Following the Song Lines

Letter of Intent

            As I prepare to leave the Institute, it is critical that I find a way to sustain my access to molten glass for many years to come.  It is also important to me that I continue to work on a large scale.  One of the ways I envision this happening is by exploring glass as an architectural building material.  In this way, I foresee a bridge between the conceptually based work that I love and a marketable product that will provide the continued studio access that I crave.  
            Australia and New Zealand are the world leaders in the production of architectural glass.  One of the largest of these pioneers is Cydonia Glass in Sydney.  An internship at this company will greatly expand the scope of my work and provide me with business models that can facilitate the beginning of my career as a professional glass artist.
            Furthermore, Australia is pioneering the use of green technologies and the artists of the country recognize their role in the sustainable use of their natural resources.  Glass is an inherently energy-hungry endeavor.  Yet the glass studios of Australia are well known for their energy efficient practices.  These practices are greatly needed here at home.  Several of my visits will enable me to study the necessary infrastructure in detail, and provide an opportunity to integrate these lessons into my own studio as well as the new CIA studios currently under development.
          The city of Adelaide is a model for how artists and artist studios can be critical to the revitalization of a declining postindustrial community.  Their ability to reclaim unused industrial spaces and transform them into viable businesses is a model that several cities, like Cleveland, can look to for guidance.  My visit will provide an opportunity to study how these facilities used grants and unconventional funding streams to grow their businesses.  I will return to the states with a greater understanding of how to tap into these resources for our community.
            Finally, I intend to explore the cultures indigenous to Australia.  I am specifically interested in the structure of their language and the use of songs to hold and transmit knowledge.  Aboriginal ceremony blurs the boundaries between song, dance, body decoration, sculpture and painting.  Each song, like each design or painting is part of a moment in a larger story. Songs make up a song series or a 'songline' which is a map of the country based on the travels of the Dreaming ancestors.  This firsthand experience of this mode of communication will greatly enhance the incorporation of language into my own work and open doors for the introduction of untapped media, like song, into my future work.
            Upon return to the United States I plan on building a glass studio with several past and future graduates of The Cleveland Institute of Art.  My travels to Australia and New Zealand will not only provide the technical knowledge we will need to build and maintain a “green” studio, but my time there will also give me insight into the challenges and solutions associated with using the arts to start the revitalization of a postindustrial economy.

-uri

If your interested in participating check out the Fundraising page
or got to the Interactive Trip-tik to see the proposed route