Call to Artists: Money Money Collage Artist Residency

CALL TO ARTISTS: Collage Artist Residency: Money Money

A four-week, virtual/online residency with Kolaj Institute in June 2021

Deadline to apply: May 26, 2021

During this project-driven artist residency, collage artists work together to create a series of collages that illustrate Eleanor H. Porter’s 1918 novel, Oh, Money! Money!. The result will be a book published by Kolaj Institute. The residency is being done in conjunction with “The Money $how” at Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The book will be released at an event in July.

“The Money $how” is co-curated by Frank Juarez, the publisher of Artdose Magazine, and Ric Kasini Kadour, the editor of Kolaj Magazine. A tour of late-stage capitalism, each artist in the exhibition uses collage to unpack ideas about money and its influence on our culture. The curators start from the premise that money is an idea that shapes contemporary life and present works that invite viewers to consider cash, labor, and capital. In addition to the exhibition, Kolaj Institute is publishing the book, The Money $how: Cash, Labor, Capitalism, & Collage, in which Kadour juxtaposes contemporary artwork against fragments of American history and literature as a way of showing how collage can help us deconstruct culture and understand the world differently. 

In Eleanor H. Porter’s 1918 novel, Oh, Money! Money!, a Chicago multi-millionaire struggles to decide to whom he should leave his money. As an eccentric experiment, he schemes to give his three distant cousins one hundred thousand dollars each to see how they handle the windfall. The book is a time capsule of early 20th century American life with a strong focus on the lives of women and observations about material culture and communities before the rampant consumerism of the 1920s and the Great Depression. In telling this story, Porter gives us a look at the role of and attitudes about money that remain relevant today. The book raises important questions about the role of money in our lives: What good is money? Is money cruel? How should one handle money? How does money change us?

The residency will unfold on four Saturdays where artists will convene in three-hour sessions. Artists will discuss the themes raised in Porter’s novel, hear from guest speakers, and collage together. Artists will take a virtual tour of “The Money $how” and receive a copy of the companion book. The group will collectively produce a series of twenty-six collages, one for each of the chapters in Porter’s novel.

Christopher Kurts will serve as art director for this project, lead collage making sessions, and facilitate the collaboration. Heather Ryan Kelley will speak about “The Midden Heap Project” in which she made a collage response to each page of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. Jeanna Penn will speak about how she uses collage to interpret historical material including her project “Souls of Black Folk” collage series inspired by W.E.B. DuBois’ seminal book where he sets out to “have briefly sketched…with loving emphasis and deeper detail, that men may listen to the striving in the souls of black folk.” Nancy Bernardo will speak about collage as illustration, the visual essay she contributed to the book Deconstructing Brad Pitt, and how collage artists can engage with the marketplace for illustration. Ric Kasini Kadour will present a theoretical overview of collage, share “The Money $how” exhibition, and facilitate the discussion of Porter’s book.

WHO IS THIS FOR?

Collage Artist Residencies are intended for self-motivated artists, at any stage in their career, who want to develop their practice by exploring a topic or working method and collaborating with others to produce a final product. Residencies are open to any artist over the age of 21 from anywhere in the world. 

COST

The cost of the residency is $500 per artist; however, no artist will be turned away for lack of funds and the organizers will work with artists to build a financial aid package.