TWELVE VOICES FROM ONE: Priscilla Smith

THE MASTERY PROGRAM

This exhibition represents nearly three years of intense and dedicated study on the part of the participants. The Mastery Program 2009, in which they were enrolled, required five week long sessions in the San Antonio studio, in addition to demanding assignments which were addressed during the interim periods.

Artists interested in surface design processes are at a disadvantage in this country. Most opportunities for study require either enrollment on site at a university or college, or are offered as week-long workshops through adult education summer programming. The inability to relocate to a program venue inhibits artistic mastery, as does the limited experience of a week’s class without a systematic follow-up.

The Mastery Program was developed to address this reality. The selected participants study surface design techniques on cloth, and also color, design and the articulation of a personal visual language. Each artist is required to develop a research project related to the dyes, chemicals or paints used as part of the patterning palette. Assembled together, these projects will eventually become a catalogue of research to contribute to the surface design field at large.

Professional behavior is also a topic of discourse. Artists prepared a resume, visual documentation, an artist’s statement and a biography as part of the requirement for completion of the program.

This exhibition is a sampling of the finest work being presented by serious students of surface design today. I expect each of these artists will continue to generate studio work for exhibition after the program is completed. A few may choose to extend their circle of influence by teaching. Others may decide to write a book or produce some other lasting contribution to the field. The future is rich with possibility. It has been my great pleasure to accompany them on this exciting path. I congratulate each on the efforts of the past two and a half years.

Jane Dunnewold

TWELVE VOICES FROM ONE

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Priscilla Smith

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