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Beth Grabowski, Professor of Art
CB# 3405 Hanes Art Center
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3405
Studio: 919.962.0732
Fax: 919.962.0722
Telephone: 919-929-8983.
Cell: 919-274-5831
Email: segrabow@email.unc.edu
 
Dr. Gudrun Fritsch, Curator
Käthe Kollwitz Museum
Fasanenstrase 24,
10719 Berlin-Charlottenburg
Telephone: +49-030-882-5210
Fax.: 030-881 19 01
Email: info@kaethe-kollwitz.de
(Ingrid Flindell, Secretary)

Exchange Portfolio Project: "The Kollwitz Tribute Portfolio: Art and Social Action"
 
2005 marks the 60th anniversary of the death of Käthe Kollwitz, as well as the end of WWII. The Käthe Kollwitz Museum is planning a major retrospective of Käthe Kollwitz’s art titled “Der Krieg begleitet mich bis zum Ende" ("The War accompanies me to the end of my Life"). The reception for the exhibition will take place on the evening (18:30-20:30) of Monday September 5th, the first day of the IMPACT conference.
 
The IMPACT Conference serves as an international forum for print artists, curators, critics, collectors and suppliers of art printing materials and presses.  The conference held every second-year in August or September and is modeled on annual conferences held by the Southern Graphics Council in the United States. The IMPACT 4 conference theme is “Kontakt”, stressing the collaborative and populist nature of the multiple. KONTAKT also implies the bridging of cultures and nations. We think of the term in the context of the connections between history and the present, connections between artists and systems of patronage, connections between curatorial practice and the artist.  For more information, visit the web site: http://web.utk.edu/~imprint/
 
The first IMPACT Conference was held at the Centre for Fine Print Research at the University of West England in Bristol, England in September 1999 (http://www.cfpr.uwe.ac.uk/impact.htm). The 2001 conference (IMPACT 2) was held in Helsinki, Finland. The 2003 Conference (IMPACT 3) will be held in Capetown, South Africa (www.impact2003.uct.ac.za). The conference program is conducted in English, and includes lectures, panels, technical demonstrations, exhibition, and portfolio showings. Depending upon grant support, an effort will be made to provide simultaneous translation into Polish for selected plenary papers and sessions during IMPACT 4.  Four hundred delegates are expected to attend IMPACT 4 in Berlin and Poznan.
 
To build on the synergy of the conference and the exhibition Professor Beth Grabowski of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is working with Dr. Gudrun Fritsch, Curator of the Käthe Kollwitz Museum to organize an international exchange portfolio in tribute to the social and political legacy of Kollwitz. Each participating artist will produce an edition of prints for mutual exchange that address the social and political issues that were of concern to Kollwitz.  An extra set of the portfolio will be framed and retained for the museum.
 
To date the following artists have committed to participate in the project (as of April 12, 2005):

1. Alex Amr, al6791@yahoo.com, Jordan /Ukranian

2. Eric Avery, eric.avery@worldnet.att.net, USA
http://docart.com/

3. Marc Bruner-Mestas, mbmplasticien2@wanadoo.fr, France

4. Manfred Butzmann, email contact through Kollwitz Museum: Kaethe-Kollwitz-Museum-
Berlin@t-online.de
Short Biography: Born in 1942 in Potsdam, Manfred Butzmann learned to become an
offsetprinter. He studied from 1969 on at the Kunsthochschule Weißensee Berlin (East),
From 1973-77 he was special student (Meisterschüler) at the Academy of the Arts
Berlin (East) with Werner Klemke. Butzmann has been a free-lance graphic artist from
1970 on and has taught at the Kunsthochschule in Berlin Weißensee, likewise at a
symposium at the Royal Academy of the Arts in 1992 in Den Haag. In 1991 he received
the Käthe-Kollwitz prize of the Academy of the Arts in Berlin. Butzmann has had more
than 20 exhibitions of his works, of which a sizeable number is located in different
museums.

