes the autonomy and power of individuals. Through interviews with the subject and collaboration during the shoots, Holly hopes to capture their subjects in a way that honors and elevates.

(left) A portrait of EXYL.

(right) A portrait of John Rossi. Photos by Jack Holly.

During the summer of 2023, after completing their BFA at the Kansas City Art Institute, Holly started their portrait series on campus where they spent 13 weeks as a Summer Fellow at Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency. In each photo, an individual identifying as queer or gender nonconforming faces away from the camera and holds an object of meaning to them. “It's one of those projects that I kind of consider a sketchbook practice because it's not really a main tenet of my practice, but it's a way for me to continue photographing and getting to know people and understanding the weird part of people's lives,” explained Holly. During each portrait session, Holly incorporates an interview to better understand the individual. Oftentimes, the stories they reveal are deeply personal. “It's an honor that people feel so open,” Holly said.

Throughout their 13 weeks on campus, they continued taking photos and also ventured into another new project, a performance piece that would eventually become the short film “Big Yellow Horse.” The film’s inspiration took root in Holly’s long standing fascination with Dante’s “Inferno” and Holly describes their work as a “surrealist adaptation” of the text. Having first read the work at age 14, Holly said, “it was a pretty formative text growing up and… [I] always had it checked out at the public library.” Perhaps it is partially this childlike fondness that charges Dante’s themes with new relevance. “The dead have collected and keep my memories now. The world will go on without them,” serves as the film’s opening words. These two lines baptize viewers with the sense of existential modesty that guides them through the rest of the film.  

Still from Jack Holly’s short film “Big Yellow Horse.” Image courtesy of the artist.

Big Yellow Horse builds its own language and logic, creating a world for its audience. Though the piece only runs for six minutes and twenty-some seconds, Holly creates a universe that tugs at the threads of death and memory, weaving them into a visual oasis. The word inferno doesn’t easily come to mind amidst the shots in which Cole Bespalko floats on an air mattress on Lake Michigan's water, but Holly isn’t aiming for simple, as is evident through the psychedelic editing style and sound design that wavers between transcendent and terrifying, like the film’s many symbolic coin flips and flickering lights. While others may have been tempted to manifest inferno with more depictions of brimstones and damnation, in Holly’s hands “Big Yellow Horse” presents downfalls as an opportunity for inferno to function as rebirth, akin to a phoenix gifted with the liberty of a tabula rasa. 

In creating the film, Holly was eager to involve other artists on Ox-Bow’s campus. A number of other summer fellows joined the film as actors. Artist and LeRoy Neiman Fellow EXYL consulted on sound design and staff member Michael Stone wrote the poem that opens the film. The process of filming held its own adventures including late night shoots and on one occasion, Holly fell into the lagoon while trying to capture the perfect shot. At each moment, Holly emphasized the warmth the community offered, whether that included volunteering to help during the witching hours of campus or laughing alongside them when they took their unintended dip. The film’s private debut was also communal; it first aired on the meadow during a 10 p.m. screening in which staff, students, faculty, and other artists gathered together. After its private showing at Ox-Bow, “Big Yellow Horse” made its public debut at the Glenwood Arts Theatre in Kansas City.

(left) A Portrait of Aidan Mudge.

(right) A Portrait of Cole Bespalko. Photos by Jack Holly.

Since the conclusion of Holly’s fellowship, they have settled into their post-graduate life in Kansas City. While working full time at a frame shop and gallery alongside keeping up a studio practice has not been without challenges, they still manage to get into the studio most days and have continued the portrait series they started at Ox-Bow. Nowadays, Holly photographs people in their own homes. “It can be intimidating because I'm a tiny person, and you never know what someone's gonna do when you meet them on the internet,” Holly acknowledged. “It's a really weird exchange of trust and intimacy,” they added, an exchange that has cultivated a captivating series of images.

For the foreseeable future, Holly hopes to continue developing short films, rendering photographs, and spending time with their family and new niece.

This article was written by Shanley Poole based off interviews conducted with Jack Holly in August 2023 and February 2024.

Partner Profile: John Brown

John Brown shares the spirit that fuels all his work behind the bar: hospitality.

The driving force behind John Brown’s career is a philosophy of hospitality. One encounters this spirit almost immediately upon meeting Brown, who lends winning smiles, gentle jokes, and a spark of curiosity to even the briefest of conversations. As bartender and mixologist, Brown explains it's his job to “throw a party for everyone,” and this is not a role he takes lightly. His primary goal of extending hospitality and putting guests at ease is extended through the one-on-one interactions he shares with those ordering drinks as well as the general atmosphere that his drinks build throughout the night. Drinks are often rituals, Brown acknowledges, and like any good ritual, it should be done with intention. Brown insists that drinks should be consumed carefully and created thoughtfully.

John Brown serves Ashley Freeby (Communications Director) a cocktail during the 2022 Field of Vision Benefit. Photo by Jamie Kelter Davis.

When designing a menu, Brown considers the driving forces of aesthetic, taste, and homage. At a club, he focuses less on complex flavor profiles and instead utilizes mixers, such as tonics, that will set drinks glowing under black lights. While dolling out drinks at a wedding, he plays on themes of nostalgia by catering to the couple’s preferences. In the case of Ox-Bow’s recent Winter Break, the menu flirted with the evening’s theme—“Fall in Love with Ox-Bow”— with lavender-hued liquors and a hot buttered rum playfully titled the “Warm Welcome.”

Regardless of the cocktail Brown is making, they follow the same premise as other culinary endeavors. A balanced drink requires sugar, fat, acid, and heat. So long as these complexities are held in balance, there’s much room for play. While Brown’s creations now span wide in their variety, the exploration began with an Old Fashioned. “And being stubborn,” he added. Rather than playing by the recipe book, he wanted to branch out. He started swapping the main components of the classic drink—whiskey, simple syrup, and bitters—with offbeat equivalents. Simple syrup was exchanged for honey, maple syrup, or molasses. From here he started asking more questions and curiosity led to creativity. If syrup was just sugary liquid, then couldn’t he use teas, coffee, or juice as a substitute? The same became true of bitters, which Brown explained are simply flavors extracted from dried fruits and herbs with 100 proof ethanol. These explorations he described as a “colorful playground of flavor profiles.”

John Brown and Yashu Reddy (Faculty 2023, 2024 and Former Glass Studio Manager) at work inside Ox-Bow’s Tuck Shop during the 2023 Field of Vision Benefit. Photo by Jamie Kelter Davis.

Within this playground, Brown has a burgeoning interest in spirit-free cocktails. “My intention is to expose people to a standard. So when they walk into another place, they feel empowered to expect more from their bartender than just lemonade in a cup,” Brown says in regard to non-alcoholic beverages. The same complex flavor profiles in Brown’s spirited drinks are found in his mocktails. Rather than seeing the Gen-Z driven movement of Dry Januarys and soft sobriety as a trend, he hopes it’s here to stay. Brown credits his fluid transition to embracing the sober movement to his passion for hospitality. “It’s easy for me to see the forest for the trees,” he explained, circling back to the idea of ritual. If a spirit free drink helps someone unwind or feel more at ease in a space, Brown wants to equip them with that asset.

While Brown applauds those pursuing the sober movement, he himself is still fond of his spirits. When asked if he had any go-to’s, he said he prefers whatever the “chef” recommends. “You wouldn’t go to Gordon Ramsay and ask him for sushi,” he explained, adding that “at a sports bar,” he’s not above “a cheap glass of rosé.”

This article was written by Shanley Poole based off an interview conducted with John Brown in February 2024.

