Critical MAS: An Introduction

This collection of writing comes out of the workshop “Write About Visual Art – Critical MAS” offered in July 2019. The writers turned their attention to Eugene’s Visual Arts Week, including the Mayor’s Art Show, BRIDGE Exhibitions, and the Salon des Refusés. Writers selected the art they wanted to write about. Most chose one piece to focus on; others wrote their overall impressions. 

I conducted this project as an experiment, a socially engaged art piece, a writing workshop, and an opportunity to talk and think about art. Our conversations were energizing. I found ideas and questions from our sessions would pop into my head frequently over the course of our four weeks together. From the viewpoint of a socially engaged artist, everyone who showed up for this workshop was my collaborator.

Isaac Marquez of Eugene Cultural Services sparked the workshop and found funding. Courtney Stubbert of Eugene Contemporary Art offered their website to publish the writers, providing a missing piece of the communication puzzle. Agnese Cebere worked to get everything posted and I acted as editor. The curators – Chanin Santiago of the Mayor’s Art Show and Lillian Almeida of BRIDGE Exhibitions – visited our group to share their insights. Together, we actively answered the need for local art writing and discussion.

Art writing benefits visual artists. These reviews remain searchable online and can assist an artist’s career. Art writing benefits the community. We can now reach a broader audience and draw people into the rich thinking process that is inherent to both the making and the experience of visual art. I’m grateful to all my collaborators. We ventured. We gained. I was rewarded with a deep dive into my favorite subject: the intersection of words and images. I hope readers will enjoy the experiment.

-Vicki Krohn Amorose

View all the essays for our 2019 Critical MAS Workshop here. A special thanks to everyone who participated below:

Olivia Bates on Darryl Evans’ “Water Rights”

Contemplating Art – The Mayor’s Art Show and the Salon des Refusés by Will Paradis

Timothy Wilson-Haley on Olga Volchkova’s “St. Rhododendron”

Patterns of memory – Patterns of hope by Kathleen Caprario

Tricia LaFrance on Sarah Peterman’s “Wool Bin”

Kathleen Caprario’s seductively beautiful painting lures into thorny landscapes by Leah Wilson

W. Adam Orth on Neva Gruver’s “Corvid Necklace”

Sandra Honda on “Breathe, Step, Arrive” by Josh Sands

Opening Night: Observations from a Local Artist by Sunny Selby

Robin Seloover on Marilyn Perry’s “Subtle Body Diptych” and Paige Van Doren’s “I Carry This With Me”

Stacey Ray on Lynn Ihsen Peterson’s “Meltan”

Vicki Amorose on Justin Stuck’s “Trumpa the Hutt”