American artist Janeil Engelsted and Slovakian artist Oto Hudec joined ArtMill as Artists in Residence from July 5 – 15, 2012

 

Janeil, speaking about their residencies said:

 

Heading into ArtMill I had many ideas, plans and a lengthy to do list (3 note pad pages)!

My intention was to catch fully up on MAP work and to catch-up and brainstorm with Oto Hudec, who has made both creative and administrative contributions to the project, about upcoming MAP exhibitions and other MAP initiatives.

While I accomplished many of the things on the list (and several things that I had not written down or pre-planned) ArtMill was not the kind of place, at least for me, where one takes a list. That does not mean that we did not work. We participated in the ArtMill summer camp in several different ways including running workshops and we did a lot of work that didn’t look like work – while swimming, playing the guitar (Oto), taking walks, and conversing with ArtMill folk around the fire ideas were quietly nurturing and taking shape.

And this is a point of a residency isn’t it? To work outside of one’s space? At ArtMill this not only meant working in a different physical environment, but also working in a different mental and spiritual environment. As a result ideas are still blossoming and that to do list? It has been thrown away and is being crafted in an entirely new way.

 

 

The work Janeil and Oto produced can be seen and heard here:

Animation - https://vimeo.com/45403815

Instrument for listening (video at Califia Exhibit) - https://vimeo.com/45746078

Zakti Blog (Tea Workshop) - http://www.zakti.com/journal

Exhibiting at Califia (Blog Post on MAP) - http://makeartwithpurpose.net/blog.php

 

 

 

 

Janeil Engelstad is an artist, curator, educator and producer. Independently and collaboratively, she has produced exhibitions and multiform projects throughout the world. Her creative practice and community advocacy work have often dovetailed into projects that address concerns such as youth and gang violence, homelessness, peace, and ecology. Her process for this work involves embedding herself in communities, extensive research, and building coalitions between universities, government agencies, NGOs, and others. These projects often create a place for individuals and groups who do not have access to art making opportunities or a voice in the media to express their identity, experiences, and points of view.

 

Engelstad’s work has been exhibited internationally and featured in media outlets, such as Art News, Metropolis, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Timeout Chicago, NBC Nightly News, and NBC Today Show. Visualizing Violence, a national project that addressed youth gun violence, which she co-produced with World Studio Foundation was selected for the prestigious “ID Forty” award, an annual listing of leading innovators in design by ID: The Magazine of International Design. She has received project support from The Boeing Company, Clear Channel Communications, Neiman Marcus, Polaroid Corporation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, Central European Foundation, Chicago Public Art Group, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and other foundations and corporations. 

 

In 2010 Engelstad founded Make Art With Purpose (MAP) an organization and virtual resource center for creative projects that are shaping and transforming our world in positive ways. The MAP website is an open-source, interactive, virtual resource center that includes how-to plans for people to replicate similar projects in their own communities. MAP partners with artists, NGOs, scientists, and others to produce projects, exhibitions, conferences, and other public programs that are rooted in consciousness and include ideas for positive environmental and social change. Engelstad has taught and lectured at universities throughout North America and Europe and in 2006 she was a Fulbright Scholar at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. She has a MFA in photography from a joint program between New York University and the International Center of Photography and BAs in English and Political Science from the University of Washington, Seattle.

 

 

 

 

Multi-media artist Oto Hudec was born in Kosice, Slovakia. His recent work has been created in the in USA, Portugal and Slovakia. His paintings, drawings and prints explore both personal and social themes. He also creates video and work for public spaces about immigration, refugees and the impact of globalization on the environment.

 

Hudec's work includes his 2007project, “Million Stars Hotel” which explores various ways of documenting a Moroccan landscape, and its people, in the Atlas Mountains through large scale painting, documentary video and sketches. In 2007 he realized first of his concerts for landscapes, when he performed “Concert for the Great Cold Valley” for 7000 feet mountains covered by snow. Interventions in public spaces, which combined painting and performance, include “The Skier” in Porto, Portugal and “The Night” in Valencia, Spain (both in 2008). He has also realized wall pieces for public spaces, including “Regatta de Blanc” in London and “Re-cycled Memory”, a contribution to the project, “Voices From the Center” installed in three Slovak cities. His participation in “Bienal Mercosul” in Porto Alegre, Brazil (2009) included the video “Drawing for Filó” which addresses social themes and questions the truthfulness of human memory. In October 2009, as a member of the collaborative, Van Driver he prepared “Home” a street art intervention bringing ecological facts and home energy saving tips to Porto citizens. In the fall of 2009, he also produced his second solo exhibition, “Paradise in State of Emergency” in KubikGallery, Porto.

 

In 2010, his wall piece portraying traditionally dressed African woman on skis was installed in Cova da Moura in Lisbon, a neighbourhood of mostly Cabo Verde immigrants. In 2011, he prepared large scale drawings portraying the globalized world market, which covered the walls of gallery Miscellanea in Barcelona, Spain (solo exhibition“Traffic Jam"). A life size car Skoda made out of plywood together with series of watercolors and interviews, was an investigation into family history for the exhibition “Voices from the Center” at threewalls gallery in Chicago. Oto Hudec graduated with a Master of Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia. He is member of the creative team of “Make Art with Purpose”, an international platform for art that creates positive social and environmental change.

 

Contact Janeil Engelstel

Contact Oto Hudec