For the Love of Landscapes

For the Love of Landscapes: An Interview with David Baker

“There’s a magical place when painting the surface of the water,” David Baker says, “where [the surface] switches from mirror to window.” This magic trick was something he spent hours trying to capture during his early years at Ox-Bow. He’d venture out with a canoe on the lagoon, Baker donning a wide brimmed hat to shield himself from the sun and toting a set of paints. While the process might sound romantic, Baker emphasized it was pretty grueling work. 

Baker first came to Ox-Bow in the 90’s and reminisced that in those days you could get a cold beer from the campus vending machine. At the time, he mostly rendered abstract oil paintings, the kinds of work that might draw Rothko to mind. All that began to change at Ox-Bow. As if inspired by the school’s founders, he suddenly found himself driven to landscapes, a style he’d previously written off as a “tired genre.”

Rivulet, David Baker, 2020, charcoal, 11 x 14 inches. Image courtesy of the artist.

In the years beyond his first summer at Ox-Bow, Baker continued to expand his practice. He ventured into watercolor, motivated by a class he was to teach at South West Michigan College. Baker eventually brought his professorial skills to campus. He taught his first core course Watercolor in 2000 and continued to do so through 2008. In 2010, he switched gears and crafted his first Art on the Meadow Workshop. Since then, he’s taught community members everything from watercolor to charcoal.  

This year, Baker looks forward to introducing students to some of his favorite subject material: the landscape of Ox-Bow, of course. Those taking Ox-Bow in Black and White can anticipate field studies of dunes and lagoons, while those in Painting with Oil Pastel can look forward to studying the arboreal ghosts and muses of Ox-Bow in the form of felled and still standing trees across campus. And all can count on spending time with an instructor who not only knows all the prime views, but will also teach you to capture them on canvas. 

David Baker holds a painting under a tent in an Art on the Meadow workshop. Two students sit at a folding table behind him. Photo by Ian Solomon (Summer Fellow, 2023).

David Baker (he/him) is a visual artist who specializes in poetic landscape painting, much of it done en plein air. Baker is a lifelong artist and teacher who has taught at Ox-Bow School of Art since 2000. He is represented by Rising Phoenix Gallery in Michigan City. 

This article was written by Shanley Poole and was initially published in the 2022 Experience Ox-Bow Catalog.

Rooted in Ox-Bow

Operations Manager Aaron Cook shares his own history of life lived on Ox-Bow’s campus.

Aaron Cook first met Ox-Bow in the summer of 2011. What he remembers most about his initial visit was the way the summer light hit the campus. “The light was at its best… so warm and so inviting,” Aaron said. He initially came as a guest, visiting a friend who had landed a fellowship at Ox-Bow, but would eventually come to inhabit one of the most critical roles on Ox-Bow’s campus: Operations Manager. He described his connection with the campus as “an instant thing.” After encountering the campus, trails, and even a Friday night costume party, Aaron knew he’d be back someday. In the summer of 2015, he proved himself right when he returned as a volunteer. By that fall he became an official employee of “the heart of Ox-Bow,” a place more commonly known as the kitchen. 

Aaron Cook stands next to John Rossi in front of the freshly painted Tuck Shop while sun beams shine through the clouds. Photo by Claire Arctander.

Aaron acknowledged that it was the land and campus that initially drew him here, but it’s the people that have kept him here. There was one name in particular that Aaron gave credit… John Rossi. In 2016, Aaron assumed the role as Operations Manager, where he began working alongside John. Both mentor and friend, John has taught Aaron how to “hold the campus up.” John, who has been a part of Ox-Bow since the 90’s, works as Ox-Bow’s Facilities Manager–though Aaron proposed a more fitting title would be Master of Infrastructure and Magic. I asked Aaron if he could share any particularly memorable occasions with John and he recalled the infamous flood of 2019, citing that this crisis–which could’ve closed the campus down for the summer–was instead averted because of John’s clever work. “He’s the brains and the master of Ox-Bow,” Aaron said, “He’s one of the reasons I keep coming back.”

Like many of Ox-Bow’s staff members, Aaron doesn’t work on campus year around. In his words, Ox-Bow is a place that stays “in tune with the seasons.” During the winter and early spring, campus life and programming slows down. “Giving the natural landscape its credit is pretty important,” Aaron noted, elaborating that the pause allows staff to return to the campus with a renewed vibrancy year after year.

Another sense of renewal comes from the Tallmadge woods, which Aaron fondly calls “the perfect escape from the perfect escape.” Part of his job description includes maintaining the trails, but he has also spent a good amount of time walking the Crow’s Nest Trail for leisure. It’s clear that Aaron’s care for the natural landscape has only grown over the years. Shortly after the invasive hemlock wooly adelgid (HWA) was discovered near campus, Aaron set out with a crew to inspect the trees surrounding Ox-Bow. Spotting HWA takes a meticulous eye because of their small size, but Aaron vigilantly managed to spot the bugs on the underside of a hemlock tree. Once he found the first pocket, the crew noticed a number throughout the area. The monumental moment has led to fundraising efforts, which aim to combat the invasive species that preys upon the Tallmadge Wood’s dense collection of hemlock trees. Aaron noted that focusing on these efforts is a crucial part of maintaining the spirit of Ox-Bow.

Aaron holds his dog Juniper at the Crow’s Nest Trailhead as he stands between John Rossi and Mac Akin. Photo by Claire Arctander.

Throughout his time on campus, Aaron has worked in facilities, housekeeping, and the kitchen. These experiences have allowed him to intersect with almost every inch of campus. When asked if he had a favorite building on campus, he didn’t hesitate when he answered, “The Rob.” As the maintenance shop on campus, The Rob “is an amoeba of a place that is always changing and accepts anything.” Likewise, it is a place that’s always giving. A regular afternoon in the Rob for Aaron consists of offering advice and loaning tools to all who wander in. In many ways, it serves as a reflection of the entire campus. “Outside of the physical attributes, which we can’t take much credit for…” Aaron credits that the chemistry between the guests and residents of Ox-Bow is really what fuels the campus. Amidst meals, artist lectures, and even volleyball games, the traditional barriers dissolve and allow students, staff, and faculty to eat, learn, and play alongside one another. Simply put, there’s no other place like it. Aaron describes Ox-Bow as “its own community” and anyone who spends enough time on campus knows that he is one of its key forces. Aaron goes beyond just tending to Ox-Bow’s facilities, he carries traditions on, and lifts the community itself up.

This article was written by Shanley Poole and was initially published in the 2022 Experience Ox-Bow Catalog. The banner photo was taken by Jamie Kelter Davis.

Q&A with Dove Hornbuckle

In this Q&A from 2021, Ceramics Studio Manager Dove Hornbuckle shares about their intuitive and spiritual relationship with clay and the oasis of Ox-Bow.

1. Tell us about yourself.

To me, there feels like an infinite amount of ways to describe oneself as there are so many human perspectives to observe oneself from: it could be within a depression, or ego-based, nostalgic, full of pity or passion, self-lacerating or affirming, with great love and humility, etc.

I feel very empathetic to the roles of ‘maker’ and ‘artist’ - to me, they are romantic and robust, somewhat direct and full of self invention.

I aspire to be a maker and artist of my full potential, someone who has the courage and self knowledge to continue forward, despite the infinite varieties of ordinary human traumas and hiccups that greet us, and knock us slightly off course.

I was born in New York City, my deep rooted home, as it was there that I first relished in my queerness and authentic optimism as a young adult. I would like to travel broadly and know many many people, and feel at home more so in the greater pasture of our connected planet.

