Love > Shelter: S.C.R.A.P. Gallery's Art of the Shack + Smithsonian Museum Day

There’s No Place Like Home

So said Dorothy Gale, famously, in The Wizard of Oz. Nothing could be truer.

No matter the address, from mansion to humble dwelling - urban to rural, it’s more about individuality, determination and soul. The Art of the Shack, explores and celebrates the concept of home and is inspired by the work of American artist Beverly Buchanan (1940-2015) who was influenced by the sharecropper shacks she experienced in the Deep South and the do-it-yourself builders and architects around the globe.

Opening on Smithsonian Museum Day and developed by the S.C.R.A.P. Gallery and the Coachella Valley Art Center, The Art of the Shack showcases work incorporating reused and recycled materials.

Love > Shelter. 14”W x 16”L x 8”D. Found Alderwood scrap, wire hangers, yarn, water based paint, magnesium sulfate (2019).

Renae Barnard’s sculpture, Love > Shelter will be on view in The Art of the Shack exhibition at S.C.R.A.P. Gallery. This work was inspired by the Bowerbird’s use of construction and ornamentation as courtship and considers the ways in which beauty, presentation, and perception influence romance, opportunity, and acceptance. Recycled and found materials such as Alderwood scrap, wire hangers, and yarn are used to create the structural form. A combination of water-based paint and magnesium sulfate creates the colorful crystalline covered surface texture.

A detailed look at the crystalline textured surfaces in Love > Shelter.

The S.C.R.A.P. Gallery is an innovative program that addresses two of today’s most urgent issues – the environment and the education of our youth. Conservation and reuse through hands-on exploration with discarded materials is promoted at the S.C.R.A.P. Gallery. Arts and science workshops help students understand complex environmental issues. Materials donated by local businesses and manufacturers are available for reuse by teachers, artists and community programs.

Renae Barnard Artist Talk at Mindful Materials Textile Summit

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Renae Barnard, MFA will share images and insight into her recent sculptural installations as part of Textile Arts Los Angeles's upcoming inaugural summit Mindful Materials. The highly anticipated event will be held Saturday and Sunday, September 15th - 16th at the historic Helms Bakery Design Center in Culver City, CA. The summit will explore "mindful materials, and the concept of sustainability, the power of innovation, the role of technology, and how collaboration rather than competition can be a path forward."

Recently featured by The Woven Tale Press, Renae Barnard's studio practice includes painting, sculpture, and fiber artworks. Her latest works incorporate recycled materials from the furniture manufacturing industry to create sculptural foundations for painting. The organic formations and layered paint textures reference natural earthen elements and minerals. "Many of my sculptures are worked within inches of collapse and reflect my attraction to the imperfect and aged," says Barnard. This is a recurring theme seen throughout the artist's body of work.

Secret Eating. Renae Barnard. 48" x 21" x 14". Electric Blankets.

Barnard has created site specific, socially engaged works and exhibited at local and international galleries/film festivals including Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Rutgers University, Towson University, Drake University, Harriet & Charles Luckman Gallery, SOMArts Gallery, Pete & Susan Barrett Gallery, LGBT Film Festival Boston, Long Beach LGBTQ Film Festival, Tampa International LGBTQ Film Festival, and the Bergamot Station Arts Center in Santa Monica among others.

Barnard has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Claremont Graduate University and is a recipient of the Sue Arlen Walker and Harvey M. ParkerMemorial Fellowship, the Armory Center for the Arts Teaching Artist Fellowship, the Ahmanson Annual Fellowship, the Lincoln Fellowship Award and the Christopher Street West Art & Culture Grant.

The summit's focus will be on innovation, accessibility, collaboration, and exploring our impact on the industry, the global economy, and our legacy as artists and as individuals. Simply, "Mindful Materials should be of interest to practicing artists, emerging artists, designers, decision-makers, people working in the design, art, architecture, and apparel industries, active members of the LA community, the curious, the engaged, and the hopeful."

The artist talk begins at 3:15pm on Saturday and immediately follows the seminar "Recycling and Upcycling" with Jessica Schrieber of Fab Scrap. The summit will be held at the Helms Design Center located at 8745 Washington Blvd, Culver City. Free parking is available, see website for details.

Renae Barnard www.renaebarnard.com

Textile Arts Summit https://textileartsla.org/textile-summit-new/

Originally Posted: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/renae-barnard-artist-talk-at-mindful-materials-textile-summit-300710609.html?tc=eml_cleartime