Open Studio Spotlight: Hite Institute Grows West in Portland

On the outside, right now, it is a decidedly non-descript building. There is evidence of renovation, but no signage yet. Come closer to the building at 1606 Rowan Street though…press your face against the new glass windows and you will discover that the interior is much further along. Freshly painted drywall and track lights are visible and some random art paraphernalia is finding its way to these rooms.  

Helen Payne

The University of Louisville Hite Art Institute’s Master of Fine Arts program is moving into the historic Portland neighborhood of Louisville a little early because this Saturday and Sunday is the annual Open Studio Weekend, and Curatorial Studies professor and Director of Galleries Chris Reitz has been determined to see this location included on this 5th year of touring artist’s studios. Open Studio Weekend is a co-production of Louisville Visual Art and the University of Louisville’s Hite Institute, a fundraiser for LVA’s Children’s Fine Art Classes and the Hite’s Mary Spencer Nay Scholarship.

The inclusion of the Hite MFA studios represents a dramatic expansion of Open Studio Weekend participants in the Portland neighborhood, which includes artists Victor Sweatt and Tara Remington in the LVA building at 1538 Lytle Street, just 2 blocks from Hite, John Brooks’ Quappi Projects space next door to LVA, Billie Bradford’s woodworking shop across Lytle Street from LVA, sculptor Bryan Holden on Main Street, and the Dolfinger Building on Montgomery Street, which will include painter Julia Davis and fiber artists Colleen and Maggie Clines.

Occupying a renovated warehouse constructed in the 1800s, the Fine Arts Department will offer studio space for MFA students and faculty focusing on ceramics, drawing, fiber, glass, painting, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media, book arts, and design. Faculty and MFA program artists who are listed as participants in the 2018 Open Studio Weekend are: 

Mitch Eckert – Photography                         James Grubola - Drawing
Scott Massey - Sculpture                              Tiffany Calvert – Painting
Ying Kit Chan – Mixed Media                      Moonhe Baik - Fiber
Barbara Hanger - Drawing                          Mary Carothers – Mixed Media
Zed Saeed – Photography                            Megan Bickel - Painting
Helen Payne – Drawing                                Reid Broadstreet – Mixed Media
Che Rhodes - Glass                                       Rachid Tagoulla – Photography
Monica Stewart – Mixed Media                   Lauren Bader - Sculpture
Shae Goodlet - Drawing                                Katherine Watts - Printmaking
Todd Burns – Ceramics                                KCJ Szwedzinski - Glass
Tammy Burke – Mixed Media                     Meena Khalili – Mixed Media         
Karen Weeks - Printmaking                                                                                               

The building will also provide space for the Anthropology department’s Master’s program, with gallery space and outreach programs planned for the Portland neighborhood. Construction will continue for some time, but classes in the building are scheduled to begin in January 2019.   

Open Studio Weekend Directories are being sold at the following locations:

Moonhe Baik, 33"x168" 100% cotton thread, 100% linen thread threadwork

AA Clay Studio & Gallery - 2829 S 4th Street, Louisville, KY
AC Hotel Marriott - 727 E Market Street, Louisville, KY
Artist & Craftsman Supply - 1002 Barret Avenue, Louisville, KY
CRAFT{s} Gallery & Mercantile - 572 S 4th Street, Louisville, KY
Cressman Center for Visual Arts - 100 E Main Street, Louisville, KY
Kentucky Fine Art Gallery - 2400 Lime Kiln Lane, Louisville, KY
Kentucky Mudworks - 506 Baxter Avenue, Louisville, KY
Louisville Visitor Center - 301 S 4th Street, Louisville, KY
Louisville Visual Art - 1538 Lytle Street, Louisville, KY
Nitty Gritty - 996 Barret Avenue, Louisville, KY
Preston Arts Center - 3048 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY
Revelry Boutique Gallery - 742 E Market St, Louisville, KY
Silica Ceramic Studio - 222 W 6th Street, Jeffersonville, IN 

Juried Exhibition Opening Reception and OSW Launch Party

November 2, 2018
6:00pm–8:00pm
The Cressman Center (100 E. Main St.)

Open Studio Weekend Self-guided Tours

November 3-4, 2018
Saturday and Sunday 12 noon–6pm

“35 THINGS THAT HAVE ONCE TOUCHED EACH OTHER STAY UNITED” by Megan Bickel, c-print. Digital Collage of artist materials: glitter, holographic film, excerpts from "too nice"

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved. In addition to his work at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville.

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Vignette: Zed Saeed

"Loreen Suleiman (Kurdistan") by Zed Saeed, Settled in Louisville by Catholic Charities-Migration and Refugee Services, Gelatin Silver Print, 20x24in, NFS

Some of the faces look like they could be from Louisville. Maybe the man grew up in the Russell neighborhood instead of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Other faces are wrapped in a hajib or other fabric head covering, so that we immediately assume that they have come here from another part of the world, even though we know America has a large Muslim population. Yet others show something about the features, or the set of the eyes, or maybe an expression of uncertain humility that feels unfamiliar to anyone born in the U.S.

Zed Saeed is an art and documentary photographer currently working with recent refugees and immigrants that have settled in Kentucky. In Louisville, he connects with these individuals mostly through the Catholic Charities-Migration and Refugee Services. Saeed believes strongly in the power of photography to create connections and to alter perceptions about people, places and things.

There is incongruity in the idea that a recent arrival from Somalia wears a Twilight: New Moon hoodie, and mistrust in the face of one girl, a distinct wariness that is missing in her sister, whose open and peaceful countenance peers out from with a hajib. Their family has fled the Syrian Civil War, traveling halfway across the globe, to a place entirely foreign to them, not by choice, but simply to survive – to live.  

"The Suleman Family" by Zed Saeed, Settled in Louisville by Catholic Charities-Migration and Refugee Services, Gelatin Silver Print, NFS

Saeed captures these people with stark simplicity that refuses to overlay any agenda except to witness them in all of their humanity. Most Americans cannot easily fathom the danger of their treacherous journey, or the heartbreak of having your community devastated by the horrific violence of modern-day warfare. If we ask ourselves whether or not we could find the courage, how would we answer - yes or no?. Perhaps this family never imagined that they could either, until there was no other choice. Can we accept such perseverance as anything less than heroic?

Saeed is currently featured in Looking Up: Heroes For Today – An LVA Exhibit at Metro Hall, which is on exhibit through January 11, 2019 at Louisville’s Metro Hall, 511 West Jefferson Street.

His photographs have been featured in Louisville magazine and shown at local galleries. Saeed is a grant recipient for his photographic work from the Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project and the Kentucky Arts Council. Saeed has also taught photography for many years around the country. He is currently a student at the Hite Art Institute at University of Louisville in the Masters of Fine Art program.

Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Education: BFA in Film Studies from Hampshire College, Amherst, MA; In his second year (of 3) at U of L's Masters of Fine Art program at the Hite Art Institute.
Website: www.zedsaeedphoto.com

"Parveen Suleiman (Kurdistan") by Zed Saeed, Settled in Louisville by Catholic Charities-Migration and Refugee Services, Gelatin Silver Print, 20x24in, NFS

"Montgomery Street School (Trophy Room)" by Zed Saeed, (Light painting photography), Photo: 20”x30”. Frame: 32”x42”. Metallic Print, $750

"Montgomery Street School (Men's Room)" by Zed Saeed, (Light painting photography), Photo: 20”x30”. Frame: 32”x42”. Metallic Print, $750

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more