I first came to Ox-Bow as a summer fellow in 2018 after I graduated from Rhode Island School of Design’s (RISD) master’s program in ceramics. Finding home, queer connectivity, and artistic fulfillment at Ox-Bow has been one of the greatest gifts of my adult life.

Dove Hornbuckle, Self-Control, 2020, stoneware and glaze, 21 L x 13 W x 18 H inches,

 2: Describe Your Own Art Practice

I think of my art practice as putting ideas to form. It’s an intuitive, spiritual, mysterious, evasive and highly rewarding mutable experience. It is also a desire for communication. The process of creating art is a pathway to truly know myself. To do this I must be curious, open and present for the innumerable changes of self that occur throughout my life. In my thinking I continually come back to the Buddhist concept of Anattā, essentially that there is no permanent Self.

Making art is like creating a time capsule, the ‘object’ encapsulates the subtle nuances and autobiographical elements of myself when I make the work. I witness myself through the making of art. I can utilize the artworks that I create as a source of reflection to think back upon, remember, and reevaluate who I was when I made the work. Often, I have much more compassion for who I was in hindsight, which differs from the ordinary narratives of self-criticism that I have for who I am in the present.

This brings me further into a pathway of understanding myself also as a human ‘object’ of infinite relativity and thus I can become anything, transform myself infinitely, and can choose to take on more gentler, more affirming, more loving, more proactive aspects of my Being. If I didn’t love myself a moment ago then I can accept and acknowledge that. That moment has passed, and there is no going back, and that moment will never happen again. So, I am already moving forward and in that procession can choose to change, with informed intention and training of the mind, in order to bring new realizations into the future of my heart-centered wellbeing.

3: When and how did you first come to know Ox-Bow?

While I was finishing my undergraduate degree at SAIC I often heard fellow student’s experiences of a mysterious place called Ox-Bow. They seemingly came back from a separate planet, somewhere full of messy fun and connectivity. It wasn’t until I finished my graduate degree at RISD in 2018 that I did further research and applied to be a resident of Ox-Bow’s summer fellowship. I perceived the opportunity as this perfect post-degree oasis to recenter my practice: that Ox-Bow could be a space to rest and to engage with a new community of artists whom I could learn from and collaborate with as we experienced a magical summer together - and it was.

My fellowship summer truly changed the course of my life and intensely reinvigorated my working practice as an artist. This was, in part, due to the immense and multifaceted social atmospheres at Ox-Bow. Upon arriving I was immediately surrounded by the other fellows who had come from a similar background as a student, or recent alumni of an art school. I remember my first days at Ox-Bow vividly, particularly the enthusiastic invitations to celebrations, parties, gatherings, the sharing of zodiac signs, etc. It was such a joy-oriented and eventful summer that I knew I had to stay after my summer fellowship had ended.

(left to right) Dove Hornbuckle, Claire Arctander, and Eric May stand on stage at the 2023 Field of Vision Benefit as John Rossi DJs in the background. Image courtesy of Claire Arctander.

 4: Did you always work in ceramics?

I haphazardly stumbled into ceramics as an undergraduate student at SAIC, completely unaware that the medium would direct the course of my making so intensely over the next several years and into the present day. As an undergrad, I found that other students had experiences with ceramics as children or in high school, but this was not my experience, and, to my advantage, I found that I did not have many preconceived ideas of my abilities with ceramics when I first encountered the material. I found ceramics to be a refreshing and less neurotic connection to my previous work with painting, it gave me the ability to work with color in the 3d, to make color stand up. I felt less precious with clay, and more able to work in modular forms, finding curiosity and joy with its plasticity and unpredictability. Clay is a time-based material, and there is always a balancing act of artistic agency and material limitations.                                       

The mutable materiality of clay and particularly the glazing process creates an amicable union between color and form; there is a transfiguration within the firing process, and they essentially become the same thing. I continue to find myself opening warm kilns after they have been fired to become mesmerized and occasionally laugh at the results. I am in love with this connection between body, material, form, and color.

5. Tell us what being a studio manager at Ox-Bow means to you

Being the ceramics studio manager, to me, means that I take on the responsibility and service of a community member who acknowledges the importance of their cohabitational role at Ox-Bow. Many students, artists, instructors, mentors, fellows and staff members benefit from the ceramics studio and from its functional and operational wellbeing. I find this, at times, intimidating but mostly thrilling because I am actively embodying and participating within a role that allows for the development and pleasures and joys of making art.

Dove Hornbuckle (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist working within ceramic sculpture, queer community organizing, and radical faeries traditions. Previous solo exhibitions have been held in Chicago, at Goldfinch Gallery, To Hear a Call, To Answer a Call, 2023 and Roots & Culture, Earth, My Likeness, 2020. Past awards include a teaching fellowship from the Vermont Studio Center in 2020, and the LeRoy Neiman Fellowship from the Ox-Bow School of Art in 2018. Past teaching roles have been held as Adjunct Professor in the Art and Art History department at Hope College, lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Ceramics Department, and instructor at the Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency. They have served as the Ceramics Studio Manager at the Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency since 2019.

This interview was conducted by Ashley Freeby and originally published in Experience Ox-Bow 2021.

Header image features: Sleep, 2020, concrete and steel, 48 L, x 9 W x 46 H inches

Alumni in the News

The start of 2024 has been an exciting season for many Ox-Bow Artists and Alumni. Awards were received, interviews published, and exhibitions opened! Join us as we celebrate the following Alumni’s accomplishments:

(left) Headshot of jina valentine. Image courtesy of the artist. (right) Kelly Lloyd giving an artist talk at Ox-Bow. Photo by Hai-Wen Lin (Summer Fellow, 2022)

jina valentine & Kelly Lloyd

An interview conducted by Lloyd, featuring valentine was published in the Winter 2024 issue of BOMB Magazine.

The Ox-Bow Connection:

jina valentine has taught during three of Ox-Bow’s sessions since 2019, some of which she directly discusses in the interview with Kelly Lloyd.

Kelly Lloyd has spent time at Ox-Bow as both an Artist-in-Residence (2015) and as Faculty, leading the courses HAIR! HAIR! HAIR! (2017) and Party as Form (co-taught with Alex Chitty, 2022).

(left) Headshot of Salvador Jiménez-Flores. (right) Salvador Jiménez-Flores, A Hand Gesture to Systemic Racism: Al que le quede el saco que se lo ponga, 2022, earthenware, stoneware, black stain, underglaze, glaze, wood, steel, graphite, and latex paint, 96 x 60 x 20 inches. Images courtesy of the artist.

Salvador Jiménez-Flores

A feature published in New City Art celebrates Jiménez-Flores’s exhibition eagle, serpiente, nopalli.

The Ox-Bow Connection:

Jiménez-Flores first joined Ox-Bow as a TA for a screenprinting course in 2013 and has since taught at Ox-Bow as one of our Core Faculty in 2014, 2017, 2019, and 2020. During his sessions on campus he has taught everything from woodfire to a course on flora, fauna, and narrative.

Caption: (left) Helen Lee, Alphabit, 2018, glass murrine, low-iron float glass, stainless steel, aluminum, acrylic, LEDs, 36 x 18 x 48 inches; (right) Tammie Rubin, Unknow Ritual Mask, 2023, red stoneware, underglaze, 33h x 18w x 18w inches. Images courtesy of the artists.

Helen Lee (Faculty 2019) and Tammie Rubin (Visiting Artist 2024)

Appointed 2024 USA Fellows.

The Ox-Bow Connection: 

Helen Lee, a glass artist based in Madison, Wisconsin, taught A Body in Motion during the Summer of 2019 at Ox-Bow. 

Tammie Rubin will join us on campus this summer as a Visiting Artist. 

