Cotsen Artist Fellowship

The JoAnne Stolaroff Cotsen Memorial Fund was established in 1979 in honor of the late JoAnne Stolaroff Cotsen. A dedicated volunteer and supporter of arts education, JoAnne Stolaroff Cotsen was one of the founding members of Friends of the Junior Arts Center (FOJAC), the nonprofit organization that provides volunteer and financial support to the Junior Arts Center in Barnsdall Art Park, while producing art programs in the community that serve 8,000 children annually.The Cotsen Memorial Fund funds an artist fellowship once every two or three years which enables FOJAC to invite a widely-recognized artist for a residency with local children and youth. The Cotsen Artist Fellowship is committed to providing a working, creative experience with artists of great stature to expand the vision of young people, and to nurture increased understanding and respect for their own artistic expression.

Alexis Smith Collage Project for Cotsen Fellowship Summer 2008

“Awesome Blage”

Description: Collage Workshop on Compositions and Size Transformations: Collage is a process that replaces traditional art making skills; one doesn’t have to acquire drawing or painting skills to make art. On the other hand, collage is not just about throwing anything together- cliche and boring ideas can end up in any artist’s work. This workshop points to ways of seeing how strong composition and image making can be developed through space and design. The objective of this experience is to create individual art pieces and participate in a collage process that enhances visual sensitivity and give students an understanding of composition and culminates in a Cool Object project based on their individual ideas.

“Awesome Blage” participants create compositions in black and white that change into color, texture, abstraction and naturalism, 2d, 3d and finally space objects. The collage process moves and changes from small to large ending up in the individual Cool Object.

- Two-dimensional compositions begin with black and white papers. They expand with additions of newspapers, textures and grays. Crayon and other media add to the compositions. What is “predictable”?
- Compositions are then made by additions of magazine images and other 2d media such as patterned papers, colored papers, construction papers, etc.
- Addition of weight and the physicality of 2d objects in the collages are engaged. How do things “hang on the wall”?
- Collage/assemblage are created with individual choices of materials. What “intrigues” you? What is “precious”?
- Compositions get bigger with the addition of more interesting images, found materials and throw away stuff. Visual sensitivity and thinking begins to form new ways of building collage/assemblage. What do we “destroy”?
- 3D forms (sculptures) are developed - sometimes on the wall or on the floor. The size, placement, scale are altered as ideas are expanded.
- Abstraction and recognizable images are both created; things get bigger, choices on forms and space make new juxtapositions. What has “power”?
- The focus becomes more individual; choices are made in the search as objects are found, discovered, rejected and borrowed to find fresh use of images and to develop ideas about what works or what should be thrown out in making of assemblage/collage.
- The final project culminates in the COOL THING.

In past decades, Cotsen Fellows Christo, Frank Gehry, David Hockney, Miralda, Red Grooms, Mierle Ukeles, Remy Charlip, and Kim Abeles have worked with and inspired young artists to enlarge their vision and artistic expression. The most recent Cotsen residency in summer of 2005 with Michael Rotondi focused on immersing students in the creative process utilizing architecture and poetry.

For more information, please call Program Director, Quan Trang (310) 402 3511.