UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State's HUB-Robeson Galleries has received a $25,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support a performance celebrating inclusivity in Central Pennysylvania, titled "Rosemarie Fiore: Smoke Painting Performance," by artist Rosemarie Fiore.
The award will bring Fiore to the University Park campus for an outdoor smoke-painting performance in fall 2021. The 3-hour performance will result in three large-scale murals which will be displayed in the HUB-Robeson Cultural Center for two years. A solo exhibition of several years and bodies of Fiore’s work also will be on view at the HUB Gallery.
Artist Rosemarie Fiore produces artwork out of the actions of mechanisms by converting popular technology such as lawn mowers, cars, waffle irons, floor polishers, pinball machines, fireworks and amusement park rides into painting machines. Fiore was selected by a jury of students, community members, faculty and staff from throughout the University. Fiore worked with students from the School of Visual Arts in 2020 to design and build smoke-drawing and -painting tools.
The HUB-Robeson Galleries project is among more than 1,100 projects across America totaling nearly $27 million that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2021 funding.
“As the country and the arts sector begin to imagine returning to a post-pandemic world, the National Endowment for the Arts is proud to announce funding that will help arts organizations such as HUB-Robeson Galleries reengage fully with partners and audiences,” said NEA Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “Although the arts have sustained many during the pandemic, the chance to gather with one another and share arts experiences is its own necessity and pleasure.”
“Public art reveals the values of our communities and societies. Making artists work public and freely accessible provides an intersection between people and ideas, stimulating learning and thought,” said Lindsey Landfried, curator and senior gallery manager, HUB-Robeson Galleries. “An event for the public on this open campus provides direct encounters with art for a general audience, and art made with a team of collaborators, encourages ownership and collective action. Specifically, Fiore’s work will celebrate the civic vitality of the campus and State College. It will strengthen the bridge to our past and carries the University forward, preserving and transforming traditions by advancing our pursuit to become a more just, inclusive and accessible institution.”
Fiore has attended residencies at Kohler Arts/Industry Program, Yaddo, Saratoga, New York; Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine; and MacDowell, Peterborough, New Hampshire. Her work has been exhibited at The Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, North Caroline; The SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia; The Bronx Museum, Bronx, New York; The Queens Museum of Art, Flushing, New York; Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, New York; and The Franklin Institute of Science in Philadelphia.
For more information on the projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
Keep up-to-date with HUB-Robeson Galleries and this project by signing up for the galleries' galleries' listserv or by following the HUB-Robeson Galleries on Instagram @hubrobesongalleries. Contact HUB-Robeson Galleries at 814-865-2563, or visit the website for more information about current and upcoming exhibits.