Rory Golden, New York, New York
Artist’s Books
In Residence: September 5 - October 19, 2007
Exhibition: October 18 - November 2, 2007 www.platteforum.org/residency_golden.htm

Katie Taft, Denver, Colorado
Sculpture, Photography
In Residence: October 29 – December 13, 2007
Exhibition: December 13, 2007- January 2, 2008
www.platteforum.org/residency_taft.htm

Katie Taft has been working on a series called Imaginary Friends that explores the real and the imaginary, using sculpture and photography. The sculptures are based on people she knows; she combines their modern lives with the stories of long ago and far away. Figurative sculptures are created and then photographed in contexts that bring them to life. In the past the figures have been small, ranging from 1 – 18 inches. For this residency she will work on a much larger, human scale. Students in her Learning Labs will collaborate with her, to think about people in their lives and research myth, folklore, and fairy tales. The result will fill PlatteForum with Imaginary Friends of all sorts mingling together. In 2001, Katie received her BFA from Marylhurst University and has studied Political Science with an emphasis in Social Justice Issues at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.  Both Art and Political Science influence Katie’s life. Taft’s work has been showcased throughout Colorado, Oregon, and New Mexico.  In 2006, Katie received Westword’s Mastermind Award. She has considerable experience working with youth at the Children’s Museum in Portland, Oregon.
www.katietaft.com

Sandro del Rosario, Pescara, Italy
Filmmaking, Installation
In Residence January 2 – February 21, 2008
Exhibition: February 21 - March 2, 2008
www.platteforum.org/residency_del_rosario.htm

Sandro Del Rosario is an experimental filmmaker who returns to PlatteForum for his second creative residency.
In the summer of 2006, he worked in residence on his
film Lo Sguardo Italiano and with ArtLab youth in creating animated shorts about their sense of place. www.platteforum.org/workshop_del_rosario.htm. For the 2008 residency, Sandro will work with Learning Lab youth to create an installation of visual and motion art, building on the ideas of early 20th-century Italian Futurists, and their visual push towards the representation of movement. Using a downtown Denver site as subject matter, Sandro and youth will create an installation of visual artwork and video to capture the mix of urban growth and natural landscape preservation that Denver is courageously undertaking. Sandro has an MFA in film/video with from the California Institute of Arts, and has received numerous awards and residencies around the world including a Fulbright Award.  In 2004, he won first prize for his film L City at the LaTarantola Festival and first prize at the Sonar Film Festival in Italy. In 2003, Sandro was selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus in Berlin and also won the Kodak prize for best cinematography at the Siena International Short-Film Festival in Italy. Sandro received the Bogliasco Foundation for the Advanced Studies of Literature and Arts (2005, 2007) and residencies at prestigious McDowell Colony (2005, 2007), Yaddo (2006), Djerassi (2007), Breckenridge (2006), and Santa Fe Art Institute (2008). http://losguardoitaliano.blogspot.com

Kate Petley, Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Installation
In Residence: March 3 – March 28, 2008
Exhibition: March 27 - April 18, 2008                           

Dawn Williams Boyd, Denver, CO
Visual artist, quilt-maker
In Residence: April 14 – May 22, 2008
Exhibition: May 22 - June 13, 2008
www.platteforum.org/residency_boyd.htm

During her residency Dawn Williams Boyd will create a large new quilt titled “Quilting with Ms. Dawn” that depicts her at a quilting bee surrounded by several of the students working with her in the Learning Labs. She will also help each student create his or her own quilt as self-portraits. The quilts will employ traditional hand quilting and doll making methods and a wide variety of fabrics and notions. The residency will culminate in a colorful and exuberant exhibition of quilts. Dawn Williams Boyd has done extensive work in the Denver community working with the Denver Black Arts Festival and the Denver Kwanzaa Committee. She is currently a Director at ULOZI, a collective of African American visual artists. Dawn has had numerous exhibitions of her work (over 20 shows of note), both solo exhibitions and group exhibitions.  In 2006, Williams Boyd was selected to be a part of The Best of Colorado Exhibit showcasing distinguished Colorado artists.

Julia Karll, St. Peters, MO
Fiber arts, installation
In Residence: June 23 – August 1, 2008
Exhibition: July 31- September 5, 2008
www.platteforum.org/residency_karll.htm

Julia Karll is a fiber artist who sees her art as a means of expressing emotional reactions to world situations, specifically the tragic stories in the news everyday. The conundrum of wanting to learn more about the
world’s conflicts is contrasted with a need to ignore the news and simply go on with her life. While in residence, she will create a sculptural installation out of the raw material of newspapers and news media using traditional latch-hooking and papermaking techniques. She will work with youth to create a living space for a family surrounded by the news: how the family gets the news, how they process it and what they do once they have the information. Students will be asked to reflect on different events occurring around the world and in the community.  Creating rooms and domestic items out of the reports of tragic events underscores how these stories are a part of our everyday lives. This new body of work will be showcased just as Denver welcomes the Democratic National Convention. Julia is a recent MFA graduate from the University of Kansas (2007) whose work has been included in 20 exhibitions, and received awards and honors. Karll has extensive classroom teaching experience at all ages. 

About PlatteForum
PlatteForum’s artist-in-residence program (Creative Residencies) supports the creation and presentation of new works of art by artists in all genres. Its urban location in the heart of downtown Denver offers unique opportunities for artists to use the facility and adjacent outdoor spaces in dynamic ways. Throughout the residency period, the artist(s) use the facility as a studio environment where they create their work with open studio hours for the public to watch the work-in-process. Each Creative Resident dedicates time weekly to work with small groups of underserved youth in intensive workshops (Learning Labs) that build upon the ideas and forms of the resident artist. Residencies culminate in the completion of a body of work presented to the public in exhibitions and performances at an opening reception at PlatteForum. The PlatteForum approach, pairing youth Learning Labs with the Creative Residency program, makes a valuable contribution to the city’s cultural discourse, impacts the lives of the youth participating, while fostering personal growth of the artist.

##

PlatteForum
1610 Little Raven Street, Suite 135
Denver, CO 80202

youth. artists. community.
transform lives through art