Take or Remake: An Exploration of Image Redesign
The Studio@620 welcomes this unique group exhibition, curated by Grace-Anne Alfiero
Take or Remake: An Exploration of Image Redesign by MFAIA Goddard College students, Chelsea Rousso, Kathy Iwanowski, and Grace-Anne Alfiero (part of the WOWman Women Arts Series curated by Grace-Anne Alfiero)
Opening reception on March 27 will include a community film screening of the documentary "Who Does She Think She Is?" at 7:00 pm with a panel discussion immediately following.
"Who Does She Think She Is?" follows five women artists as they navigate the economic, phychological, and spiritual challenges of making work outside the elite art world.
Kathy Iwanowski
A professional artist and registered nurse, Kathy Iwanowski’s bold and colorful paintings exude an optimism and enthusiasm for the future while her found object sculptures and music compositions, influenced by interests in archetypal mythology, transpersonal psychology, spirituality, and the healing effects of self-expression, reflect a respect for the past and present.
Since graduating from the University of South Florida with a BA in Studio Arts, she is a consultant and artist-in-residence to corporations, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and nonprofit organizations on how to use the arts therapeutically to improve individual and collective health and well-being. Residencies include the South Carolina State Parks as well as VSA of Florida, the Tampa Bay Cancer Care Network and Cancer, Culture, and Literacy programs of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, and Faces of Courage in Tampa. In addition to the arts, she teaches, writes, and speaks on topics related to creativity, arts and healthcare, and other aspects of living and working creatively. She has done presentations for interior designers; nurses, social workers, other healthcare professionals; and K-12 teachers and students. She is currently an MFA candidate in Interdisciplinary Art at Goddard College in Vermont where she is exploring the use of the arts to assist in the transformations associated with loss from injuries and disabilities of the body, mind, and spirit.
Kathy is also the founder of a grassroots group - the International Association of Nurse Artists - which brings together nurses who use the arts to promote health personally and/or professionally for mentoring and networking. She has created programs, projects, and exhibits that promote discussions about health and wellness including “Breastplates and Other Artful Armor Against Cancer” and is a collaborator on a multi-media exhibit entitled, “Unveiling Breast Cancer” which started touring in early 2008 and her projects have recently been documented for the Dish Network program, “The Art of Living Gallery”, and in the University of South Florida’s alumni magazine. She is a member of the Society of Arts in Healthcare, ArtistsRegistry.com, and LinkedIn.com.
A former Chicagoan, Kathy lived in the Tampa area for many years, and after a short stint in Tallahassee, now calls Fort Myers her base camp along with her husband, Ed.
Grace-Anne Alfiero
Grace-Anne Alfiero, the Executive Director and Co-founder of Creative Clay, Inc., Cultural Arts Center has been an advocate for persons with disabilities for over 15 years. She is also a professional interdisciplinary artist working with photography, painting, digital imaging and drawing. Grace-Anne has been described as a community activist and artist who applies her unique creativity to every task she accomplishes! She loves all things art; making art, curating art exhibits for galleries and museums and teaching art!
Working tirelessly to include persons with disabilities into the arts community in her hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida, Grace-Anne started Creative Clay in 1995 at the youthful age of 29. She has recruited the interest of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) with a 30-minute documentary that continues to air nationwide, has assisted 25 agencies in Asia with beginning their own successful arts enterprises, and has lobbied successfully in her state capital to secure reoccurring line item funding. Grace-Anne began her therapeutic counseling and arts management career at Shands Hospital on the University of Florida campus and was previously employed at All Children’s Hospital and a volunteer at both Ronald McDonald Houses in Gainesville and in St. Petersburg, Florida. She holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in Visual Arts from Eckerd College, 2004 and a B.S.in ChildLife Therapy from the University of Florida, 1988. She is currently working on her Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts degree in a distance-learning program at Goddard College in Vermont. Her expected graduation date is February 2010.
Considered an expert in the field of arts management for special populations, Grace-Anne has now made it her life's work to assist non-profit agencies across America and all over the globe with beginning and/or enhancing their arts programs with entrepreneurial project planning.