Headshot of Cate O’Connell-Richards. Image courtesy of the artist.

Cate O'Connell-Richards (Instructor 2023-2024) 

Recipient of the 2024 Craft Research Fund Project Grant at Center for Craft

The Ox-Bow Connection

O’Connell-Richards first came to campus as an Art on the Meadow Instructor in 2023. They return to teach the same workshop Broom Making Basics, June 4–7, 2024.

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Ox-Bow is proud to platform a range of voices, ideas, and perspectives through its Efroymson Family Fund Visiting Artist Program. Every week of summer session, a new artist comes to campus to participate in the community, most notably through an artist talk open to everyone on campus.

From the Studio to the Table

Corey Pemberton brings a new glassblowing course to campus, including a dinner from a fairytale.

During one of my earliest visits to Ox-Bow, I stepped into the Burke Glass Studio and experienced the art of glass blowing for the first time. I’d never seen the likes of it: the furnace, molten glass, and sheer precision of the artists had me rapt. That studio in particular still holds a special place in my heart, and I often seek out reasons to venture over there. The summer of 2022 was no exception.

Eager for an excuse to return to my favorite spot on campus, I volunteered to scope out the new glass course being offered. Nix, one of the students, kindly walked me over to the studio one morning and toured me around the space, re-introducing me to the furnace, kiln, and benches, as well as a collection of completed glasswork. Soon the other students arrived. For most of them, this was their first time working with glass. Corey Pemberton introduced himself, shaking my hand after he set down a bag full of trout, asparagus, cherries, and garlic shoots. He and a few of his students had just returned from the local farmers’ market.

Corey Pemberton showcases mushrooms fresh from the Farmer’s Market. Photo by Yeji Kim (Summer Fellow, 2022)

“Anyone have a plate for asparagus?” Pemberton asked his students. This is not the typical question one expects from their professor, but this was not a typical intro-to-glass course. One by one, students held up wares in response to Pemberton’s oddly specific requests: water pitcher, trout platter, cherry bowl, charcuterie board, and even an asparagus plate. Fifteen minutes later they had found the proper vessels for their final evening on campus. Like many courses at Ox-Bow, the two week long session culminates in an exhibition. But this was no ordinary exhibition. This was a farm-to-studio-to-table dinner.

“This idea was inspired by the many meals I've shared with friends and fellow makers using hand made objects,” Corey later shared, “and by the intense bonds that are formed in a glassblowing studio.”

Despite having only one day left, the students had a decent amount of production ahead of them and they were about to learn one of the most essential lessons of the course.

“Alright, today we’re doing an assembly line of cups,” Pemberton announced. Throughout the week students have been working on their own pieces, start to finish. But Pemberton was about to shake things up. Each student would take a small portion of the process. The glass studio is typically a place where artists must collaborate with one another: opening and closing furnace doors, grabbing instruments, and shielding each others’ arms from the heat. That day’s collaborative exercise took their chemistry and trust to a new level.

The 2022 Studio Manager Yashu Reddy said it’s a helpful process to learn, one that’s not often taught. “This is what it looks like in a lot of professional settings,” Reddy noted. In Pemberton’s words, through this method “emphasis [is] placed less on the individual objects, and more on the overall experience, as well as the power of collaboration.” When a student asked about another’s role in the process, Pemberton stopped them. “You don’t need to worry about what she’s doing.” In this style of glass making, each student is tasked to mind their own business, to focus on one small step in the process.

A well dressed table sits in the center of the Burke Glass Studio. Photo courtesy of Corey Pemberton.

Pemberton’s teaching style exists in the liminal space between critique and camaraderie. One moment you might witness him offering much needed criticism, but minutes later you’ll catch him dancing across the studio floor when a student queues up a particularly catchy song. In essence, Pemberton fits right in with the spirit of Ox-Bow. Intense learning surrounded by intentional community. “It was the summer solstice and Beyonce had just dropped her single ‘Break my Soul’ and it was pulsing through the studio,” Pemberton recalled, “We worked hard, but still managed to take time to go to the beach, get root beer floats, and mingle with students from other [courses] around the bonfire.”

By the end of my afternoon with Pemberton and the students, they had produced an additional 15 cups. Outside of a few casualties throughout the process, it seemed each glass turned out better than the last.

Pemberton’s students gather around a stuffed table. One student raises a glass vessel. Photo by Yeji Kim (Summer Fellow, 2022)

The next day the table was set for a feast at 9:00 p.m., just in time for the evening light to cozy in behind the lagoon – and late enough for the woodland faeries to make an appearance. The students, Pemberton, and a lucky few guests arrived in flower crowns and flowy garments. Two weeks in the studio had led to this celebration, as had a long day in the kitchen for the Hospitality Department. Culinary Director Nicholas Jirasek and his team helped prepare fresh bread, grilled asparagus, herb-adorned trout, and two towering cakes for the event.

Pemberton noted that what first drew him to glass was “the obvious sensory experience” of the art form. The dinner cultivated a kindred ambiance. The rustle of trees, the twinkle of lantern lights, a curated tablescape, and the scents of the Ox-Bow’s kitchen – they all coalesced into a moment best described by the name of the dinner exhibition itself: Summer Solstice Woodland Fairie Realness.

True to the nature of art, especially glass, the intricacies of this course are never to be repeated. The same group of students will not gather together nor will the pieces they created ever find their way to the same table again. It was a fleeting and charmed moment. But that’s not to say that Corey Pemberton won’t be back. During the summer of 2023, Pemberton will teach a similar course; one that is sure to attract another bunch of one-of-a-kind artists who will create their own wares and feast. The course, aptly named “The Dinner Party,” is destined for enchantment – and you can bet that I’ll somehow find an excuse to pay that class a visit.

Corey Pemberton returns to Ox-Bow in Summer 2024 to teach “The Dinner Party,” Pemberton’s third installment of this event-based, studio-practice course at Ox-Bow.

Corey (American b. Reston, VA 1990) received his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012. He has completed residencies at The Pittsburgh Glass Center (Pennsylvania), Bruket (Bodø, Norway), Alfred University (New York), as well as a Core Fellowship at the Penland School of Crafts (North Carolina). He has exhibited work at the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (California), The Contemporary Museum of Art in Raleigh (North Carolina), and has work in the permanent collections of The Museum of Art and Design (New York), The Boston Museum of Fine Art (Massachuesetts), and The Chrysler Museum of Art (Virginia). Pemberton currently resides in Los Angeles, California where he splits his time between the nonprofit arts organization Crafting the Future, painting, and his glass practice. He strives to bring together people of all backgrounds and identities, breaking down stereotypes and building bridges; not only through his work with Crafting The Future but with his personal artistic practice as well.

This article was written by Shanley Poole, Engagement Liaison & Storyteller. The article was originally published in our Summer 2023 Catalog.

Then & Now: Intergenerational Art-Making Through the Years

Ox-Bow has played host to a variety of imaginations, the most receptive of them? Kids. Over the years, the children of professors, staff, guests, and neighbors of Ox-Bow have delighted in the wonders of the meadow, lagoon, studios, and trails. More than anyone else, these kids understand the magic of Ox.

Then:

Family Camp began as a place where artists and their families could gather together at Ox-Bow and make art. Created by Patricia Pelletier and Phil Hanson (the Academic Director at the time), the tradition lasted for over 10 years from the late 80’s to the early 2000’s. The one week class usually took place at the start or end of the summer season. In the morning, adults would attend class, while James Brandess led a session for the kiddos. Afternoons were reserved for family time: hiking, canoeing, or trips to the beach. Each day ended with an evening of intergenerational artmaking. Often hosted in the paint studio, group work usually focused on the creation of masks and costumes. Culminating annually into a Friday performance and parade, everyone would don their work on the meadow at the week’s end. 

