NEWSLETTER May 2022 “Memorials”
Dear Family, Friends, Artists, and Art Lovers,
Today I contemplate the word "memorial". It is a day, it is a special remembrance, it is a tribute.
And sometimes it is another devastation, another horror to be memorialized.
This week I am experiencing all of these.
“Wounds The Size of Oranges” Gallery 26, Historic Art Vendue Hotel, Charleston, SC
It was on my drive to the National Association of Women Artists “On the Edge” exhibit in Charleston, SC, that I heard of yet another senseless school massacre. Ironically, one of the pieces I was exhibiting at the gorgeous Art Vendue Hotel Gallery 26 was about school shooting, “Wounds the Size of Oranges”. Last night 60 Minutes devoted a segment to the effects of the velocity and shockwaves of a semi-automatic rifle like the AR-15.
“Social Media Suction” at Historic Art Vendue
Hotel, Charleston, SC through June 13, 2022
I also exhibited “Social Media Suction”, made in 2015 but still relevant.
Gallery 26 was gorgeous…here is a FB link to my short video of exhibition.
My other experiences in Charleston were mixed…the food was marvelous as was the free symphony for the Piccolo Spoleto performance outside doing Porgy and Bess with an amazing baritone bass opera singer and Fiddler on the Roof with a world class violinist.
Charleston Symphony Orchestra
“Forgiving-ness”
Poignant, and also memorable, was my visit to the Mother Emmanual AME church which was the subject of another one of my artworks, “Forgiving-ness”, about yet another horrific massacre. I left a framed print at their foyer memorial. The church is much larger than I had imagined when I thread painted it on this piece.
And, finally, I visited the Slave Market memorial which in truth was a disappointment both to me and to their (unnamed) “curator” with whom I had a long and private conversation. The exhibit has not been updated in many years and still exhibits what I call the “Charleton Perspective” on slavery, i.e. the slaves were all so “well cared for” type of hogwash. They even had a prominent portrait of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a subject of my “Treasonous Clowns”, a confederate soldier who massacred 300 Black Union soldiers after they had surrendered.
He then became our nations very first Grand Wizard of the KKK. Why his large photo was featured in a Slave Market Museum is, truly, beyond belief.
The museum had the exact same (huge) portrait I used in my piece below, no explanation of who he was or why he was featured. The memory of his photo at that museum haunts me.
Nathan Bedford Forrest, First Grand Wizard of the KKK bottom right, also featured at
Slave Market Museum….why? no explanation.
In contrast, I had visited the Maritime Museum in Savannah months ago where they exhibited an accurate description, from old copies of “The Georgia Gazette”, of slave cargo arrivals and notices of sales. I was allowed by their curator to take photos and create this piece of art which I call “The Georgia Gazette”. It is mounted on 9 wood cradles (2” thick, varnished) and has my hand painted and stitched notices from the Gazette as well as references to Black Lives Matter.
“The Georgia Gazette”, mixed media on nine 16” x 12” x 2” wood cradles.
Below is a closeup of “Georgia Gazette IX”
Lastly, I would be quite remiss not to honor the Memory of my brother, Captain Robert Kendall Anderson, drafted at age 27 because he was an unmarried doctor, who died in service (Air Force) during our misguided war in Viet Nam. Here is my quilt about his burial. His baby bracelet is sewn on the back.
“Bob (got drafted)”
Thanks for reading…..patricia
LEGACY 40” x 30” x 14” Covid ball of 100 photos and crocheted spikes hangs from clear acrylic bar
Juror Michael Ray Charles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ray_Charles
who chose 109 amazing works of political commentary art
from 5 countries and 21 states for this year's exhibit at the
Reece Museum https://www.etsu.edu/etsu-news/2021/10-october/voting-rights-exhibit.php in Johnson City, TN
October 4 - December 10, 2021
And...
I am truly honored to receive the
The Anna Walinska Memorial Medal of Honor Award
First Place for Mixed Media/Collage
"TREASONOUS CLOWNS I"
“Treasonous Clowns I” 16 x 12” artist dyed paper, printed Declaration of Independence on silk organza, hand cut figures, framed
132nd Annual National Association of Women Artists
Jurors Bonnie Lucus, Sheila Burger, and Midori Yoshimoto
see exhibit at NAWA https://thenawa.org/product-category/nawas-132nd-annual/
And...
