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Art through the Lens Exhibition

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This summer, one of my portraits from The Quiet Rebuild will be featured in an exhibition called Art through the Lens held at the Yeiser Art Center in Kentucky. The exhibition was curated by juror Sarah Sudhoff.

Here is some information about Art through the Lens, curtisy of the Yeiser Art Center:

HISTORY

Originating in 1975 as the Paducah Summer Festival Photo Competition, Paducah Photo has grown from a fledgling contest into an international juried exhibition. Over the past 40 years, this exhibition has become one of the Mid-South’s most prestigious annual photographic events.

In 2013, Paducah was bestowed the honor of being designated a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network in the area of Crafts & Folk Art. To embrace both this international honor and reflect the international growth of the exhibition, this year Paducah Photo will take on a new name, Art Through the Lens.

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Art Through the Lens is open to all without restrictions on size or content. It provides photographers with an outlet for their art, encouragement for growth in their vision and presentation and cash rewards for works of exceptional merit.  Each year from the hundreds of works submitted, 60 – 100 images are selected for exhibition by a highly qualified juror, with five of them receiving cash awards. An awards presentation will be held during the opening reception.

Yeiser Art Center is a non-profit visual arts organization celebrating more than fifty years of serving the community with exhibitions and education throughout the Tri-State Region. It is situated near Paducah’s riverfront at 200 Broadway in the historic 1905 Market House building.

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Plan a visit to Art through the Lens:

Yeiser Art Center

200 Broadway

Paducah, KY 42001

Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Exhibition dates: June 20 – August 1, 2015

The Quiet Rebuild in The Bellingham Review

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I am honored to have three of my fine art photographs featured in the recent issue of the Bellingham Review. Their Spring 2015, seventieth-Issue arrived in my mailbox all the way from Western Washington University. I am always impressed with publications that merge multiple art forms into one. Placing photography and art beside written literature is wildly stimulating for readers – who are also viewers.

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My images in The Quiet Rebuild are about the resiliency of the human spirit to press on after hardship. The people included in the portraits are volunteer models who responded to a public call. They felt that participating would be a healing step on their journey – and I believe they are right. The Quiet Rebuild is an exciting and provocative project with a big heart. I am always blessed by the people that pose and share their stories.

Alexis Marie Chute Bellingham Review art photography blog

If you would like to be one of them, email me at info@alexismariechute.com with the subject: The Quiet Rebuild.

The Quiet Rebuild: New Portraits Exhibit opens Tomorrow!

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The Quiet Rebuild: New Portraits

Award-winning photographer and writer Alexis Marie Chute builds on her series of provocative images of individuals in their time of healing following hardship. The exhibition features never before seen photographs in the noteworthy series, now aptly exhibited at Harcourt House where the work was first conceived during Alexis Marie’s term as Artist in Residence in 2012/2013. In The Quiet Rebuild, Alexis Marie compassionately exposes the private struggles of volunteer models in large black and white photographs.

Artist Talk: Art and Healing

Alexis Marie Chute will speak about her photographs in The Quiet Rebuild –New Portraits. She will share the stories of her volunteer models and discuss the connection between creativity, healing and resiliency.

The Quiet Rebuild Alexis Marie Chute art photography exhibit invite back blog

Details of The Quiet Rebuild: New Portraits:

Location:

Drawing Room, Annex Building,

Harcourt House Artist Run Centre

10211-112 Street, Edmonton, AB, CAN

Exhibit Hours:

Saturday, February 28, 2015, 10:00am – 10:00pm

Sunday, March 1, 2015, 10:00am – 5:00pm

Events:

Artist Talk – Saturday, February 28, 6:30pm

Opening Reception – Saturday, February 28, 7:00pm

Please click here for a preview of the images in The Quiet Rebuild.

 

Hope to see you at the exhibition!

 

Musical Performance by Evan Crawford at “The Quiet Rebuild: New Portraits” Exhibit

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The Quiet Rebuild: New Portraits exhibition is this coming weekend and I’m excited! There are new portraits from individuals and families from across Canada. These photographs capture people who inspire viewers with their strength, determination and resiliency to overcome challenging obstacles and hardship. Their stories will touch your heart. They touched mine.

I am excited to announce that Evan Crawford will be the musical feature at the opening reception Saturday night, February 28th. I am passionate about supporting local musicians – plus, cross-discipline collaborations are awesome.

Get to know Evan Crawford:

Coming from a family of talented musicians, Evan Crawford learned to find something he loved about many different kinds of music. His early influences include country, blues and rock and roll. His country roots taught him how to make something beautiful in its simplicity, while incorporating the darker sound of blues, and the edgy lyricism of rock and roll. These things combined create an alternative sound that can be enjoyed in both peaceful and up-beat environments.