Artists and families included Karl and Lori Wirsum, Bobbi and Steve Meier, Richard and Cathy Pearlman, Rodney and Renee Carswell, Paul Solomon, Nancy and Tom Melvin, E.W. Ross, Gretchen Brown and Peter Kuttner, Carol Neiger, Ginny Sykes, George Liebert, and Blair Thomas. A variety of disciplines were represented amongst the artists present including muralists, performance artists, photographers, ceramicists, painters, and filmmakers. President of Ox-Bow’s Board and former Family Camp attendee, Steve Meier reflected, “Many of our children ended up in creative fields, I would credit [this] somewhat to this experience – seeing artists work with their children among such a diverse group of creative people was a truly unique experience.”

Two participants, a child and adult, don homemade masks at Family Camp. Photo courtesy of Board President Steve Meier.

Now: 

For many Michiganders, summertime means beach days or trips Up North, but for artist and educator Kim Meyers Baas it means the annual Ox-Bow getaway. Baas first came to Ox-Bow as a graduate student from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she received her Masters of Art in Art Education. After graduating, she returned to Ox-Bow several times to take more courses. In the mid 2000’s the student became the teacher with a proposal to bring youth workshops to Ox-Bow.

A child and adult work on paintings at the edge of the woods on campus. Photo courtesy of Kim Meyers Baas.

Baas didn’t view the idea as revolutionary; in fact, it seemed all too natural. Kim noted, “There’s always been kids [at Ox-Bow]... it’s a kid’s dream!” The concept for youth workshops took inspiration from her mentor, the late E.W. Ross, a loyal member of the legendary Family Camps.

Over the years, Baas has created spaces for young artists throughout West Michigan, most recently creating a canvas quilt portrait of Patrick Lyoya in collaboration with students of East Kentwood High School. Lyoya was a Congolese refugee who was killed by a police officer in 2022; his death deeply grieved the community, especially impacting a number of Baas’s students who, like Lyoya, are also Congolese. Baas, alongside a number of students and a few other teachers, painted “Through the Veil,” which was then featured at the 2022 Art Prize Festival. “I feel like I’m part artist, part community organizer,” Baas said when reflecting on her work. “Amplifying voices is my true practice.”

A child sits in a tire swing with pencil and paper. Photo courtesy of Kim Meyers Baas.

After taking a pandemic-pause from Art on the Meadow workshops, Baas returned to Ox-Bow with a new plan of action in 2022: family workshops. The intergenerational aspect of Family Camp had long enticed Baas. In this new format, Baas facilitates various “ah-ha” moments with kids, while simultaneously encouraging parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles to work collaboratively with their young artists.

Over the course of the four workshops, participants explore ceramics, cyanotypes, and watercolor. Each workshop coincides with a natural theme: earth, sun, and water. The workshops’ environmental lens is very much intentional. Baas describes nature as a key part of “the Ox-Bow factor.” 
In 2023, Baas looks forward to bringing back family workshops. She plans to continue exploring art and the elements and is eager to introduce more families to the meadow. Returners might also notice a new addition to this year’s family series, entitled Seek, which Baas hinted will include a campus-wide treasure hunt. By popular demand, the Water workshop will be held twice this summer.

Headshot of Kim Meyers Baas, courtesy of the artist.

Kim Meyers Baas (she/her) is an arts educator who has worked in public and private settings in Michigan, Chicago, and on the Mexican/Texas border cultivating youth artists and community workers since 1992. Her teaching and art making practice focuses on exploring family identity, inequality, migration, cultural recognition, art and technology literacy, and media representation in marginalized communities.

Research and interviews were conducted by the article’s author, Shanley Poole, Engagement Liaison & Storyteller. The article was originally published in Experience Ox-Bow 2023.

Artist Interview: James Brandess

An interview with long-time Art on the Meadow Instructor James Brandess.

Tell us about yourself. Where did you grow up, and how did you come to Saugatuck?

I came to Saugatuck from Chicago, Illinois. I was a student at the Art Institute of Chicago. One day in late winter, I noticed on a bulletin board in the hallway of SAIC an ad for a summer maintenance position at a place called Ox-Bow in Saugatuck, Michigan. In return for three credits of independent study, we got room/board and a stipend.

Describe your own art practice. 

I am a painter. I work in oil paint and in watercolor. I often work from observation. Painting the landscape is a big part of my practice. When I was a student in Chicago, I often went into the environs of Chicago and painted the urban landscape. However, being at Ox-Bow provided the opportunity to work in a more rural environment. Ox-Bow was a place where I was able to leave my easel and my tables all set up. I was able to return to a painting day after day. At Ox-Bow, the changing light dictates the terms of the painting more so than the chaotic environment of a big city.

James Brandess, An Autumn Bouquet, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 34 x 30 inches

When and how did you first come to know Ox-Bow?

My first summer at Ox-Bow was 1987. I applied for the job that was listed in a flyer on the bulletin board outside what was then the second-floor figure-painting studio at the Columbus Drive Building at SAIC. E. W. Ross, who had just stepped into his role of administering Ox-Bow, hired me. Two board members brought me up to Ox-Bow before the season started and dropped me right in the middle of the empty campus. I spent summers at Ox-Bow until 1994, when I started my studio in downtown Saugatuck. 

How long have you taught workshops for our Art on the Meadow program, and what keeps bringing you back?

I taught my first classes at Ox-Bow in 1989. One class, which I started, was called “Art for Kids.” It cost five dollars. It ran from 10 till noon on Saturday mornings for kids ages six through 12. To this day, I remain friends with some of those families. Some of the kids now have kids. Also, through Ox-Bow, I started to teach older students. There wasn’t the Art in the Meadow as we know it today. Through outreach with Saugatuck, we taught classes in the gazebo in downtown Saugatuck, and also at places like Upward Bound at Hope College.

What keeps bringing me back is that teaching at Ox-Bow is another way to be part of the true spirit of the place.

James Brandess, Texas Bluebonnets, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 9 x 6 inches

You were a participant in an Art on the Meadow Workshop in 2020; tell us about that experience.

It was wonderful. I understand the process people go through to take a class, the indecision right up to the last moment, the hesitancy of, “Do I really want to commit to this? Can I afford the time?” Then, showing up and being absorbed and knowing that I am in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

 How many paintings have you created based on the landscape of Ox-Bow?

Quite a few. The very first paintings I showed in my studio in downtown Saugatuck were Ox-Bow landscapes—in all seasons. Some of the early paintings done at Ox-Bow were portraits done in 1987.

You’ve been involved with Ox-Bow a long time; what is one of your fondest/funniest memories?

One of my fondest memories is turning off the lights in my studio in the Bogart late at night and following the dark path through the woods, past the Inn and up the hill to my cabin. I felt divinely guided. 

James Brandess maintains his studio in Saugatuck, where he also conducts painting workshops for adults and children. He is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

This interview was originally published in the 2021 issue of Experience Ox-Bow.

Wild Rice Restoration

Gun Lake Tribe Helps Mnomen Return to Local Waters

What is Mnomen?

Mnomen literally translates into good seed. But what is mnomen? In a temptation to oversimplify, one could define it merely as wild rice, but mnomen is much more than a food source, especially to citizens of Gun Lake Tribe.