Read my article for the Fall NAWA Magazine about how
I constructed my installation "ASSAULT ON ORLANDO",
First Place for the NAWA "Beyond the Frame" Exhibit
https://thenawa.org/nawa-awards-fall-2021/
NAWA article can be read HERE https://thenawa.org/tools-of-the-trade-fall-2021/
And…
“MIGHTY EVE’S DAUGHTERS OF DIFFERENT SHADES”
will be featured among 100 pieces in the global virtual exhibit
"Diversia"
honoring UNESCO's International Day of Tolerance,
November 16, established by UNESCO to
commemorate the125th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.
More details on my website and social media pages soon.
"Mighty Eve's Daughters of Different Shades"
78 x 57 mixed media/collage/photos
Please visit my website for piece statements, catalogs,
and further information www.patriciaturnerart.com
and THANK YOU for sharing my "chicken dinner"!
August 2021
Just Ain't No Cure For the Summertime Blues.....
except maybe when we add Reds, Yellows, Oranges, Greens and Purples!
Dear Family, Friends, Artists, and Art Professionals,
"Assault on Orlando",
my installation about the massacre at the Orlando Pulse Night Club 5 years ago,
won Best In Show
for the National Association of Women Artists's (NAWA) 'Beyond the Frame' exhibit. Based in Manhattan, NAWA is the oldest women's art association in the country at 132 years. Current Board members who also work with textiles and installation work are the renowned Faith Ringgold and Judy Chicago. It will remain online until October 4th.
“Assault on Orlando”
Look for this work at Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center February 4, 2022
"Wounds The Size of Oranges" is currently exhibited in the Lufrano Gallery at University of North Florida in Jacksonville, FL .
“Wounds the Size of Oranges”
The exhibit, 'Exceptional Creativity', is in person and runs from June 25 - August 26 with a
Virtual Closing Awards Reception on August 25. Please send me a note if you would like to attend.
"Treasonous Clowns", micro edition, is hanging at the in-person exhibit "Different Strokes" at the Alliance for the Arts in Ft Myers, FL. There is some very special and unique art at this exhibit and it is not to be missed!
July 9 - August 28th 10091 McGreggor Blvd, Fort Myers, FL
Reception 7/9/2021
This framed work will be going to a gallery in Tribeca, Manhattan, NYC this October !!!
At Alliance for the Arts’” Different Strokes” Reception
with framed “micro version” of Treasonous Clowns
"Some Like It Hot II" (NAWA SC and MA chapters) will continue online with "Florida's Flooded Future"
Link to the beautiful HOT ART selected for the exhibit HERE
The Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center
And Coming this February 4 - 23, 2022, the "Women Take Issue Exhibit" at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center
in the historic River Arts district of Fort Myers, Florida.
A Special Reception will be held during Art Walk on February 4th from 6:00 to 10:00 pm in all three galleries of the exhibit. And don't forget the new "Sidney's" Rooftop Bar and Sculpture Garden is now open till midnight!
PRESS RELEASE
“Women Take Issue”
Like women around the nation and across the globe, Patricia Anderson Turner of Punta Gorda, FL woke up years ago to a reality that women’s voices were not being heard. Determined to change that, an idea formed to find a platform where women could speak loudly and be heard clearly. Using art as this voice, Turner called on her friends, female artists of all media from many locations, to make pieces that express their concerns, their pride, and their history. “What rings our bells, what sounds our alarms? What causes us to sing? My passion and that of other female artists to challenge assumptions, to educate about heroines of history, and to celebrate women from around the world is why I conceived of this exhibition,” said Turner. From each of their studios in multiple states and as far away as New Zealand, the artists accepted Turner’s challenge to explore the slippery landscape of American politics, ownership of the female body, immigration, gun control, the accomplishments of women in history – any topic to which they wanted to give voice, perspective and context.
After years of work and plans, an exhibition is the platform Turner sought to give voice to women’s issues. The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in the River Arts District of Fort Myers, FL will host three exhibitions from February 4 – 23. An opening reception is scheduled for February 4 from 6 until 10pm during River Art Walk. Several of the artists will be present to greet visitors and discuss their work.
