2019 Camper's Log: Fired UP!
VISITOR CENTER ARTIST CAMP
2019 Artist Residency & Creative Retreat
in the U.P. of Michigan
Twelve artists joined us this summer in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for a 2-week Resourceful Artist Residency at the Visitor Center Artist Camp.
In this historic rural area near the Ottawa National Forest, we practice cooperative self-sufficiency as we explore sustainable art practices inspired by the natural environment. Using local clay, salvaged materials, and locally-sourced and milled lumber, we create with what we have, and build what we need.
Projects included local-clay harvesting for ceramics, drawing, painting, embroidery, photography, land art, music and more. We explored the local landscape, learned from our friends and neighbors, took refreshing field trips, and gazed at the stars.
Cameron shares his wisdom, and Mary Carol shares their fresh organic vegetables. Amy and Jordan announce meal times, field trips, and other important events via trombones, sometimes while marching!
Jordan, our Facilities Coodinator, instituted a number of improvements, including an adjustable faucet named "The Ewen Bridge," and various kitchen storage solutions. He welded steel hinges for the door to the kiln shed, and brackets for the burners. He also made a ball-mill for grinding ceramic materials, with the motor from an old potters wheel!
HARVESTING AND CREATING WITH THE LOCAL CLAY
Ceramics Director Amy Joy Hosterman lead residents Brandy Green, Rebecca Metzler, and Jane Gordon through digging and processing the clay on site. We made pottery, sculpture, jewelry, and more! We did two barrel firings, a propane-fueled burnout firing, and the inaugural camp firing of the "Big Baby" kiln!
When Amy wasn't leading workshops, starting fires, or playing trombone, she was making these custom decorative tiles from hand-dug local Yooper Yum Yum clay, as gifts for our generous donors, fired in the Inaugural VCAC Firing of the Big Baby Kiln!
FIRING THE "BIG BABY"
We celebrated the inaugural firing of our new Big Baby kiln, adopted from the University of Minnesota in 2016! Since then, we've been building the shelter around it, and outfitting it with new burners and furniture.
After three years of preparation, we were so excited to fire this baby up during our residency session this year! Jordan welded brackets for the burners, and we stacked bricks into bag-walls.
Special thanks to Smith-Sharpe Firebrick Supply in Minneapolis, MN, for the donated kiln shelves and bricks!
ART IN THE WOODS
Katelyn Patton made an ethereal embroidered installation that the group experienced together in the woods. She explored embroidering little ants onto leaves, taught the group to make embroidered flies for Cameron's get-well Trophy, and made Merit Badges for all the artists!
Julie JAO mapped out and accentuated walkable Transformation Spirals, to ground us to the land and open ourselves to change. She made spirals on the landscape using arranged grasses, stones, and finally a full-size mowed spiral in the field. She also drew up our astrological charts, brought some homemade mead to share, and gave a very interesting presentation on sacred geometry in art and nature!
LEARNING FROM LOCALS
We were thrilled to get to visit Minnesota Mel's Matchwood Sawmill, and see his steer calves, Tim and Tom. He gave us a tour of the grounds, had Timmy and Tommy demonstrate their pulling abilities, and showed us around his Matchwood Museum.
We were also fortunate to have Dick from across the street give a demonstration on his wood lathe, and he and his wife Lynda generously allowed their field and mower to be used to realize Julie's Transformation Spiral!
LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER
Jeremy Hosterman was the Coordinator for Independent Projects this year, and he had his helping hands in almost every project at camp! He helped with screen-printing, Trophy-making, setting up slideshows, facilities improvements, and mowing spirals in the field, all while making his own collaborative video project with residents Brandy and Julie! Jeremy is a collaboration-coordination champ!
Linsey Moe, our Kitchen Coordinator, and Sam Sharma, our kitchen intern, kept us all very happily fed during camp, with the help of our amazing kitchen crew, Jane, Katelyn, and Rebecca. Homemade hummus, yogurt, jams, and applesauces were just a few of our simple pleasures at meal times.
Sam and Linsey were always singing songs and making us smile, and when they weren't making art in the kitchen, they were drawing, sewing, and making small "subjective portraiture."
SUMMER FUN IN THE UP
Much summer fun was enjoyed by all around this exquisite area of the Ottawa National Forest and the Ontonagon River. We took trips to nearby Lake Steusser, we spent a day at Lake Superior, and visited to O Kun de Kun Falls, and the mysterious Paulding Light.
Jordan lead the screen-printing of our VCAC shirts and tote bags, designed by Rebecca Meszler this year!
We shared our work with each other, either by making little things for everyone, or by serving lemonade out of our pottery, or by leading everyone through a performance.
A DAY IN CLAY: 6TH ANNUAL EWEN ARTS FESTIVAL
EWEN-TROUT CREEK SCHOOL
A Day in Clay: our 6th Annual Ewen Arts Festival was a great success!
Each year we organize an event for the Ewen community. This year the festival was focused on providing free hands-on workshops for the public to create art using the local red clay, that we hand-process from the ground at VCAC.
Over 60 kids and their grown ups came and learned about the local clay, and spent some time both making their own clay creations, and glazing pre-fired local-clay ceramic tiles.
Everyone was really excited to make pottery, and kids had to swat their parents away from their clay, saying things like, "make your own, Dad!" One kid even rode his bicycle all the way to Ewen from 2-Mile Road in Bruce Crossing. That's over 9 miles!
We had educational information stations, with the Clay Process described and shown by sample pieces of clay at different stages.
We enjoyed music and art displays throughout the day, including ceramics, sculpture, painting, embroidery, and video art pieces.
We raffled off a donated weaving by local artist Patsy Daniels, and made money for the Ewen-Trout Creek School art program!
After A Day In Clay, we brought the pieces back to camp to be fired, and then participants picked up their finished work at Nine Oh Six Salon in Ewen.
We are thrilled with the turnout we had for A Day In Clay, in this rural community which has few artistic opportunities for kids during the summer. We had a wonderful time putting on this event, and we are looking forward to next year!
THANK YOU!
A Day In Clay was generously supported by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts, through a Minigrant from the Copper Country Community Arts Council
Along with donations and support from Ewen-Trout Creek School, The Allens, The Colemans, The Grahams, The Seegers, and Local Businesses: South Branch Saloon, Ewen Building Supply, Gogebic Range Bank, Settler's Federal Credit Union, Borseth Insurance, Dr Kirk Schott OD, Char's Cafe, White Tail Tire, A&A Hardware, Settler's Cooperative, Nine Oh Six Salon, and Smith-Sharpe Firebrick Supply!
...And so many other generous local Yoopers who were willing to help the artists out!
We couldn't do it without you!
THANK YOU!
Contact us at visitor.center.artists@gmail.com
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