“Everyone an Artist?” /Collaboration between Art on Purpose and 13 local colleges and universities.

“Everyone an Artist?”
Collaboration between Art on Purpose and 13 local colleges and universities.

Baltimore—Everyone an Artist? Is the question Art on Purpose, an organization dedicated to using art to bring people together around issues and ideas, poses to faculty and students from thirteen Baltimore area colleges and universities in a groundbreaking project exploring the relationship between art, creativity and just being human.

A total of nine Everyone an Artist? exhibitions will be held between February and May 2009, the culmination of work that began more than two years ago. The exhibitions will feature hundreds of works by college students throughout the region presented alongside art by Denise Tassin, the Art on Purpose Resident Artist for this project.

“An inter-collegiate creative project of this scope is unprecedented here in Baltimore,” comments Art on Purpose Director and Everyone an Artist? curator Peter Bruun. “Our hope is not only to explore an interesting philosophical question about the nature of being an artist, but to get college students to interact with each other and take advantage of other campuses in the area.”

Artist in Resident Denise Tassin

Denise Tassin, an extraordinarily prolific Baltimore artist who has exhibited her work nationally, is a recipient of multiple Individual Artist Awards from the Maryland State Arts Council. Her work is included in prominent collections such as The Baltimore Museum of Art and has been featured at Evergreen Museum, Maryland Art Place, School 33 Art Center, University of Maryland College Park, and many other venues.

Tassin’s work is marked by its seemingly endless variety including drawings, found objects, performances, complex installations, and open-ended collaborations. She has an unflagging commitment to serious play, completing such tasks as building an over-sized dollhouse covered with hundreds of paper dolls and entirely carpeting a bicycle while leaving it fully ride-able.

Tassin spent fall 2008 meeting with students, hosting studio visits, presenting lectures about her work, working in direct collaboration with students in their classrooms, and creating new work for the spring 2009 exhibitions. “I have long wanted to do something that looks at the fundamental relationship between being an artist and a creative thinker,” says Peter Bruun. “Denise’s talent and experience are a perfect fit and the college communities, exactly the right group to engage.”

Gormley Gallery at College of Notre Dame of Maryland
The Art of Collecting
January 28 to March 6, 2009
How our accumulation of stuff takes on meaning and says things about who we are. Selections from artist Denise Tassin’s vast collections of objects and materials, and a variety of college student works including from Towson University, the Maryland Institute College of Art, Loyola College in Maryland, and more. A reception will be held Thursday, February 5, 4:30-6:00pm.

Loyola/Notre Dame Library
I Remember Mama
February 1 to March 6, 2009
Art and objects tinged with nostalgia, harkening back to childhood memories we all can relate to. The exhibition features a selection of small sculptures by Denise Tassin, and work about childhood by students from Towson University, the Maryland Institute College of Art, and elsewhere. A reception will be held Thursday, February 5, 4:30-6:00pm.

Stevenson University Art Gallery
They’re Playing My Tune
March 2 to April 4, 2009
Drawings and other constructions by Denise Tassin and college students from across the Baltimore region created directly from listening to music and in response to other forms of art and performance. An opening reception will be held Thursday, March 5, 6:00-8:00pm.

Johns Hopkins University
We’re Not Alone
March 23 to April 12, 2009
Art that happens when individual creative efforts enlist natural forces as a component of making. The exhibition includes a series of “worm drawings” by Denise Tassin shown alongside abstract works by Towson University students, and drawings made by machines engineered by Johns Hopkins University students. A reception and demonstration of machine drawing will be held Thursday, March 26, 5:00-7:30pm.

Maryland Institute College of Art
An Everything Installation
March 28 to April 25, 2009
Artist Denise Tassin works with current students enrolled in the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Post-Baccalaureate Program to create a “project room” where all is considered, and nothing rejected out of hand. An opening reception will be held Saturday, March 28, 3:00-6:00pm, and the installation will be open for the general public on two additional dates.

University of Maryland Baltimore County
Art from Art
March 30 to May 2, 2009
Artists inspired by one another, across disciplines and in surprising directions. An exhibition in the UMBC Student Center Gallery of a suite of ten prints by Denise Tassin shown alongside words by students enrolled in Johns Hopkins University’s Writing Seminar. A reception that includes a performance by the UMBC percussion Ensemble will be announced soon.

Coppin State University
More Than One
April 6 to May 2, 2009
How multiplicity builds rhythm, normalcy, and an awareness of infinite possibility. The exhibition includes works by Denise Tassin alongside projects by college students from Coppin State University, the Community College of Baltimore County, Morgan State University, and other Baltimore region colleges and universities. The show will be in the Percy Julian Lobby, Ceramic Studio and Courtyard, and a reception including dance and music performances will be held Monday, April 6, 6:00-8:00pm.

Towson University
Best Drawing
April 13 to May 3, 2009
Denise Tassin and students taking college-level drawing classes across Baltimore share what they consider to be their “best” drawings. The installation will be shown on the third floor of Towson University’s Center for the Arts. A reception, including a dance performance by Towson students incorporating Tassin sculptures installed on the Center for the Arts’ first floor, will be held on a date to be announced soon.

The Gallery at CCBC Catonsville
Sandbox
April 30 to May 7, 2009
Works made when individuals work side-by-side, back and forth, with one another, joined together in creative play and discovery. The exhibition includes a variety of collaborative projects of all sorts by artist Denise Tassin and college students from across the Baltimore region. A reception will be held Thursday, May 7, 6:00-8:00pm.