His upcoming EP called In Her Hands, marks his coming to grips with falling in love, while at the same time thinking that anybody who loved him was fated for unhappiness. The five song EP begins with the initial concept of not wanting nor deserving love and ends with a song conveying his acceptance. His single Among the Stars pays tribute to his guitar teacher who passed away when Evan was fourteen, who still remains his single greatest influence in music.

Preview his music on Reverbnation and check out Evan on Facebook.

Details of The Quiet Rebuild: New Portraits:

Location:

Drawing Room, Annex Building,

Harcourt House Artist Run Centre

10211-112 Street, Edmonton, AB, CAN

Exhibit Hours:

Saturday, February 28, 2015, 10:00am – 10:00pm

Sunday, March 1, 2015, 10:00am – 5:00pm

Events:

Artist Talk – Saturday, February 28, 6:30pm

Opening Reception – Saturday, February 28, 7:00pm

Please click here for a preview of the images in The Quiet Rebuild.

 

Exposure Photography Festival Kicks-off around Alberta

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February is an exciting month – and even more so now as the much-enjoyed Exposure Photography Festival spreads across the province for the first time. Up to 2015, Exposure was only celebrated in Calgary, Banff and Canmore – but no longer!

Personally, I am thrilled that all of Alberta, particularly our capital region of Edmonton, will have the chance to host exhibitions, artist talks and other programming about photography.

Along with my tireless partner, Aaron Chute, I am curating an exhibit called InFocus. The show will feature Edmonton and area photographers under one roof in the drawing room at Harcourt House. We have such a creative community and this is a fabulous opportunity to show it off!

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Not only am I working away at InFocus, but I also have a solo exhibition of my own work, entitled The Quiet Rebuild: New Portraits. These images feature volunteer models from across Canada who have endured struggle and tragedy and yet embody an incredible amount of resiliency. It is truly a pleasure to share the stories of others and be a part of their journey.

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“The Quiet Rebuild” New Portraits at Exposure Photography Festival

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Along with the exciting new group exhibition InFocus Edmonton, I am preparing another body of artwork to be exhibited during Exposure Photography Festival in February 2015. The first debut of my large black and white portraits was in my Artist-in-Residence exhibition, “The Quiet Rebuild,” at Harcourt House Artist Run Centre in Edmonton, Alberta in October 2013 – and the artwork has been seen in many galleries and public spaces since. Coming up, I will reveal brand new portraits in “The Quiet Rebuild” series during the Exposure festival.

These photographs are in keeping with the theme of resiliency in the wake and aftermath of hardship and are beautiful, subtle visual stories of my models. All models responded to an open call and volunteered. The show will feature Albertan and Ontario residents.

The Quiet Rebuild – New Portraits

February 28 – March 1, 2015

Annex Gallery at Harcourt House

10215-112 Street, Edmonton, AB

Saturday, February 28: 10am to 10pm, 6:30pm Artist Talk, 7pm reception with live music

Sunday, March 1: 10am to 5pm

To see many of the portraits in “The Quiet Rebuild” please click here.

To volunteer for “The Quiet Rebuild,” please email Alexis Marie: info@alexismariechute.com

 

Current Exhibitions of Unfulfilled Precognition and The Quiet Rebuild

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This is a busy season in so many ways! Right now, I have two exhibitions mounted; one in Red Deer and one in Edmonton. Here is some info about the two shows:

The Quiet Rebuild

This exhibit features nine large scale photographs of individuals rebuilding their life after challenging circumstances. They are pictures amongst natural wood and manufactured pieces along with an object donated to represent their struggle. The photographs are moving and contemplative. They are the first images in an ongoing series representing the resiliency of the human spirit.

Solo Exhibition: “The Quiet Rebuild” – Mezzanine Gallery

October 15 – December 14, 2014

Opening reception: TBD

Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, 10230-111 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, CAN

Click here to see more images from The Quiet Rebuild.

Unfulfilled Precognition

The photographs in this series were captured in the time leading up to and following my son’s death moments after his birth. The images are named to represent the extraordinary capacity for a mother to envision the life of her child, even before the baby is born, and how those dreams linger uninhabited once death interferes. The images are intimate and soulful, and are a unique bridge between documentary and fine art photography.

Solo Exhibition: “Unfulfilled Precognition” – Kiwanis Gallery

October 21 – November 23, 2014

Opening reception: November 7, 2014, 6:30-8:30pm

Gallery located in the Red Deer Public Library, 4818-49 Street, Red Deer, Alberta, CAN

Click here to see more images from Unfulfilled Precognition.

 

Visit Exhibits and Events to see info about upcoming shows and artist talks.

