The Grum Project, Williston Northampton School’s artist-in-residence program, will host five arts events this year in disciplines ranging from glass blowing and fiber work to dance, theater, and film. Funded by a generous alumna, the program is now in its sixth year. Learn more about the Grum Project and see past presenters.
Glass artist Ryan Gothrup travels the country with his mobile glass trailer using the art form as a way to teach lessons in art, science, math, history, and teamwork. Gothrup will spend two days at Williston for a mini-residency this October 4 and 5.
The work of Elizabeth Duffy begs you to look closer. She inserts charged imagery into intricate patterns in wallpaper and makes meaning out of braided rugs. Security envelope and bank statements printed on cloth decorate dresses, coasters, hats and mats. “I am fascinated by how things are made and how taking them apart reveals hidden worlds and the ingenuity of the human imagination,” her artist statement reads.
Her work has been exhibited widely, including at the Drawing Center, The RISD Museum, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, White Columns, Wave Hill, and DM Contemporary. She has held residencies at the Bogliasco Foundation in Italy, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the Sirius Art Centre in Cobh, Ireland, VCCA, Jentel and Ucross. Duffy is the recipient of awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Pollock Krasner Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, where she was awarded grants in both Sculpture and Craft in 2019. Her work has been written about in the New York Times, Art News, Art on Paper, the Boston Globe, the Village Voice, and many other publications. She has curated exhibitions including Dead Ringer at the Bristol Art Museum and Office Space. Duffy will be on campus on January 21.
Founded and directed by Iquail Shaheed, Dance Iquail was formed to “create a relevant company that would educate and empower dancers and the audience, while also bringing a positive influence to inner-city youth through education and community initiatives.” Dance Iquail uses the art of dance as a conduit for combating issues of social injustice primarily experienced by the disadvantaged. They will be on campus April 28 and 29.
Miguel Bregante is scheduled to visit March 24 through 27 to work with our theater, Spanish, and visual art students. Bregante is Artistic Director of La Mona Ilustre, an award-winning theatre company based in Santiago, Chile founded in 2008. Trained in the methodology of Jacques Lecoq, Bregante approaches theater-making through a unique combination of collaboration, movement, physical storytelling, puppetry, and mask. With La Mona Ilustre he creates a unique storytelling language for each production. Bregante has been a professor of commedia dell’arte and neutral mask at Chilean university DuocUC Viña del Mar since 2016. He has also taught students of all ages the world over in La Mona Ilustre’s pre- and post-show workshops.
Dan Phakos will conduct a year-long residency, visiting campus for periods each trimester. His work with students will include techniques such as scriptwriting, casting, and location-scouting. Phakos and a crew came from New York City came to Williston in 2018 and 2019 to help students execute Public Service Announcement short films, one on the dangers of texting and driving, and one on the overuse of plastics. Williston students and the crew plotted out the ads and shot over three-day periods.