Ohhhhhhhhhhh wowowow. We were taken over this week by the brilliant and charming Caitlin MacBride and Rebecca Novack - two artists and best friends who also happen to be raising humans. A truly delightful issue this week!
I’m so thrilled to share that I’ve accepted a tenure track Assistant Professor of Painting position at Skidmore College. This feels like a dream come true and honestly the more I get to know of Skidmore it feels like a dream home. As anyone in art or academia knows it’s not an easy lift to get to do the thing you love. It was a long road to get here and I’m so thankful for everyone that helped along the way. @skidmoreart
One of the best kept Upstate art secrets is the wild collection of 92 New York School artist’s works in the underground Empire Plaza. This half mile connects 10 government buildings and has tons of shops and food spots. Nelson Rockefeller wanted to highlight the specifically NY art movement - mostly works from the 60s and 70s. One of these days I’m gonna bring enough snacks to make it to all 92 works. Seen here Sven Lukin, Morris Louis, Jack Tworkov, Al Held, Gene Davis, Lee Bontecou, Empire Region Kids Art Exhibition inspired by the collection, Al Loving, Kenneth Noland. #empirestateartcollection #newyorkschool #newyorkschoolpainters
“If patriotism were defined, not as blind obedience to government, nor as submissive worship to flags and anthems, but rather as love of one’s country, one’s fellow citizens (all over the world), as loyalty to the principles of justice and democracy, then patriotism would require us to disobey our government, when it violated those principles.” - Howard Zinn
I’ve never felt much like a patriot, but I’ve been trying to get my head around the concept of the U.S. recently. I’ve been watching the Ken Burns documentary about the Revolutionary War and thinking about the country as a project, an ongoing flawed project that feels like one step forward, two steps back at times. However, I do love this land, the literal land and its wildly diverse range of climates and terrain. And in the same way I love its people, it’s a unique gift to live in a country that can contain such a wild, beautiful, chaotic mix of humans. I feel so deeply sad and lost about so much of whatever the American project is these days so I’m looking for what feels like direction, what feels right. Thank you to the people of Minneapolis and those resisting everywhere right now. Also thanks to my dad who let me skip school in 9th grade and ride with him on his motorcycle to meet Howard Zinn who was talking at a local college. I got to meet Zinn and we had a short conversation about where I was from and he knew my tiny town of 2000 people and of course some of its history. He was a gentle and generous soul. I feel thankful for the guidance of his thoughts today.
Painting : “Makes Me Want To Kneel”, 2020, oil on panel, 18” × 24”
I’ve concluded my incredible time as a Winterthur Museum Research Fellow. @winterthurmuse I think I could post endless photos and thoughts about everything I’ve seen there. I’m left full of reflection about American history via the objects we make and surround ourselves with - my heart and head feel so present in both our current moment and the history that got us here. I’m now turning to the studio- working on an upcoming show at @deannaevansprojects and using my hands to reflect further. Eternal thanks to the incredible staff at @winterthurmuse who one fellow described aptly as “a firehose of information”. And fellow fellows- I’m so glad we met!! @materialculturewinterthur #winterthur #winterthurresearch #winterthurmakercreatorfellow #materialculture #americanhistory
“7. But what kind of love is it, really? Don’t fool yourself and call it sublimity. Admit that you have stood in front of a little pile of powdered ultramarine pigment in a glass cup at a museum and felt a stinging desire. But to do what? Liberate it? Purchase it? Ingest it? . . . You might want to reach out and disturb the pile of pigment, for example, first staining your fingers with it, then staining the world. You might want to dilute it and swim in it, you might want to rouge your nipples with it, you might want to paint a virgin’s robe with it. But still you wouldn’t be accessing the blue of it. Not exactly.” - Maggie Nelson, “Bluets”
I’ve been working on some prints and am happy to say they’re finally available! If you’re interested contact me or @deannaevansprojects
“Wanting It Both Ways”, 2025, Acrylic print on paper, 18 x 24 in, $500, Edition of 20
This one combines Shaker imagery and objects- a bonnet and Shaker gift drawing.
