This is the sixth annual Open Studio Weekend, featuring more than 100 artists in all visual media. Established professionals, exciting newcomers and students and faculty from the the Hite Art Institute will share their work in unique studio spaces.��

This year, for the first time, the public may visit the�� facility, a renovated warehouse at 1606 Rowan St. in the historic Portland neighborhood. Hite faculty and MFA students will operate studios there with capacity for a range of media, including ceramics, drawing, fiber, glass, painting, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media, book arts and design.

This year also continues a partnership with , which makes free bike rentals available to OSW attendees. LouVelo will lead a free guided bike tour of downtown and Portland studios departing from Hyland Glass at 12:45 p.m. on Nov. 3.��
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In addition, a distinguished panel of curators from around the region will select works by participating artists to showcase in the 2018 Louisville Open Studio Weekend Juried Exhibition at Hite’s Cressman Center for Visual Arts, 100 N. Main St. All are welcome to a free opening reception for the exhibition during First Friday Hop, 6-8 p.m., Nov. 2.
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Open Studio Weekend is 12-6 p.m., Nov. 3 and 4. Tickets are $12 (a 40% decrease from last year), or $10 for students, art educators and LVA members. A ticket provides access to all participating studios and includes a 60-page publication with maps to studio locations, suggested routes, information, and images of participants’ artworks. Purchase tickets on����or at the Cressman Center. All proceeds from the weekend tour benefit the Mary Spencer Nay scholarship at UofL and Children’s Fine Art Classes through LVA.

Participating Hite students and faculty include: , , , , , ,��,��, , Reid Broadstreet, , Rachid Tagoulla,��,��, , ,��,��, ,�� and .

Hite Art Institute presents “,”��an exhibition of mixed media drawings and assemblage sculptures by California artist Joan Tanner, on view Sept. 14 through Oct. 27 in the .

The traveling exhibition is organized by Julien Robson, independent curator and director of in Kentucky, and a friend of Tanner’s.

“Joan is compelled by a curiosity to engage contradiction and an impulse to disrupt assumptions about spatial relations,”��said Robson, who served as curator of contemporary art at the from 2000 to 2008.

Over a career spanning six decades, Tanner’s art has developed across disciplines to encompass many media, including painting, photography, video, sculpture and assemblage. With an instinctive resistance to conventional ideas of order, she has created provocative works that defy simple categorization and sometimes logic.

She has exhibited across the U.S. since 1968, beginning shortly after she moved to Southern California from the Midwest. Her work is held in a number of collections, including The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles; Harvard University, Houghton Library, Department of Printing and Graphics, Cambridge, Massachusetts; New York Public Library, Spencer Collection; Speed Art Museum and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, California.��

Tanner has also served as a visiting lecturer at the University of California Santa Barbara; Ohio University in Athens; Illinois State University at Normal and, most recently, as an artist-in-residence at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Tanner’s current exhibition has traveled to numerous other galleries this year, including the��Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Virginia.��

that Tanner’s art hasn’t been given the exposure it deserves,�� which is part of why he created this show.

“In recent years, there has been a growth of interest in older woman artists who have been overlooked,” he said.

There will be a lecture associated with the show 7-8 p.m., Sept. 13 in room 100 of��Bingham Humanities building.��

The is 6-8 p.m.,Sept. 14 at the Cressman Center, 100 E. Main St.

Now in its fifth year, the event continues to grow, with more than 120��participating artists – more than ever before. Many of the artists have UofL connections, whether they’re alumni, faculty or staff, like Maria Tinnell, a graphic designer in the Office of Communications and Marketing who creates specialty miniature baskets. This year, her work was selected for display in the��juried exhibition at Hite’s Cressman Center (100 N. Main St.), where the Open Studio launch party will be held from 6-8 p.m. Nov. 3 during the First Friday Hop. And, her studio will be open all weekend for OSW visitors.

Tinnell took time out of her schedule to talk to UofL News about her work and the preparation that goes into Open Studio Weekend.��

In describing her work, she says, “I��am a fiber artist weaving baskets from linen thread and nylon cord. The technique of coiling baskets is a very old one. I have taken that technique and made it my own by using lots of color and non-traditional patterns and materials. People tell me all the time they have never seen anything like my baskets.”

UofL News: How did you get started making this type of art?

