| |
Sight Specific is a series of long-term exhibition projects showcasing contemporary, site-specific 2-D and 3-D installation, video and performance art. The works of art are intended to engage both exterior and interior spaces on a temporary basis. They will be conceived specifically for the venue they occupy and take the uniqueness of the spaces into consideration in their concept and design. The intention is to encourage direct interaction between the audience and the artwork within the space. Sight Specific will also conduct a series of educational initiatives such as workshops, lectures and open houses in conjunction with the exhibitions.
The Sight Specific initiative lays the groundwork for an eventual artists’ collective based in the Valley arts district that connects the townships of Orange and West Orange. The initiative seeks to define and promote the role of art in nurturing a community of artists, and to provide opportunities of exchange, both in the arts district and beyond.
 Oualie Art
Located in the developing arts neighborhood known as the Valley, Oualie Art is a studio with a focus on photo-based arts. As part of its mission, Oualie Art periodically presents exhibitions featuring the work of emerging and mid-career artists at its base location of 540A Freeman Street, Orange, NJ. Oualie Art has also established a print collection that will serve as a repository of images of artists affiliated with the Central Valley Arts District. This collection will be a vehicle for charting the development of the Arts District and therefore an eventual archive and permanent collection.
|
|
Terry Boddie and Lorena La Grassa, as both artists and educators, are committed to the vision of showcasing the work of local, national and international artists within the central region of the Oranges, and beyond. As creators of the Sight Specific initiative, they view contemporary art as a core vehicle to promote new directions and capacities for social networks, individual creative expression and neighborhood revitalization.
 Terry Boddie
Founder of Oualie Art and Sight Specific Projects Executive Director, Boddie’s work as a photographer and mixed media artist explores the historical, and contemporary aspects of memory and migration and globalization. The images often blur the distinctions between photography, drawing and painting. He received his BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 1989 and an MFA from Hunter College in 1997. Recently his work was exhibited in KREYOL Factory at the Parc La Villette in Paris, France and in the show Infinite Island, Contemporary Caribbean Art at the Brooklyn Museum. His work has also been exhibited at the Smithsonian, The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and the Philadelphia Museum among other venues. Awards and honors include the Studio Museum of Harlem Artist In Residence, Center for Photography at Woodstock Fellowship, the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, The Center for Book Arts Artist in Residence, and Marie Sharpe Walsh Artist in Residence. He is on the Artist Advisory Committee of the New York Foundation of the Arts and the Artist Advisory Board of En Foco. Terry Boddie received a 2009 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. He lives and works in West Orange, NJ.
Contact Terry
 Lorena La Grassa
Visual artist and Sight Specific Projects Coordinator, La Grassa started as a photojuornalst. She graduated from the Istituto Europeo di Design and she attended the philosophy program at the Palermo University and Literature program at the University La Sapienza of Rome. Soon, La Grassa became active in fine art photography, having her first solo show at the age of 19. In 1995 she received a fellowship from her Alma Mater, after which she started her career as a still life photographer working with advertising agencies and private companies. In 1996 she decided to move to USA. Still active in fine art many shows in Italy and USA have followed between museums, galleries and art associations. In 1998 La Grassa started to working in PR for a photography gallery in New York. Six months later she became director of the same gallery until 2000. Her work as photographer and curator has been reviewed in several national and international publications, such as, Zoom International, The Village Voice, Professional Photographer (USA) and Gente di Fotografia (Italy).
Contact Lorena |
|