A visit to the rice beds traditionally starts with an offering of sema, tobacco. Depending on the season, this is issued in combination with prayers, requests for permission to harvest, and statements of intention: This is for my family. This is for a ceremony. The relationship between Gun Lake Tribe citizens and mnomen isn’t exclusive to the harvest; it’s year round. Citizens visit the rice beds to put the rice to sleep every winter, and to wake it every spring. The process is not just about taking, far from it. “We’re trying to help the rice, not just feed ourselves. Revitalization is our main focus,” shared Mno Mijem Sovereignty Coordinator, Wyatt Szpliet.

At Ox-Bow

In 2020 the Environmental Administration of Gun Lake Tribe reached out to Ox-Bow and the Land Conservancy of West Michigan. The portion of the lagoon leading into the channel held all the markers of an area that might foster mnomen growth. Seeding efforts began that year and have continued on since. In future years, the hope is to create a sustainable rice bed that will not only be harvested for food, but will help ensure the preservation of mnomen itself.

History

“We consider the rice sacred,” Jeff Martin shared. The three tribe nations across Michigan all share the same heritage story of moving from East to West. The Great Spirit had told them through prophecy to look for the place where food grew on water. When they reached the Great Lakes, when they found mnomen… they knew they were home. This is one of the many reasons why mnomen is much more than just rice, it’s a fulfillment of the Great Spirit’s promise.

Harvest

The harvesting process takes place over about seven days. Many community members join both because of the cultural celebration that it is and because many hands make light work. It begins with gathering the rice into canoes. This process involves careful maneuvering, which is done not by paddle but by gajwéb’egen, a push pole. These cedar poles, usually hand carved, keep the root systems of the wild rice intact, whereas a paddle might damage the mnomen and other companion plants.

Shorter cedar poles, bwe’gen, or knockers, are used to knock the rice seed into the canoe. From there the seeds are transported via grain bags to a location where they can be parched within the week; this process prevents molding so the grains can be stored long term. After parching, hulling begins. Hullers wear a pair of mkeznen, shoes, reserved exclusively for this practice as they dance upon the mnomen and separate seed from its outer shell. The seed and husk are then winnowed, a process in which the mix is lightly tossed. The wind carries the husk away while the seed falls back into the birch winnowing basket. At this stage, the rice is ready to be cooked up or stored for the months to come.

Companion Plants & Invasives

When finding locations to seed mnomen, Szpliet shared they “want to keep it comfortable and companion planted.” This means scouting for areas with arrowhead plants and native cattails. Szpliet noted that the invasive purple loosestrife also shares similar preference to mnomen, but is notorious for out competing with the native species. Control of invasives such as purple loosestrife, non-native cattails, and phragmites are all vital to restoration efforts.

What happened to all the rice?

Wild lake and river rice once grew in abundance throughout Michigan, but began shrinking over time. It was just in the last 20 years that rice in Gun Lake stopped going to seed. What marked the change? Much of it has to do with water-based recreation such as speedboats, which harm the rice beds. Certain agricultural processes such as fertilizers also lead to increased algae blooms. What can be done to help? Szpliet and Martin emphasized the importance of spreading the word on how these practices harm mnomen. “We have to compete with nature already,” Szpliet said. Water Resource Specialist, Alex Wieten, also specified that increased regulations could help protect mnomen long term.

At the Table

Traditionally, every feast includes mnomen. When the youth council helped with the harvest preparations last year, they learned how to bundle the rice together to make an easier harvest later in the season. For each bundle they put prayers out and let the rice know who they were harvesting for, whether it be for their own family or for a larger celebration or ceremony such as the annual Pow Wow.

With the number of harvestable rice beds having diminished in prior years, many bands visit harvest sites on the land of other bands. When asking another band for permission to harvest, it’s common practice to offer sema. And when offers are accepted, the additional gift of a bundle of baskets, medicine, and the previous year’s harvest are often included.

Gun Lake Tribe

The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi is a sovereign nation with powers of self-government, dedicated to upholding the values and culture of their elders. A key aspect of this includes carrying on traditions and protecting land and natural resources, as is evident in the seeding and harvesting efforts of mnomen. We’re so thankful for the investment Gun Lake Tribe has shown in the land and for the time they gave to teach us about the restoration efforts happening on the Ox-Bow Lagoon and throughout Michigan.

Ox-Bow sits on the unceded land of the Potawatomi, who called themselves Neshnabek, meaning “original people” or “true people.” We acknowledge the Potawatomi community, their elders both past and present, and their future generations as the original inhabitants of this land.

This article was written by Shanley Poole, Engagement Liaison & Storyteller, and shaped through conversation with Gun Lake Tribe’s Environmental Department and the following resources. We recommend taking the time to learn more by exploring them:

“Anam Manoomin’n” by Augustin of the Road

“Mnomen (Wild Rice)” A documentary short by Gun Lake Tribe.

“Mnomen - the Good Seed Re-Awakens,” A documentary short by the Tribal Environmental Advisory Council for the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi.

Photos courtesy of Gun Lake Tribe.

Artist Profile: Chidinma Nnoli

Chidinma Nnoli creates a place to belong in her holy, haunting paintings.

Artist and Ox-Bow Alumni Chidinma Nnoli resists those that put her in boxes, and I understand why. She describes herself as a homebody who rarely leaves her home studio in Lagos, Nigeria, but in 2023 she spent two months in London, three weeks in Florida, and another three at Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency. It all began with a desire to explore new places and create without the pressure of deadlines. “I needed to pause… and put out work that I was curious about,” Nnoli specified. To spur this shift, she decided to get out of her home studio, and the country while she was at it. “I wanted to go out and see new things,” Nnoli said. And so she did.

Nnoli didn’t find herself navigating any major shifts in her work while she was abroad. Instead, she spent time resolving paintings and, particularly at Ox-Bow, enjoying quiet time for contemplation. “I needed time to be in a space that was different,” Nnoli said. She used those three weeks to follow intuition and pick up whatever materials she felt inclined towards. Instead of exploring new territory, she dove further into the subjects and narratives that she has paid diligent tribute to over the years. 

The pains of growing, 2022, oil and acrylic on canvas, 62 x 54 inches

This habit of diving deeper is not new to Nnoli. When engaging with her practice, it’s clear she has sunk her teeth into something substantial. Her past three bodies of work share a kindred core, but each investigates new subtleties and depths. “When I think about my work, I think about it like a journey, like interconnected phases,” Nnoli explained. She has ventured through this journey at paradoxical speeds. On the one hand, she works through expansive and cohesive bodies of work simultaneously; on the other, each painting reveals the dedication and attunement of an artist that gives each piece the time it is due, never rushing to complete the next. 

Like the artist behind the paintings, Nnoli’s work defies neat boxes and definitions. She skirts away from words that might assign theories and abstractions. “I’m talking about belonging and the search for belonging” she says of her latest body of work. And as she shares more about her practice it becomes clear that she’d much rather engage in conversation about matters of the heart than words that might threaten to academize her paintings. 

“I feel grief, you know, and I hope that's something that is visible within the work,” Nnoli says. This grief she refers to is rooted in her empathy for women, an empathy which serves as her primary lens for the world. When she heard the news about Morocco’s earthquake, the first thought that passed her mind was, “What are the women going through? What is it like for them?”

None of these clocks work, 2020, oil on canvas, 40 x 48 inches

These questions and Nnoli’s deep well of empathy are often sources that exhaust her. To replenish her hope and wellbeing she credits three things: detoxing from the internet, spending time with friends, and listening to music. “I have amazing people around me,” Nnoli glowed as she mentioned them and reflected on the power of having a community with shared values. Similarly, she fills her studio with the music of powerful and heartfelt voices such as Florence & the Machine, Lorde, and Lana Del Rey.

