The U Oregon Art Department offers an MFA in studio art, though many of the MFA candidates find a certain objectivity or context by aligning themselves with a particular media area. We currently have 4 MFA candidates who are preparing for their spring thesis exhibition. Julie Berkbuegler, Jessica Robinson, Josh Wardle and Peter Pazderski all consider the Digital Arts area a program, and philosophy about media, that suits their practice.
here are 4 of our MFA’s website links:
julieberkbuegler.com <http://julieberkbuegler.com>
jesku.com <http://jesku.com>
peter pazderski <http://pazderski.blogspot.com/>
Josh Wardle http://www.powerlanguage.co.uk/
Ditch Projects <http://www.ditchprojects.com/>
@ ROCKSBOXCONTEMPORARYFINEART <http://www.rocksboxfineart.com/>
March 13-April 25, 2010
Reception: Saturday, March 13, 2010 | 6-10 p.m.
Gallery hours: Friday-Sunday 12-5 or by appt.
(Closed April 4)
There exists a separation between the rural and the urban, a relationship of margin and center in which the urban assumes the position of primary focus. Are You Ready for the Country rejects this relationship, offering in its place an extraction of the phantom presence of the rural from within the facade of the urban. Finding inspiration in the apocalypse of vacancy that marks urban failure, Are You Ready for the Country identifies and celebrates the urban center’s sudden and full submission to the rural margin. Refusing the iconography of idealized naturalism, the members of Ditch Projects <http://www.ditchprojects.com/> opt, instead, to frame rurality as the physical lack of constant urbanity. This expanded arcadia offers an alternate interpretation of provinciality, an opportunity for country objects and backwoods instances to be birthed from the crises of urban decay. Are You Ready for the Country displays the trappings of this neo-rurality, creating a buck hunter’s trophy wall of crude plaza monuments and high-tech folk art.
About Ditch Projects
Ditch Projects is an artist run space located in downtown Springfield, Oregon. Ditch is housed in a decommissioned gear house balanced upon trestles over the scenic Millrace River. The mission of Ditch Projects is to supply a progressive and permissive venue for the visual and performing arts while maintaining an open, experimental, and festive atmosphere for creative dialogue. Since opening in 2008, Ditch Projects has exhibited work on a monthly basis, featuring artists such as Shana Moulton, Tracy Nakayama, Mike Pare, Gretchen Hogue, Patrick Rock, Anne Mathern, Greg Pond, Melody Owen, Kevin Yates, Matt Browning, and Timothy Marvel Hull.
Ditch Projects currently has nine members, all of whom are working artists with strong individual practices. Ditch members work both individually and collaboratively, creating a support system for one another’s more ambitious goals while fostering an atmosphere of open and progressive creative dialogue.
The current members of Ditch Projects are: Julie Berkbuegler-Poremba, Mike Bray <http://www.amateurauteur.com> , Jared Davis-Haug <http://www.jareddavishaug.com/> , Damon Harris <http://www.damonnharris.com> , Tim Meyer <http://timjmeyer.com> , Donald Morgan <http://www.ditchprojects.com/index.php?/upcoming/donald-morgan/> , Dave Siebert <http://davesiebert.com> , Robert Smith <http://www.thecrystalchain.com> , and jessesugarmann.com <http://www.jessesugarmann.com/> .
info@ditchprojects.com
www.ditchproject.com <http://www.ditchproject.com>
Bus 34, is the traveling bus experiment. It seeks to provide exhibition opportunities to emerging artist in a mobile unique venue. The approximate 34 square feet allows artists to experience and showcase art in a non-traditional gallery space. By traveling to new locations in various cities, they aim to reach a diverse audience and include a wide array of artists and media.
creators Allison Hyde and Jessica Robinson (digital arts), both UO MFA’s
http://bus34.org/