“Women Take Issue” will exhibit in the Main Atrium Gallery and directly takes on the difficult issues that monopolize newsfeeds and dominate American and world politics and culture. The endless list of societal issues that plague our culture -- school, church, and night club shootings, domestic violence, our nation’s history of “white supremacy” and its resurgence, mistaken views and language used about women’s bodies – remain difficult to resolve. This exhibit confronts these issues, documents the artists’ views, asks tough questions, and poses hard conversations. This exhibit features the work of Patricia Anderson Turner of Punta Gorda, FL, Fran Gardner of Heath Springs, SC, and Beau Wild of Port Orange, FL, all members of the prestigious National Association of Women Artists, based in Manhattan (NAWA), established in 1889 and graced by female artists such as Mary Cassatt, Faith Ringgold, and Judy Chicago. Using art quilts and mixed media as her forms, Turner boldly tackles issues such as immigration, gun control and the resurgence of white supremacy misconceptions. Gardner, who works in mixed media collage, uses the repeated image of the female body speak to the rights of women to make decisions about their own bodies, lives and mental and physical health. Wild, a painter, speaks to the solidarity of women based on shared conditions, experiences and concerns. Says Wild “We were born with functioning brains, effervescent ideas and strong vocal cords...our voices are strong, pointed, thoughtful, focused. The Sisterhood is palpable.”
“The Female Spirit, All Fired Up and Stitched Down” will exhibit in the Capital Gallery and is a collaboration of ceramic sculpture and fiber art that focuses on women around the world. The essence of the exhibit is to convey the commonalities shared by women regardless of their heritage. This exhibit features the work of Linda Hoffmeister and Katty Smith, both of New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Hoffmeister celebrates the “unknown women” through art quilts. “I feel a tremendous connection to these women, there is a peace and a tranquility”. Smith makes both large (6 feet) and small ceramic sculptures that reflect the commonalities shared by women regardless of heritage or race.
Smith says "The inner strength and endurance of women is an ongoing inspiration to my art”.
In celebration of Black History Month, a nationally traveling collection featuring strong Black Women today and throughout history will hang in the Conservatory Gallery and features quilts from the HERstory and the OURstory Collections curated by Susanne Miller Jones and juried by Lisa Ellis and Cyndi Souder. This exhibition, which features 25 quilts selected by Turner, includes the stories of Sojourner Truth, Ruby Bridges, Fannie Lou Hamer, Nina Simone, Barbara Jordan and so many more. Along with the work, the exhibit features biographies of these important women. Visitors can use a cell number connection to hear the artists speak about their choices and techniques. This exhibit is educational and celebratory of the contributions of Black Women throughout history and is featured in hardcover books published by Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. Also featured in this exhibit is a Gee’s Bend Quilt made by Mary M. Pettway.
The Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center is located in the Historic River District of Fort Myers at 2301 First Street, 239-333-1933. The First Friday Art Walk and “Women Take Issue” Exhibit Reception is not to be missed; the exhibitions will be open from 6 to 10 pm on Friday, February, 4th, 2022. The venue’s new rooftop sculpture garden and bar will be open for the reception until Midnight.
May 2021
Dear Family, Friends, Artists, and Art Professionals,
I have some pretty Big Pieces at great local Florida venues to start out this summer ....
a season that is unmasking us all and giving us some pretty Big Smiles!
"Treasonous Clowns", about my disdain for white supremacism, was awarded First Place by Judge Anica Sturdvant, an FGCU Art Galleries Curator, at the wonderful Art Center Manatee in Bradenton in their "Promise of Spring" exhibit from May 4 - 28th.
This piece highlights my deep chagrin about the undercurrent of an emboldened white power movement.
It is Very Big...80"high x 60"wide x 5"deep
I began by making the prototype on a 12" x 16" canvas with dyed and stitched archival paper, individually handcut faces, shoes, outfits, and an underlying Declaration of Independence printed on silk organza and stomped upon by the clowns.
