We have just received the great news that Surel’s Place is officially a 501c3 in the eyes of the IRS. All donations to Surel’s Place are now officially tax deductible.
We applied just three months, ago, so we are thrilled that our application was approved to quickly. Thanks to attorney Jim Neil for volunteering his services to help us put together a stellar application!
Artist Jenny Wu arrived from New York this week, ready to begin working in a new place and a new timezone. Ms. Wu will be here for two months, and during her time, in addition to painting Idaho in the plein air tradition, she will host four public events. The first event is next week: you’re invited to help us welcome her to the West this Wednesday, April 10 from 5:30-7:30. Then, over the coming months, you’ll be invited to attend Ms. Wu’s Art Talk on color, her painting workshop, and her final show and sale at the end of May. We will send more information about the future events soon.
A native of Nanjing, China, Ms. Wu is excited to experience the American West–the people, the landscapes, the air. Her paintings, though realistic, have a personal perspective of landscape, and her use of color is also simultaneously loose and accurate. About her work, Ms. Wu wrote, “I am constantly searching for the abstraction inside representation, discovering the organic moments in detailed places and maintaining a bold idea of composition. I try to unfold the spirituality of art, and present a poetic feeling. Being outside, breathing in nature, painting the motif I observe— it is my desire to escape daily entrapments . . . I mostly paint the landscape, but not merely the scenery; rather, my work presents the feeling of being in one place. I seek to create a visual equivalence of nature and hope to take the viewers’ soul there too. Every painting is an adventure, and as a painter, I am wandering into an unknown zone to make discoveries . . . Along with the experience, my painting is changing, and my passion and engagement is integrated.”
At Surel’s Place, we are looking forward to seeing Ms. Wu capture Idaho’s beauty with her brush and tenacity. Let the adventure begin!
Register for the enamel workshop here:
Ms. Osgood moved into Surel’s Place over a week ago and reports that she is feeling at home, inspired, and thankful for the opportunity to live and work in Surel’s Place. We are thankful to all of the Surel’s Place donors who have made this possible for Ms. Osgood; your donations are having an immediate impact on the life, work, and energy of this artist.
Now that she’s settled in, Ms. Osgood would like to meet you! She will be hosting an Open House on Wednesday, from 5-7pm, during which you can learn about her plan for her residency and view some sketches she has already created to that end. Light refreshments will be served.
212 E 33rd Street, Garden City
Until a couple of weeks ago, we thought that our first resident wasn’t arriving until April. Then, we received Ms. Osgood’s application, which is so full of life that her personality and work nearly jumped off the pages. Practically speaking, Ms. Osgood is a jeweler who creates unique and beautiful jewelry; conceptually, however, Ms. Osgood is an artist who infuses ideas about the relationship between people and their environments into wearable sculpture that incorporates details of our surroundings that many of us barely notice.
Ms Osgood writes that “jewelry is a curious medium. There is always a story in jewelry — why people choose to adorn their body with cherished gems. I app
reciate jewelry as a medium for relating stories about the optimism and sparkle of human experience. . . I do prefer to glow and shine on the exterior because of my greater need for collective positive energy . . . if I can share my sometimes naive positivity with others, I find peace and success within me.” And, indeed, Ms. Osgood’s energy and positivity are evident in her work, which is exactly why we’re glad she’s moving in.
A graduate of Boise State University, Ms. Osgood is returning to Boise after 11 years. During her time away, she studied at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle and the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco. To see more of Ms. Osgood’s work visit her website: www.yellowm.com or visit the Lisk Gallery at 405 S. 8th, in Downtown Boise where her work is displayed.
Ms. Osgood will be posting to the Surel’s Place Facebook page throughout her residency, and she will be inviting the public to a show and discussion of the work she produces during her time in Garden City where she will surely find some natural phenomena to inspire her.
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The ART/DIALOGUE and Emerging Artist Series have been put on hold for now because our primary mission at Surel’s Place is to provide shelter and time to artists in residence, and Ms. Osgood, above, was able to fill February and March for us.
We do plan, however, to host more of these events in the future, in between artists in residence. Last year’s ART/DIALOGUE, curated by Ben Browne, was well attended and received, and we know that any upcoming emerging artists events he curates will be just as professional, warm, and interesting. Thanks to those of you have been coming to our events, and please look forward to future experiences at Surel’s Place with our residents and local artists alike.