Maria Tinnell: I first learned this technique in college, I have a BFA from UofL; my major was��textiles. I took a class from Lida Gordon call Fiber Construction. I learned weaving, felting, braiding and coiled basketry. I fell in love with the technique. I still have the first basket I ever made; it was woven with wool yard and jute cord and is a fuzzy reminder of how I got started.

UofL News: Why do you participate in Open Studio Weekend?

Maria Tinnell: I have been a member of the LVA for several years, more than I can count, participating in shows and events and I went to school with Keith Waits LVA’s current Facility & Gallery Manager. I support the work that the LVA does encouraging young artists at summer camps and promoting local artists on Artebella. The money that is raised from the Open Studio Weekend helps fund those projects and I am happy to be a small part of that.

UofL News: What can guests expect if they come out for studio tours?

Maria Tinnell: I have always said my studio is wherever I am, because my art is portable. I take it with me everywhere I go. You might see me working on a bench outside on campus at UofL, my favorite spot is the fountains near Schneider Hall. That is what I love about my work, it does not require electricity or machines, just some linen thread, cord or rope and some needles.

For the Open Studio Weekend my ‘studio’ will be my front porch. I have a nice swing to sit on and work on a basket. You are welcome to stop by the South end of Louisville and see first-hand how I weave thread and rope into a miniature wearable basket, and if you are interested I will tell you the story behind the inspiration for some of my baskets.

Open Studio is noon to 6 p.m. Nov. 4 and 5. The cost is $20 or $10 for students, art educators and LVA members. Purchase tickets at��the Cressman Center or . Ticket sales support scholarships at Hite Art Institute and LVA.��

She would draw a picture a day of her life here.

“I’m new here, it’s a new city, and the best way for me to understand it is to draw it,” she said.

The daily practice resulted in “,” 365 drawings in seven accordion style notebooks. While the drawings are stylistically similar, subjects range from moments of reflection and snapshots of work life to sketches of many of Louisville’s most beloved haunts and traditions, like the Palace Theatre and the triple crown of running. Intrinsic in the series is a sense of discovery in what Louisville long-timers would consider familiar.

One of the notebooks from the collection is on display in “” the current exhibition of work by new Hite Art faculty at the Cressman Center, 100 E. Main St. The entire collection is also on Instagram: . ����

Khalili said several factors inspired the daily practice.

A Washington, D.C. native, she had lived in several cities in quick succession before landing in Louisville, including Richmond, Virginia, where she earned her BFA and MFA at Virginia Commonwealth University, School of the Arts.

“I was happy to settle down for a minute,” she said.

At the time, Louisville was grieving the loss of Muhammad Ali.

The rich outpouring of respect at Cave Hill Cemetery assured her that Louisville was a special place.

“I thought this city deserves a real homage. It deserves to be dug into and discovered and for me to understand where I landed.”

She had already begun drawing intentionally as a way to discover place on motorcycle trips she had taken down the east coast.

“I wanted to take a practice I did for fun and put into daily practice,” she said. “The ritual of drawing strengthens my visual skills.”

Khalili’s ‘Type Hike’ poster also on display ����

Khalili’s work will also be on display in an exhibition entitled “” in Schneider Galleries Aug. 18-Sept. 22.

“Type Hike” is a collection of artistic posters that celebrate the National Park Service.

Designers David Rygiol�����Ի���James Louis Walker created the project last year to raise money for national parks during its centennial celebration. They invited graphic artists from across the country to submit a poster for each national park. The resulting 60 posters reflected each park’s unique landscape through highly stylized typography.

Khalili created the poster for .

“I was honored to be included among so many award-winning, internationally recognized designers,” Khalili said. “This project also allowed me to see my work do some good and that’s very gratifying.”

Proceeds from print sales have raised thousands of dollars for the National Park Service at a time when federal funding has been cut.

“Type Hike” has been exhibited in galleries across the country, added to the permanent collection of the Library of Congress and received considerable national media attention.

The project recently expanded to include the National Park Services’ protected sea and lakeshores and endangered species.

Khalili noted that “New in Lou” and “Type Hike” both reflect geography, as is often the case with her work. As a first-generation Iranian American, she’s deeply influenced by geography, impermanence and history. Her academic��research explores typography and Persian calligraphy through multimodal media and focuses on design, illustration and book art. Her��moving typography work will be showing in Jakarta, Indonesia this fall.��

See more of her design work .

