The Alberta duPont Bonsal Foundation

NEWSLETTER 2004


2003 Alberta Winners are Awarded Under the Light of The Moon

Last year on Wednesday, December 10, the Alberta duPont Bonsal Foundation held a celebratory reception to recognize the winners of the 2003 Alberta Awards for Art and Poetry, Wendy Wischer and Rosemary Griggs respectively. Guests arrived at George's at the Cove in La Jolla to the tune of live jazz music and enjoyed cocktails and delicious hors d'oeuvres. Before dinner the Assistant Director for Programs and Senior Curator of the Miami Art Museum, Peter Boswll, Introduced Wendy Wischer, who spoke about her installation prominently displayed on the restaurants's outside walls.

The piece, Full to Waiting and Back Again, was a large scale projection evoking the pases of the moon. The ethereal projection of the golden moon rising over the scenic La Jolla Cove was a breathtaking and memorable site. Rosemary Griggs then read several poems from Sky Girl, a collection of her work recently published by the foundation in conjunction with Fence Magazine. Guests enjoyed the experience of having her poems come to life when read aloud. Rounding out the festivities was a silent auction that included work by Wendy Wischer and Yvonne Venegas in addition to previous Alberta Prize winners Tania Candiani, Jacci Den Hartog and Jean Lowe. Although the party lasted only a few fleeting hours, Wischer's piece remained on view for a full 28 days, from December 8 to January 7, giving onlookers the opportunity to appreciate the work as it changed each evening.

ART NEWS: Alberta Awards announced for both 2004 and 2004

Since the distribution of our last newsletter, the foundation has announced
the Alberta Awards for both 2003 and 2004. The 2003 recipient is media
artist Wendy Wisher, who was nominated by the Miami Art Museum, and
the 2004 recipient photographer/video artist Kelly Nipper, who was nom-
inated by the Orange County Museum of Art. The foundation together with
Fence books has also finished reviewing submissions for this year's
Alberta Award for Poetry and has chosen Sasha Steenson. Her winning
manuscript A Magic Book, will be published and released in Nov, 2004.

Wendy Wischer has recently begun to achieve national recognition for her
multi-media installations that blur the boundaries of the natural and the
technical. She uses a wide range of media, including photo-
graphy, sculptor and projection, to express interest in the gaps between
given categories. Born in Wisconsin, Wischer received her BFA from the
University of Wisconsin, Madison and her MFA from Florida
State University. Her exhibitions include Art Projects at Art Basel Miami
Beach, The Bass Museum, The Miami Museum of Science and teh Miami
Art Museum.

For Wischer's Award, the foundation purchased Full to Waiting and Back Again and donated them to the Miami Art Museum. The piece features an exact replica of the moon projected onto an outdoor wall for 28 days, the length of a lunar cycle.

2004 Award recipient Kelly Nipper employs photography and video to creat conceptual, yet poetic work that deals with the experience of time
and movement. Nipper grew up in Minnesota and then attended the Minneapolis College of Art in Design for her BFA and the California Institute of
the Arts for her MVA. The artist currently lives in Los Angeles, where she shows with the Shoshana Wayne Gallery. Her exhibition sites include the
Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles and Galleria Francesca Kaufmannin Milan, Italy. For Nipper's award, the foundation gave the Orange County Museum of Art -Bending Water into a Heart Shape, a four channel video installation created by the artist. The work was featured in Girl's Night Out, a recent group exhibition organized by OCMA of work of contemporary women artists.

On a different note, the foundation has continued to support Yvonne Venegas, a Tijuana based photographer. This year the foundation gave Venegas a personal grant towards funding her exhibition at the Casa de America in Madrid, Spain, an important show for the artist that has helped increase awareness of her work internationally. In addition to this show, Venegas, was recently included in the Baja to Vancouver: The West Coast Contemporary Art group
Exhibition, which has travelled extensively to several institutions, as well as a solo exhibition in the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego's Cerca series.

POETRY NEWS

Last fall saw the release of 2003 Alberta Prize winner Rosemary Griggs' new manuscript, Sky Girl. Already the book has gained critical praise for its sharp and unpretentious style. Paul Hoover praised "her wonderful first collection of poems, many which trace the post 9/11 experiences of a flight attendant named Kimberlie." Brighde Mullins notes the timeliness of Griggs' book, calling her a "fierce and savvy writer,...by turns whimsical and elegiac." The poet has been busy promoting the book with readings across the nation. Following her December reading at teh Awards Ceremony, Griggs appeared at The New School in New York City on February 17. Along with fellow writers; mary Ruefle, Lytle Shaw and John Taggart. Griggs participated in the first of a series of readings co-sponsored by Fence magazine and the New School for Social Research.

While Griggs continues to enjoy the success of her new book, the foundation together with Fence Books has finished reviewing submission's for this years Alberta Award for Poetry. The review board has chosen Sasha Steensen. Her winning manuscript, A Magic Book, will be published and released in November 2004. A full profile ot Steenson's work and accomplishments will appear on our website soon. Ms. Steensen has been invited to do a reading at this year's awards dinner.

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