Arts

The residencies that count

Alison Pebworth “Beautiful Possibility.”

There is a lot of interesting stuff going on over at Cannonball (a Knight Arts grantee, formerly known as LegalArt), in downtown Miami. The nicely rehabbed building on North Miami Avenue provides studio and housing space for the art residents, and gives room for exhibits. Along with the Fountainhead Residency on the north side of town, these are critical incubators for growing our art community.

So tonight, for instance, you can check out the work from this year’s residents. This is what conceptual, performance-oriented resident Domingo Castillo is offering up: “When Domingo Castillo, a teenage boy living in Spanish colonial California, inadvertently reveals his mysterious ability to summon hidden information from people and the objects that they have touched, his life is tragically altered; his struggle to survive and make peace with his growing powers lead him and the supernatural being, which has chosen to be his guardian, towards the inevitable battle confronting them both.” Nice.

Felicia Carlisle’s work will also be on display. You may have seen her complex work in a solo show at the Dorsch Gallery, and she also has a piece at the Margulies Collection.

Along with three more artists, they will make slide presentations of their work – each one 20 images in just six minutes.

But while there, you can also catch the traveling show from a visiting resident from San Francisco, titled “Beautiful Possibility.” Alison Pebworth based this show on the 19th-century tradition of traveling shows and circuses, and therefore has incorporated bits and pieces from her journey throughout the country – she lives out of a trailer.

Also at Cannonball through March is visiting resident Hannes Bend. Anyone who walked into his installation at the Charest-Weinberg Gallery last year will immediately remember this German artist’s creative and experimental show, if for the smell of rot and mold from the tires he rescued from the ocean alone.

Image from Hannes Bend.

Finally, Feb 20 Knight Foundation held one of its roundtables here. Seeking to draw “the best and most innovative ideas out of local organizations and individuals seeking to transform the community through the arts,” Knight Foundation wants you to participate in the granting program that has transformed Miami. What do you have to lose?