Nnoli did not shy from the label feminist being attributed to herself, saying she identified as such “even before [she] knew what the word meant,” but she insists that her work is more than feminist. “I’m talking about things from a very personal point of view,” she elaborates, “it’s very feminist, but at the same time, I think the art world has this way of running with labels.” She fears that such labels will constrain and limit her work as well as misguide the emotions of viewers. Her ultimate desire is not that viewers will see a painting as feminist, but rather as soft, sad, and haunting. She hopes others will walk away with feelings rather than categorizations. 

Untitled, 2021, oil on arc shaped panel, 34 x 50 inches

Evident also in Nnoli’s practice is an insistent muse who rises from an unexpected source. “Religion is very much evident in my work,” Nnoli shared, “That’s something I've been trying to escape somehow, but it just keeps coming back,” as is seen in her depictions of arches, halos, and rosaries. Nnoli described her experience growing up in Lagos as one shaped by patriarchy and conservative Catholicism. Though Nnoli’s works contain an ethereal quality, I would describe the religious elements in them as haunting rather than heavenly. They hint towards familiar corruptions present in reality. However, they do manage small comforts with an implicit proposal of a differing potential, a holiness rooted in open meadows, an overgrowth of flowers, and women whose faces bleed wisdom and sorrow.

As she reflected on the cultural context’s effect on her work, she realized “that's probably why I create these dreamlike spaces that do not exist… because I don't currently know where I am or am headed. I just know I'm just finding that.” In her paintings she can carve out this space for herself, and others.

While Nnoli humbly protests that her works won’t change lives, I beg to differ. I see images and narratives that have already touched viewers at Ox-Bow and beyond. Arts writer Daniel Mackenzie sums it up well when he writes, “The wider effect of spending time with Chidinma's work is one of comfort, that the suppressed among us are being watched over; that the lonely can find comfort in universal forces that, though not always easy to detect, are always there.” Nnoli’s modest hope and belief is that her works “might be able to start a conversation.” And I would argue that such conversations are the seeds and eventual roots of life changing actions.

Banner Image: Various storms and saints, 2022, oil and acrylic on canvas, 72 x 62 inches

Headshot of Chidinma Nnoli courtesy of the artist.

Chidinma Nnoli (b. 1998 Enugu, Nigeria) is an artist working primarily with painting. Her practice contemplates the importance of a single subject ’s embodied experience(s), overlaying the past unto the present while insisting on the emotional link between body and space often in conflict with self and a background mostly saturated with religion and gendered obligations. Nnoli earned her BFA from the University of Benin and has gone on to participate in solo and group exhibitions internationally. Her works are a part of several notable collections and have been featured in Hyperallergic, The New York Times, Colossal, and Vogue. She currently lives and works in Lagos.

Ox-Bow’s Summer Residency Program offers 12 artists the time, space, and community to encourage growth and experimentation in their practice for three weeks on campus. The Summer Residencies are held while our core classes and community programs are in session. During this time, a small group of residents have access to Ox-Bow’s artist community of students, faculty, and visiting artists.

Our Summer Residencies are open to artists at any level. Currently enrolled students, MFA candidates, arts faculty, emerging, or established artists are encouraged to apply.

To learn more about the Summer Residency Program visit www.ox-bow.org/be-a-resident

This article was written by Engagement Liaison & Storyteller, Shanley Poole.

LeRoy Neiman Fellow: Natia Ser

In a stunning performance piece, Natia Ser invited fellow artists and residents of Ox-Bow out on the water to share an intimate meal and conversation.

There are a handful of places on campus that radiate a powerful energy, the lagoon being the epicenter of this force. After three summers at Ox-Bow, I am still drawn to its shores. Artist and 2023 LeRoy Neiman Fellow Natia Ser felt her own distinct attraction to the waters. She ended up staging her performance piece on the floating dock, which sits a few yards off the lagoon’s shore and has hosted many other pieces and exhibitions over the years. At this point, it feels almost tradition that at least one takes place every summer on the dock.

Ser’s fascination with water started from a young age. Her mother, concerned about the lack of water signs in Ser’s Chinese horoscope charts, strongly discouraged her daughter from spending time near water—though not without sending her to swimming classes first. Naturally, the allure became that much stronger for Ser. 

Natia Ser, Michael Stone, and Shanley Poole sit on the floating dock. Photo by Daniel Fethke.

Of all my memories on campus over the past years, Ser’s performance piece “A Sunday Brunch” stands as one of the most meaningful, perhaps because of the extent to which Ser involved both participants and the lagoon. In some ways, performance feels too distant of a word; it might better be called an immersive experience. Regardless of its title, the entire piece demonstrated Ser’s eye for intention and commitment to care.

Visitors could only venture out to the floating dock on their own or with one other person. I set about with my dear friend and coworker Michael Stone via canoe. When we neared the dock, we secured the vessel and climbed aboard to where Ser sat. Next to her were two containers of food and between her and us were fifteen or so bowls, which Ser had  crafted over the summer. She invited us each to choose one. All of the bowls were flipped upside down, showcasing unglazed stoneware with concentric circles marking the gentle elevation of the bowl and also evoking the image of ripples in water. She asked us to choose whichever one called to us.

A bowl filled with a noodle dish sits next to several other bowls positioned upside down, all crafted by Natia Ser. Photo by Natia Ser.

Natia later shared that she viewed these bowls as islands, which called towards a sketch she’d rendered that summer after many sittings observing ripples in the lagoon’s waters. The sketch depicted a collection of islands, each with their own person standing on it. “Different bowls represent different islands, which represent different people.” Ser said. But by clustering them together, they reinforce a paradox that “you are your own identity but we were together briefly.”

When I made my choice, I flipped the bowl over to reveal a smooth glaze of light blue-green with flecks of brown and gray. Each had been formed not by a potter’s wheel, but instead by molding the clay around a rock foraged from campus. The bowl’s deepest point was marked with a seal featuring Chinese characters in sigillary script. I later asked Ser what it meant and she informed me it was a signature of sorts that a family friend had carved. It lists Ser’s Chinese name with an added message. Ser specified, “It doesn’t just say my name, 沅珈, but it also says 無恙… my best way of translating this is 'Natia is unharmed.'” A fitting message for the performance piece, this poeticism was not lost on Ser. “I thought it was very perfect that I stamped it in this project specifically on a bowl that really is about me, kind of in a way transgressing my mother's prohibitions, but also having this assertion that I am safe in a place on the waters where she thought I would be in danger,” she said. Ser also rested in the comfort that “if something did go wrong on the waters, the lovely Ox-Bow community would come to my rescue in no time. A part of me thought that if I drowned, Samson [the lagoon’s giant turtle] would be there to lift me up and push me back on shore.”

Sketches of people standing on islands and swimming from one to another, ultimately inspired the shape of Ser’s ceramic wares. Photo by Natia Ser.

Ser first filled our bowl with fried vermicelli and pork. While we ate, she invited us to share a story with her in exchange for the next dish. Specifically, Ser asked us to give her a story or memory from our pasts that connected our families to food. I spoke of a family recipe passed down through generations, which started with my grandmother’s stepfather. Michael spoke of pizza nights and the recipe his father perfected.

After we finished our noodles, Ser thanked us for our stories and filled our bowls with congee, a Chinese rice porridge. While we sipped, she told us of her mother preparing the dish at home in Hong Kong. Often, it was prepared for Ser when she was sick. Here another layer of poeticism emerges, echoing against the stamp at the bowl’s base. Another translation of the insignia was “Natia is free of illness.” How playfully ironic then to be served the dish that her mother served her on day’s she stayed home with the common cold. “I never planned for everything to come together,” Ser said with a dash of revelry. It was a performance that seemed truly charged by some muse with all its serendipitous connections.