I photographed this smaller work and had it printed on fleece; I then embellished it with a textile racoon hat, a silk Knight of KKK hood, and collars for Proud Boy and confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest who massacred 300 Black Union soldiers AFTER they had surrendered. Forrest later became our nation's first Grand Wizard of the KKK .
Exhibit link here
"Legacy", also a fairly large piece at 40 high x 30"wide x 12"deep has been a juried selection by Art Center Sarasota jurors for the exhibit "Process" from May 27 - July 2, 2021. There is some amazing art in this exhibit, don't miss it if you are in the area! Exhibit link here .
Former President Trump faces off with President Biden over the Covid crisis with the virus casting a shadow over Trump's face due to over a half million deaths, many of them unnecessary had our federal policies addressed issues of PPE, testing, therapeutics, and vaccine distribution.
The Covid sphere is made of 100 black and white photos of hospital and death scenes, spikes are crocheted yarn.
The 9" ball hangs 14" in front from clear acrylic rod, stitched textile faces of presidents, yarn and dyed batting for hair, mounted on artist dye-painted archival paper stitched onto crinoline, mounted on Gallery Wrapped canvas.
Another very large piece, "Earth's Super Heroes Battle Ebola in Liberia", 33" high x 65"wide x 3" deep, about the heroes of Doctors Without Borders, remains in the Flagler County Art League Exhibit "Heroes, Heroines, & Heroics, until June 12, 2021 exhibit link here
Keep Smiling those BIG SMILES.... and stay tuned for some excellent summer news coming!
Thanks so much for reading my art news, Patricia
May 2021
Dear Family, Friends, Artists, and Art Lovers,
Busy Time for Exhibitions "Laura Got Lynched From the Bridge"
Award of Excellence
Reece Museum, TN Oct - Dec 13, 2019
FL3TCH3R Exhibit: Socially and Politically Engaged Art
Juror Sue Coe
Internationally renown fine arts illustrator from England
All Media entries from 8 countries and 27 states
Exhibitors from around the globe: China, Central America, Hong Kong
Inducted into the National Association of Women Artist, NAWA
at the RUBIN MUSEUM in New York City on November 14, 2019
Exhibiting "STOP THE BLEED KIT (recommended)"
at the NAWA GALLERY in NYC
(NAWA, an artist association for 130 years)"Wounds the Size of ORANGES"
First Place - Art Center Sarasota, FL 2019
Healthcare and the Arts Award - Reece Museum, TN 2018
FLIGHT ! installation
Museum of Fine Arts
Tallahassee, FL 2018
included in state art K- 12 curriculum
Recent Exhibit Venues
Denver's Arvada Center for the Arts, CO
Torpedo Factory, Washington, DC
Gainesville Fine Arts Association, FL
Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC
NAWA Gallery, New York City
Sidney & Berne Davis Art, Ft Myers, FL
Ringling's Thompson Gallery, Sarasota, FL
Webber Gallery, Ocala, FL
Dunedin Fine Arts Center, FL
Naples Art Association, FL
The Foundry Art Center, St Louis, MO
Marco Island Historical Museum, FL
Sacred Threads, Herndon, VA
MoFA, Tallahassee, FL
Sarasota Art Center, FL
Courthouse Gallery, Stuart, FL
Slocumb Gallery, TN
Coral Springs Art Center, FL
Coming in October 2020 "Women Take Issue"
my extensive invitational and curated exhibition in all 3 galleries
of the beautiful Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in Ft Myers, FL
more info soon!
www.patriciaturnerart.com
Remembering 5 years ago today, the massacre of 49 innocents in Orlando.
"United States citizen and homegrown terrorist Omar Mateen legally purchased a Sig Sauer assault rifle on June 4, 2016, at a Florida gun shop. The next day he bought a Glock 17 and 4 days later magazines and ammunition, all at the same gun shop. Early Sunday morning, June 12, Mateen relentlessly fired round after round at the Pulse Nightclub, killing 49 innocents."
49 artist dyed silk origami birds hover over a Pride Flag with photos of all innocents massacred, AR-15 is 91" and embellished with lace, beads, glitter, etc. Shell casings are strewn over flag.
IG link shows how birds move in slightest of air.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK6XGqZgQ18/
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