2024 Artists: Session II
John Franklin
Artist John Franklin of E Chatham, NY began his career in the ‘80’s working in sculpture and furniture making. Mentored by John Baldessari and conceptual sculptors Judy Pfaff and Joel Shapiro and Claes Oldenberg and Coosje van Bruggen, Franklin was introduced to painting while pursuing his MFA at Cal Arts. His deceptively simple abstract and minimalist works with their meticulously applied color fields, clear bright colors, and purposeful use of materials represent an ongoing investigation of intellect and beauty spanning four decades. While in Seaside, Franklin will expand his conceptual focus by experimenting with collage, incorporating text, scientific illustration, found objects, and ribbon. https://www.johnfranklinstudio.com/bio
Sandra LaPage
Sculptor Sandra LaPage lives and works in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Since receiving her MFA from Maine College of Art in 2013, her environmentally themed constructs made from discarded and recyclable materials have exhibited in Brazil, France, the UK, and the U.S. Her assemblages, influenced by myth and shamanism and often wearable are concerned with issues of control, consumption, ideas of luxury and status, trash, and decay. LaPage will create textile sculptural objects out of recycled aluminum coffee capsules scheduled for exhibit at Kapow Gallery, NYC at the end of the year. She offers a collaborative weaving workshop utilizing cardboard and plastics, engaging students in decisions of pattern and rhythm.
Kenn Kotara
Following undergraduate studies in architecture at Louisiana Tech, contemporary abstract artist Kenn Kotara traveled the world before returning to earn a BFA in Graphic Design and MFA in Studio Art. His artistic output over the next three decades exhibits a vigorous curiosity about space and form, innovative architecture and structural design, and an evolving multi-dimensional application of core geometric and organic forms. Recently retired from teaching in Asheville, NC, the 2008 E2C Fellow returns to Seaside to advance a new body of drawings that manipulate spatial elements of traditional cartography.
James Riley
James Riley is a modern troubadour, songwriter, and guitarist from London, UK. Declared “a folk genius” by BBC Wales, Riley has won millions of fans with his Americana songcraft, charismatic storytelling, and enchanting performance style. His first album, Transatlantica, was produced in Nashville and released to critical praise in 2020. During the UK’s Covid shutdown, Riley launched Rooftop Assembly, a series of live-streamed concerts from his rooftop that drew national media attention. When not on tour, Riley works as choir leader at Heart ‘N Soul, an award-winning creative community and arts charity serving people with autism and learning disabilities. While in Seaside, Riley will craft songs and ensemble music for his next album and offers a songwriting and choir workshop for elementary classes. He will perform on February 9th, 7:30pm at The REP Theatre.
Ana Inés Jabares-Pita & Melly Still
Ana Inés Jabares-Pita is an international, award-winning designer working in opera, dance, theatre, fine arts, exhibition, and music. Her set and costume designs, held in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, are informed by an extensive musical training and fascination with new technologies, magic, and illusion.
Olivier and Tony Award nominated Melly Still is a distinguished British stage director, designer, and choreographer.
Jabares-Pita and Still’s collaborative residency will advance stage and scene concepts for Santa Fe Opera’s 2025 lavish production of Wagner’s opera Du Walkerie. They offer a collaborative session on costume design for middle and high school students.