Ser casts the shape of a bowl around a rock found on campus. Photo courtesy of the artist.

I left the dock feeling filled, not just physically by the food but on a soul level. Ser’s gentle voice in harmony with the lapping of the water, the slight sway of the floating dock, the sun warm and insistent. It all coalesced, and the canoe ride to and from the performance accented the intentionality surrounding the entire piece.

The bowl that Ser gifted me with now sits at the desk of my studio from where I currently write. It serves as a soft reminder of the lagoon, of the conversations it has hosted, and all its other provisions.

Ser passes a bowl of congee to a visitor. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Of course, this snapshot on the lagoon is just a fraction of what Ser generously offered to Ox-Bow this summer. It’d be a shame to not at least briefly mention the other marks she left on campus. I had the honor of working alongside her when she joined the Ox-Bow Communications team for the Summer 2023 LeRoy Neiman Fellowship. From the start, she showed a hunger to immerse herself in various studios, take on ambitious video projects, and capture the moments of the season with photo after photo.

She not only has an eye for aesthetics, but a keen reverence that allows her to capture an intangible that makes her photos so alluring. In addition to taking stills, Natia also created two films during her time at Ox-Bow. The first, a stop motion animation, showcased the summer harvests of our food partner Eighth Day Farms.

Ser also collaborated with Print and New Media Studio Manager Madeleine Aguilar to create a video that accompanies Aguilar’s latest single “Ox-Bow - summer 2023” which (in theme with her Ox-Bow EP) focuses on Aguilar’s latest season on campus. While this video has yet to be released, the collaboration is sure to be one that holds the tender, ethereal quality that accompanies both Ser and Aguilar’s work.

Most recently, Ser returned to campus post-fellowship as a photographer documenting our 2023 Longform Residency cohort.

A snapshot from shore shows Natia Ser at a distance, sitting on the floating dock with two visitors. Photo by Daniel Fethke.

Natia Ser is a photography-based artist born and raised in Hong Kong. Her work engages in notions of familiarity and estrangement, longing and belonging from the perspective of an itinerant currently based in Chicago. In December 2023, she will complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Photography and Visual and Critical Studies at the School of the Art Institute, where she was awarded the Presidential Merit Scholarship, Fred Endsley Memorial Fellowship and Graduating Student Leadership Award. She has received the Luminarts Visual Arts Fellowship (Finalist), LeRoy Neiman Fellowship, and Award for Excellence in Illinois College Newspapers (1st Place Feature Photo and 2nd Place Photo Essay). Her work has been exhibited in Hong Kong, Chicago and Japan, with some resting on the shelves of John M. Flaxman Library's Special Collections. She was the translator for Photography. My Passion. My Life., the most recent photobook of late Hong Kong photographer Fan Ho.

The LeRoy Neiman Fellowship Program offers applicants a fully funded opportunity to focus on their work, meet with renowned artists, and grow as members of this unique community. The fellows experience the entire summer session and live on campus where they provide support labor to an arts non-profit and participate in all areas of campus life. By working closely with staff, fellows develop relationships with others who have also made artmaking their lives.

To learn more about the LeRoy Neiman Fellowship Program visit www.ox-bow.org/fellowship-program.

This article was written by Engagement Liaison & Storyteller, Shanley Poole.

LeRoy Neiman Fellow: EXYL

From producing music videos to starring in short films to hand-drafting animations, LeRoy Neiman Fellow EXYL packed their summer with an abundance of creative output. While they expressed feeling an immense amount of pressure to do while at Ox-Bow, they simultaneously acknowledged they didn’t feel pressure to succeed. Instead, they gave themself permission to experiment.

“I would define my work as a stubborn love letter,” EXYL said. When asked for clarification they added, “I hate love stories.” This love letter finds its stubbornness in the resistance between EXYL’s tendency to keep their feet on the ground, while also not being able to resist the palpable, anti-gravity force of love that snakes its way into their work. Their practice is rooted in the exploration of communication, people, compromise, and resolution. And while they resist the word narrative being assigned to their work, I can’t help but see an abstract one forming in these concepts, one that speaks to some archetypal experience that can perhaps best be described as simply human.

In the music video they created for Visiting Artist Melina Ausikaitis’s song “He’s Great,” EXYL employs bright lights, quick cuts, jerky camera movements, and minimalist lyric-based animations to make an intoxicating and clever piece. Their film “Conversations with a Koel Bird,” which won the Terry Schwartz Asian Film Prize at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, shows an entire other side of the emotional and stylistic spectrum that EXYL is capable of channeling. Where the music video is fast and sharp, “Conversations with a Koel Bird” is slow and gentle. Present in both is a clear yearning, an element that makes EXYL uncomfortable, but they recognize as essential. “There's an undeniable romance and desire in my films that I don't think I can run away from,” they said. “Maybe it's the Cancer Moon talking,” they added with a smile.

A few of the poems from a series by EXYL. Images courtesy of the artist.

This yearning in connection with community is the element I most appreciate in their work. When EXYL moved from Singapore to Rhode Island, they observed that American creatives often center their practice in research or internal identity. Research, they openly admitted, wasn’t something that dramatically fueled them. While they have toyed with this western emphasis on identity, EXYL provides a fresh lens to their films by exploring identity in relation first to how it connects to community and others beyond the self.

It’s fitting then too, to see EXYL leaning into these communal ethics outside of their own projects. Throughout the summer, they also collaborated with artist and LeRoy Neiman Fellow Jack Holly as one of the actors in Holly’s film “Big Yellow Horse,” which saw its debut with a screening on the meadow during their final week on campus.

As a LeRoy Neiman Fellow, EXYL also participated in a work placement on campus in Housekeeping. “I've always wanted to be part of a small community where everything can be seen and touched by hands and eyes and people that you see and interact with,” EXYL said, “and I feel like [Ox-Bow] was the perfect example of a place that is small enough to do that.” In the day to day work and normalities of Housekeeping they found a sense of comfort in its physical nature, which kept them grounded to the present. “It's a very physical place… you're getting bitten by mosquitoes or you're trying to carry heavy baskets up the stairwells or trying to protect your paper from moisture and dampness.” And though this may sound like a level of hell to some, EXYL spoke of it with affection. This physicality fell in rhythm with EXYL’s natural connection with the here and now.

While EXYL insists they spend most of their time in tune with the present, that doesn’t stop them from actively pursuing their future. This fall, EXYL will take up a residency in the Dirt Palace, a feminist-run space project in Providence, Rhode Island.

EXYL holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. The LeRoy Neiman Fellowship Program offers applicants a fully funded opportunity to focus on their work, meet with renowned artists, and grow as members of this unique community. The fellows experience the entire summer session and live on campus where they provide support labor to an arts non-profit and participate in all areas of campus life. By working closely with staff, fellows develop relationships with others who have also made artmaking their lives.

To learn more about the LeRoy Neiman Fellowship Program visit www.ox-bow.org/fellowship-program.

EXYL is a filmmaker and animator born and raised in Singapore. They were trained in painting and drawing, but eventually moved into time based mediums like live action and animation. They work extensively with analogue mediums and sound design.

Their films have shown in internationally acclaimed festivals like Ann Arbor, Singapore International Film Festival, Encounters, San Diego Underground, Flickers Rhode Island, Linoleum and more. They were awarded the Terri Schwartz Asian Film Award at Ann Arbor and Best Animation at National Youth Film Awards Singapore.

They will be attending residencies at Ox-Bow School of Art, Dirt Palace Providence, and I-Park Connecticut in the next year.

This article was written by Engagement Liaison & Storyteller, Shanley Poole and was based on an interview conducted by the author.