5. Sue Coe, witness@graphicwitness.org, USA
http://www.graphicwitness.org/coe/coebio.htm

6. Alicia Candiani, aliciacandiani@netizen.com.ar, Argentina
http://www.internationaldigitalart.com/IDAA/2005IDAAStats/aliciacandiani.htm
http://www.aliciacandiani.com.ar/

7. Manuel Castro Cobas, castrocobos@arrakis.es, Spain

8. Warrington Colescott, fjmyers@facstaff.wisc.edu, USA
http://www.littletoncollection.com/warrington_colescott.htm
http://www.andrew-balkin-eds.com/colescott.html
http://www.artline.com/galleries/haslem/colescott/

9. Sister Sheila Flynn, , South Africa
http://www.faithfulfools.org/project_kopanang.htm
http://www.afh.org.za/html/body_bts_sister_shiela_flynn.html

10. Stefan Friedemann atelier@stefan-friedemann.de, Germany
http://www.stefan-friedemann.de/
http://www.fvk-berlin.de/fvkweb/fvkevents/eGaleriaFVK/friedemann/friedemann.html

11. Peter Gourfain 819 Bedford Avenue Brooklyn NY 11205, USA, 718-643-6670
http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/books/2404.htm
http://www.oldprintshop.com/cgi-bin/gallery.pl?action=browse&creator_id=438

12. Beth Grabowski, segrabow@email.unc.edu, USA
http://www.webslingerz.com/depts/art/studio_art/faculty/beth_grabowski/index

13. Juli Haas, juli_haas@hotmail.com, Australia
http://www.davidsongalleries.com/artists/haas/haas.html
http://www.thersg.com.au/rsg_cvs/jhaas.html
http://www.flg.com.au/theartists/FLG_theartists_haas.htm

14. Fred Hagstrom, fhagstro@carleton.edu, USA
http://webapps.acs.carleton.edu/curricular/arts/fac_staff/

15. Joanna Kaiser, kaiser_pl@yahoo.com, Poland

16. Ingrid Ledent, ledent.ingrid@pandora.be, Belgium
http://sewers.artinfo.ru/creative/pics/ledent.htm
http://www.ikg.cz/trienale2001/ledent.htm

17. Andrzej Plaskowski, kaiser_pl@yahoo.com, Poland

18. Dominic Thornburn, d.thorburn@ru.ac.za, South Africa
http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/text/art/people/dominic_thorburn.html
http://www.ru.ac.za/academic/departments/fineart/graphics.html
http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/artcollection/dominicthorburn.htm

19. Dariusz Vasina vasinad@poczta.onet.pl, Poland

20. Ms. Amira Wasfy, wasfy@duke.usask.ca, Egypt
http://www.ahr.org.za/HAPP2001/Wasfy-17.htm
http://www.afh.org.za/html/udhr_amira_wasfy.html

21. Zheng Xuewu, zhengxuewu@hotmail.com, China
http://www.artprojects.com/artist.php?id=50_0_1_0_M
http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/94277.htm

22. copy for Käthe Kollwitz Museum in Berlin, Dr Gudrun Fritsch, Curator of the Kåthe Kollwitz Museum, Berlin.

23. Copy for the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

In conjunction with the conference a panel session is being planned to discuss the portfolio and to speak to the social and political role of the printed multiple. This grant includes a request to support participation in the conference by 4 international artists. The conference will be attended by approximately 400 from over 20 countries.
 
Each of the participating artists will be responsible for producing their edition and shipping it to either Chapel Hill, North Carolina or Berlin.  We hope in include a shipping stipend of $60 for each of the artists involved in the project. Archival, hand-made portfolios and a title page will be produced for the editions. Professor Grabowski is applying for $2,000 from the University of North Carolina to support the project. We are seeking additional support from the Soros Foundation to complete this project.
 
Budget: The total needed to fund the project is: $10,280
Support from UNC: $2,000
Support from IMPACT registration fees: $1,000
Total Requested from (sources to be determined): $7,280 ($8,000 sponsorship price for portfolio)
 
Framing of the exhibition set (22 frames x $100)                 $2,200
Construction of the portfolios (21 x $130)                            $2,730
Artists stipend for shipping/supplies (19 x 150)                    $2,850
Shipping portfolios from Chapel Hill to Berlin                     $500
Shipping portfolios to participating artists                             $2,000

UPDATED: APRIL 12, 2005:

Dear Kollwitz Tribute Portfolio Participants,

I am writing with an update on the progress of our portfolio. To begin, I would like to thank you all for your participation in this project. I
believe that we have assembled an incredible group of artists for this folio. There are several updates as follows:

A. Edition size is now 23

As you can see from the attached list we are now 21 participants plus two extra copies for the Kollwitz museum and for a potential sponsor. The reason for the additional artist is that I initially had a bit of difficulty contacting a Polish artist to participate. I've finally been able to connect to the right people, but now have an embarassment of riches! The three Polish artists on the list were contacted at the same time and rather than eliminate anyone, I would prefer to just enlarge the edition a bit.
Also, in order to fund this project, we have decided to try to fund some of the project by selling one additional portfolio to a sponsor.