Healing by the Creative Arts

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Through making my art, I discovered art therapy in a natural, organic way. No one told me to try it to help me heal. I wasn’t recommended a set of exercises to do in order to find myself. I just sat down in my studio with a pile of small woodcuts and got started without any direction or even conscious intent. The first wood sculpture I made I named The Quiet Rebuild and it was the beginning of that larger body of work.

Since then I have looked into the theory of art therapy and find it very stimulating and thoughtful for me in my professional art practice. In one of the semesters of my MFA I took an art therapy class as an interdisciplinary option and found it deepened my perspectives on art and healing. It gave me a new dimension in making, reflecting on and contextualizing my work. Since then the wood sculptures in The Quiet Rebuild grew to incorporate portraits of real people sharing their stories of resilience.

Now I am honoured to teach about the restorative potential of creativity. I offer two workshops: 

Healing through Visual Art

Healing through the Written Word

This summer and fall I will be presenting these workshops in Chicago Illinois, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Sherwood Park Alberta and San Antonio Texas. If you are interested in having one or both of these presentations at your conference, event or association, please email me at info@alexismariechute.com

I strongly believe that art must say something that matters. Within my work, I wrestle with the ideas of loss, struggle and survival. You can read more about my approach in my Artist Statement.

International Call for volunteers for The Quiet Rebuild Portraits

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Have you experienced tragedy, hardship, struggle? Are you rebuilding your life after this event?

The Quiet Rebuild Portraits feature individuals, couples, families and support groups that have been through many types of life challenges but continue to pressing on. I find these people wildly inspiring. I wish to give them a voice and put a face to the often unspoken sorrow and resiliency of the human experience.

Please get in touch if you would like to participate. Being photographed for The Quiet Rebuild can be a healing step in itself and many of the models have told me it was a milestone and moment of pride for them along a challenging road.

The photographs in this body of work are already being exhibited internationally and will, in the not too distant future, be made into a book. This is a great opportunity to be a part of something truly profound.

In 2014 I will be traveling to the following locations and am looking for volunteers in these cities. (If you are from elsewhere, anywhere in the world, please still contact me – I’d love to photograph you. I will soon be booking other locations, specifically based on interest.)

 

CANADA

Toronto, Ontario

Edmonton, Alberta

Calgary, Alberta

 

USA

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts

Chicago, Illinois

San Antonio, Texas

Phoenix, Arizona

Scottsdale, Arizona

 

European locations TBD 

 

Please contact me by email (info@alexismariechute.com) for more information.

 

Upcoming Events: Stories behind the Portraits on Feb 15, then Music and Art on Feb 21

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This month is a busy one for me, commuting back and forth between Edmonton and Calgary every weekend – but boy am I having a blast! Last weekend was the opening reception of “The Quiet Rebuild” and I loved meeting so many new people and talking about my work.

Alexis Marie Chute The Quiet Rebuild Fine Art Portraits 1 blog

 

THIS WEEKEND

 

The Stories behind the Portraits of The Quiet Rebuild

Art Central, 100 – 7th Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Saturday, February 15, 2014, 11 a.m.

Join Alexis Marie Chute as she shares the harrowing yet inspiring stories of her volunteer models. From infidelity, heart attack and loss, her portraits tell tales of resiliency to overcome any obstacle. Alexis Marie will also reveal her own experience which was the impetus behind it all.

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NEXT WEEKEND

 

 

A Night of Art and Music with Alexis Marie and Drowning Ophelia

Friday, February 21, 2014

Doors open at 7:00 pm, music at 7:30 pm

By donation, RSVP on Facebook

Art Central, 100 – 7th Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Local up-and-coming Canadian band, Drowning Ophelia, will be bringing their Alternative-Blues-Pop sound to Exposure Photography Festival to compliment Alexis Marie Chute’s art exhibition, “The Quiet Rebuild”. Come for a night of wine, snacks and the inspiring fusion of art and music!

This is an 18+ event, sorry no minors.

 

Drowning Ophelia Bio

You could possibly label Drowning Ophelia as “alternative pop;” however, their music combines influences from classic rock to Latin sounds, and have been described as “Santana meets No Doubt meets The Barenaked Ladies”. Currently they are working on their second album, to be released late 2014.

“Watch for them, and you might be saying ‘I saw them long before they were so famous.'”(Tracy Kolenchuck, Edmonton Arts Photographer)

Check out Drowning Ophelia online.

 

Healing through Creative Arts

Art Central, 100 – 7th Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Saturday, February 22, 2014, 11 a.m.

After the death of her son, Alexis Marie Chute realized that photography, art and writing were powerful tools to express grief. Join Alexis Marie as she discusses creative personal expression and ways that photography can be used to find healing and self-fulfillment. Examples of photographic image making will be presented.