“But it wasn’t a dream,” she insists, “It was a real place.”

We believe her.

University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute presents “It Wasn’t a Dream, It was a Real Place,” an exhibition by Benjamin Duke that explores the relationship between illusion and reality at the Cressman Center for Visual Arts Dec. 16-Jan. 28. Opening reception is 6-8 p.m. Dec. 16.

Duke, an associate professor of painting at Michigan State University, was the city’s first participant in a visiting artist initiative introduced in 2015 as part of the Mayor’s Music & Art Series, for which he produced the large scale painting, “Louisville 2015: Full of Life, Now” (2015) on view at Metro Hall. Duke also has been an artist-in-residence in Taiwan and exhibited his works in galleries worldwide.

“For Duke, art is always about illusionism —��about creating a fictional space out of color, form and texture. But such illusionism is also how we understand the real world,” said Chris Reitz, director of galleries at Hite. “Our bodies are complex sensory organs feeding our minds an endless supply of perceptual data. We make sense of it by cobbling together pictures of the world around us. These pictures, like artworks, are merely illusions: strange and confusing and false, but also often beautiful.”

Reitz also noted that bodies appear in many of Duke’s paintings, and indeed, the work itself is also bodily. Fleshy tones and chunky, gestural brushwork give the art a corporal presence. Duke’s paintings are often crowded. The illusory spaces he constructs are filled with bewildered and over-stimulated figures.

“To view this work is to step into these spaces—and to acknowledge, simultaneously, that the world you left behind is just as dreamlike; filled with bewildering sensations and bewildered sensing bodies, too,” Reitz said.

for directions to the Cressman Center Gallery, 100 E. Main St., and for gallery hours.��

“Open Studio Weekend is our art community’s annual update. There’s no better way to get to know our artists, their work and the creative power of our city,” said��Chris Reitz,��Gallery Director of UofL’s Hite Art Institute, which hosts the event along with .

Now in its fourth year, the event has become so popular, with more than 20,000 visits to studios last year, event organizers added a new opportunity. This year, the Open Studio Weekend Exhibition at the Cressman Center for Visual Arts is juried. Three regionally-renowned curators serve as judges for the show: Kate Bonansinga, director of the School of Art in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning at University of Cincinnati; Matt Distel, Exhibitions Director for The Carnegie in Covington and adjunct curator for the Cincinnati Art Museum; and Max Weintraub, galleries director at Indiana University’s Herron School of Art & Design.

“It is heartening to see such a diverse range of objects and interests represented in the arts community of Louisville. It was a pleasure to participate as a juror and gives me confidence in the long-term health of art making in this region,” Distel said.��

All proceeds from the weekend tour benefit the Mary Spencer Nay scholarship at UofL and Children’s Fine Art Classes through LVA.

“Open Studio Weekend is the perfect��occasion��to discover local artists and embrace the opportunity to invest in original art,” said Lindy Casebier, LVA’s Executive Director.

The event launch party is from 6��to��8 p.m. Nov. 4 at the Cressman Center. Open Studio is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 5 and noon to5 p.m. Nov. 6. The cost is $20 or $10 for students, art educators, seniors and LVA members, which allows participants to visit as many studios as they like and includes a nearly 50-page studio guide with area maps with suggested routes, artist locations, information and images of artists’ work. An event phone app is also available. Tickets can be purchased��at the Cressman Center or .��

Participants will be given 10 vintage photos taken in downtown Louisville. They’ll race to find where those spots are and snap a picture of the current location with the vintage photo proving they found it. They must post a picture from each of the selected spots to Instagram with the hashtag #PicLou. Every team or participant who finds all of the locations of the vintage photos will receive a prize pack. Special prizes also will be awarded to the person or team finishing first.

The event will kick off at 11 a.m. with light refreshments at the Cressman Center for Visual Arts, 100 E. Main St., and will take about two hours to complete.

“This is a fun way to show off some of the one-of-a-kind images Photographic Archives has in its vast collection,” said Carrie Daniels, director of Archives and Special Collections. “We have such a treasure-trove of photos, many of them local or regional, that the public can enjoy.”��

Picture Louisville is free, but space is limited. To participate, by Aug. 8.

Picture Louisville serves as an official kickoff for , so follow it and for event updates.��