If this slightly larger edition size is a problem for you, and would prohibit your participation, please let me know as soon as possible.

B. Project funding update:
Note: This bit is just for your information; your only finincial commitment is in the production of the edition and to get your work delivered.

In addition to the funds we hope to raise by selling a copy of the folio to a sponsor I have applied for funds through the University of North Carolina Research Council. These funds will be used for exhibition costs at the Kollwitz Museum, making the portfolio boxes, publicity, shipping costs, possibly a catalog and possibly some travel stipend for some artists to attend the Impact conference. We are pursuing several possible sponsors for the extra portfolio, including the Ackland Museum here at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the United States. I will let you know when we have results from these efforts.

C. Delivery and timetable

Dr Gudrun Fritsch, the director of the Kollwitz Museum in Berlin, has suggested that it would be easier (especially for European artists) to send the print needed for the exhibition directly to Berlin. Dr Fritsch needs the work to arrive in Berlin NO LATER THAN AUGUST 10, 2005, preferably before. This print will be the one numbered 1/23 of the edition.

Kathe Kollwitz Museum
Kollwitz Tribute Portfolio
Fasanenstr. 24
10719 Berlin (Charlottenburg)

The remainder of the edition (prints numbered 2/23 through 23/23) must be sent to me here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA by September 1, 2005.

Optional: Artists in the United States or Canada (or anyone for whom this is easier) could still send ALL prints to me by the original date of July 15, 2005. I will then send the prints to Berlin for the exhibition by August 10.

I need the extra time so that the US customs can have sufficient time to clear the delivery to Berlin. My addresss is:

Beth Grabowski
CB# 3405 Hanes ArtCenter
115 South Columbia Street
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3405
USA

D. Other information

Finally, I will need a few items from you for public relations and for the folio:

1. An image that represents your work (not the folio piece, this will be used to help get a sponsor) This can be a slide or a 300 dpi digital image.

2. Title of the work for the folio

3. print processes used in your print

4. a short statement about your work - in your native language and if possible a translation in to english and/or german. I am hoping to design a piece that can use these elements. If you can send them digitally, that would be great, otherwise a paper copy.

I would appreciate it if you would send the image soon. # 2, 3 and 4 can come by the end of June 2005. Please also let me know that you have received this letter and what your plans for delivery will be.

BETH GRABOWSKI is Professor of Art at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. A member of the faculty since 1985, she has been recognized for her excellence in undergraduate teaching with a Johnston Award in 1993 and a Bowman and Gordon Gray professorship from 1994 to 1997. Grabowski teaches a variety of classes in the department, including studio courses in drawing, design, book arts and printmaking. Grabowski travels frequently as a guest artist / speaker, giving lectures and workshops. She has been actively involved in the Southern Graphics Council, the largest professional organization for print artists, serving as its vice president from 1994-1996. Grabowski is also the author of A Printshop Handbook, A Technical Manual, (1991 McGraw-Hill). She holds a B.A. with highest distinction from the University of Virginia and received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985. She has received three North Carolina Arts Council Awards. Her work has been represented widely in national and international venues including the American segment of the 5th Biennial of Slovene Graphic Arts in Novo Mesto, Slovenia in 1999. Grabowski's prints, drawings, and artist books are included in numerous public and private collections. Beth Grabowski's art explores aspects of identity and relationship experienced from the perspective of motherhood. Issues such as nurturance, sentimentality, expectation, domestic labor, familial hierarchy and family narrative motivate her work. The work frequently exists as a documentation of the process of familial relationship through collaborative works. Her most recent works have utilized the detritus of family life to reflect on these issues. She has organized the international exchange portfolio tribute to Kåthe Kollwitz for IMPACT 4.