Join College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Visiting Artist Series in welcoming multidisciplinary artist Sandow Birk to the Nampa Campus Academic Building (NCAB) March 14 – 15 for a lecture and a workshop.
Based in Los Angeles, Sandow Birk is a graduate of the Otis/Parson's Art Institute and whose work — created with paint, pencil, clay, and more — illustrates contemporary life in its entirety. His art draws on themes including inner city violence, graffiti, various political issues, war, prisons, surfing, and skateboarding. He is the recipient of many awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright scholarship to Brazil. Recent projects have dealt with police violence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Holy Qur’an.
Sandow is represented by the Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco, Track 16 Gallery in Los Angeles, and Koplin del Rio Gallery in Seattle.
ARTIST’S LECTURE
Sandow Birk will present a lecture to students at CWI about his path from college student to professional artist and how he develops art from inception to completion. He will guide attendees through several large projects, reviewing how one idea leads to another and ultimately growing into a body of work and exhibition.
Thursday, March 14
5 – 6 p.m.
Nampa Campus Academic Building, Room 206
WORKSHOP, PAPER PUPPETS
After showing a clip from his feature film project, “Dante’s Inferno” — produced using paper puppets — Birk will assist and guide students through DIY methods of crafting puppets from household items, including paper, cardboard, pens and paper, and creativity. Ultimately students should leave with a basic knowledge of how to use puppets in their own future video and art projects.
Friday, March 15
10 a.m – 1 p.m.
Nampa Campus Academic Building, Room 206
CWI’s Visiting Artist Series is made possible through a grant from Idaho Commission on the Arts, which is supported by National Endowment for the Arts. Visiting Artist Series events, featuring visual and performing artists, are free and open to the public.
For those with questions or need more information, please contact Brenda Fisher at brendafisher@cwi.edu.
