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The May grantees are
Matthew Cook, Mercé Culp, Erin Garber-Pearson, William
Gruber, Natalie Lanese, Rebecca Szparagowski, and Paul
Verdell.
Matthew Cook is an
emerging hyperrealist painter, born in Toledo, Ohio. Best
known for his highly detailed portraits and still-life
paintings, he creates work that show his take on historical
and traditional painting subjects and themes through a
contemporary lens. Cook received his B.F.A. in Art Education
(2013) and his M.F.A. in Painting (2017) from Bowling Green
State University and has shown his work throughout the
United States, most notably as a finalist in the Art Renewal
Center’s 2019 International Salon. He will use Accelerator
Grant funds for the the purchase of a table saw, miter saw,
router and router table to create custom frames with design
elements related to his paintings.
Mercé Culp is a
4-dimensional artist. Her work includes street art, dance,
fashion, graphic design and mixed media. Urban Digitz is the
body of work she consistently builds pushing all media into
the world of fashion. Mercé has a Bachelor of Fine Arts
degree in 3D digital character modeling and alternative
digital print from Bowling Green State University. She is
currently pursuing several fashion-based exhibitions
featuring a few of her 730+ original textile patterns to be
displayed in summer 2020. Mercé’s major projects include an
artist residency in Israel creating public sculptures, “We
The Explorers” NASA launch of origins art installation
inside a near-earth asteroid onboard OSIRIS-Rex, and an
Artist Residency at Toledo School for The Arts,
African-American Heritage Mural. She will use Accelerator
Grant funding for the purchase of digital printed canvases
and sewing costs to fabricate prototypes for an art-based
fashion line.
Erin Garber-Pearson is a
multimedia artist and performer. Her recent work uses
movement both performative and mundane to find kinesthetic
connection with her audience. Her research captures
acrobatics, harness climbing on buildings, as well as bodies
in urban spaces. The gimbal, which she has been awarded
Accelerator Grant support for, is a self-stabilizing
mechanism specifically made for live action shots, reducing
camera shake so the footage looks professional, regardless
of being handheld. As an interdisciplinary artist working
mainly in performance, this is an invaluable tool for
developing further work in unconventional points of view.
Billy Gruber is the
operator behind Midwest liquid lightshow Synesthetic Oil
Spill. Continuing a tradition of projection-based lighting
most associated with the 60’s psychedelic music scene, Billy
works with a wide array of performers to create an
atmosphere of color that brings sound to audiences’ eyes.
With help from The Arts Commission and their Accelerator
Grant SOS lightshow will now have their very own projection
screen, expanding the boundaries of where the project can
help friends turn on, drop in, and freak out. Exhibiting her
work nationally and internationally,
Natalie Lanese works
primarily in painting, installation, and collage. Ms. Lanese
has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, the
Akron Art Museum, the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in
Lincoln, MA and at SPACE Gallery in Portland, ME. She has
installed permanent public artworks in Toledo, Cincinnati,
and Cleveland, OH and in San Diego, CA. Lanese holds a
Master of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn,
New York, and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from
Xavier University, Case Western Reserve University and the
Cleveland Institute of Art. She is a recipient of the Ohio
Arts Council Individual Excellence Award and the Arts
Commission’s Merit Award. She lives and works in Toledo, OH.
She will use Accelerator Grant funding for the fees
associated with an artist residency in Iceland.
Rebecca Szparagowski
started glassblowing at the Toledo Museum of Arts when she
turned 14 and has continued creating with glass ever since.
She went on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts from
Bowling Green State University and her Master of Mine Arts
from Southern Illinois State University. Rebecca will use
the Accelerator Grant funding for a 3-d scanner to create
templates for building three dimensional forms from fused
glass sheets.
Paul Verdell received his
BFA in 2-D studies from Bowling Green State University,
Bowling Green OH (2018) and now works in Toledo, Ohio.
Paul’s work combines drawing and painting through the use of
oil stick and paint. The work started with gestural oil
crayon drawings of contemporary moments within black pop
culture. Following in the steps of the painters before him,
Paul began painting his subjects from life, friends, family,
or people just met. The paintings are loose and emphasize
the line through drawing within the paintings. He will use
Accelerator Grant funding for the purchase of canvas, paint,
and brushes for large scale paintings.
For more information,
contact The Arts Commission: 419.254.2787 |
