healing – Alexis Marie Chute

This summer, one of my portraits from The Quiet Rebuild will be featured in an exhibition called Art through the Lens held at the Yeiser Art Center in Kentucky. The exhibition was curated by juror Sarah Sudhoff.

Here is some information about Art through the Lens, curtisy of the Yeiser Art Center:

HISTORY

Originating in 1975 as the Paducah Summer Festival Photo Competition, Paducah Photo has grown from a fledgling contest into an international juried exhibition. Over the past 40 years, this exhibition has become one of the Mid-South’s most prestigious annual photographic events.

In 2013, Paducah was bestowed the honor of being designated a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network in the area of Crafts & Folk Art. To embrace both this international honor and reflect the international growth of the exhibition, this year Paducah Photo will take on a new name, Art Through the Lens.

Art Through the Lens is open to all without restrictions on size or content. It provides photographers with an outlet for their art, encouragement for growth in their vision and presentation and cash rewards for works of exceptional merit. Each year from the hundreds of works submitted, 60 – 100 images are selected for exhibition by a highly qualified juror, with five of them receiving cash awards. An awards presentation will be held during the opening reception.

Yeiser Art Center is a non-profit visual arts organization celebrating more than fifty years of serving the community with exhibitions and education throughout the Tri-State Region. It is situated near Paducah’s riverfront at 200 Broadway in the historic 1905 Market House building.

Plan a visit to Art through the Lens:

Yeiser Art Center

200 Broadway

Paducah, KY 42001

Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Exhibition dates: June 20 – August 1, 2015

The Quiet Rebuild in The Bellingham Review

June 12, 2015/0 Comments/in Art Update, Exhibitions, Photography Update, Press & Media, Volunteer for The Quiet Rebuild /by Alexis Marie Chute

I am honored to have three of my fine art photographs featured in the recent issue of the Bellingham Review. Their Spring 2015, seventieth-Issue arrived in my mailbox all the way from Western Washington University. I am always impressed with publications that merge multiple art forms into one. Placing photography and art beside written literature is wildly stimulating for readers – who are also viewers.

My images in The Quiet Rebuild are about the resiliency of the human spirit to press on after hardship. The people included in the portraits are volunteer models who responded to a public call. They felt that participating would be a healing step on their journey – and I believe they are right. The Quiet Rebuild is an exciting and provocative project with a big heart. I am always blessed by the people that pose and share their stories.

If you would like to be one of them, email me at info@alexismariechute.com with the subject: The Quiet Rebuild.

Healing by the Creative Arts

August 12, 2014/0 Comments/in Art Inspirations, Art Update, Artist Talks, Healing & Art Therapy, Photography Inspirations, Register for this Awesome Class! /by Alexis Marie Chute

Through making my art, I discovered art therapy in a natural, organic way. No one told me to try it to help me heal. I wasn’t recommended a set of exercises to do in order to find myself. I just sat down in my studio with a pile of small woodcuts and got started without any direction or even conscious intent. The first wood sculpture I made I named The Quiet Rebuild and it was the beginning of that larger body of work.

Since then I have looked into the theory of art therapy and find it very stimulating and thoughtful for me in my professional art practice. In one of the semesters of my MFA I took an art therapy class as an interdisciplinary option and found it deepened my perspectives on art and healing. It gave me a new dimension in making, reflecting on and contextualizing my work. Since then the wood sculptures in The Quiet Rebuild grew to incorporate portraits of real people sharing their stories of resilience.

Now I am honoured to teach about the restorative potential of creativity. I offer two workshops:

Healing through Visual Art

Healing through the Written Word

This summer and fall I will be presenting these workshops in Chicago Illinois, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Sherwood Park Alberta and San Antonio Texas. If you are interested in having one or both of these presentations at your conference, event or association, please email me at info@alexismariechute.com

I strongly believe that art must say something that matters. Within my work, I wrestle with the ideas of loss, struggle and survival. You can read more about my approach in my Artist Statement.

“The Quiet Rebuild” at Exposure Photography Festival

December 12, 2013/0 Comments/in Art Update, Artist in Residence, Exhibitions, Photography Inspirations, Photography Update /by Alexis Marie Chute

I loved being the Artist-in-Residence at Harcourt House Gallery and Artist Run Centre and my solo exhibition there, “The Quiet Rebuild,” touched at the very heart of who I am as an artist. I’m so thankful I visited the exhibition on its very last day with a dear family member and our kids. The youngsters ran around the gallery and laughed and played. It always warms my heart to see children stimulated and comfortable in a space full of art. Teach children to love art and they will hopefully love it as adults as well. That’s the goal.

My exhibition at Harcourt may be over but the show must go on!

One of the photos in “The Quiet Rebuild” will be exhibited in Scottsdale Arizona at Method Art Gallery opening this week, but after that the whole collection will be shown in a solo exhibition in Calgary as a part of Exposure Photography Festival. I will also be giving two talks during the festival, sharing the stories of the portraits as well as discussing art’s ability to heal. February 2014 will be an exciting month!

Here is the info about “The Quiet Rebuild” at Exposure Photography Festival.

“The Quiet Rebuild”

Exposure Photography Festival

February 1 – 28, 2014

Opening Reception: Friday, February 7, 2013, 6 – 10 pm

Art Central, 100-7^th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta, CAN

The Stories behind the Portraits of The Quiet Rebuild
Join Alexis Marie Chute as she shares the harrowing yet inspiring stories of her volunteer models. From infidelity, heart attack and loss, her portraits tell tales of resiliency to overcome any obstacle. Alexis Marie will also reveal her own experience which was the impetus behind it all.

Where: The Quiet Rebuild exhibition, Art Central, 100 – 7th Avenue S.W. Calgary, AB, CAN

When: 11:00 am, Saturday, February 15, 2013

Cost: Free

Healing through Creative Arts
After the death of her son, Alexis Marie Chute realized that photography, art and writing were powerful tools to express grief. Join Alexis Marie as she discusses creative personal expression and ways that photography can be used to find healing and self-fulfillment. Examples of photographic image making will be presented.
Where: The Quiet Rebuild exhibition, Art Central, 100 – 7th Avenue S.W. Calgary, AB, CAN

When: 11:00 am, Saturday, February 22, 2013

Cost: Free

I am truly looking forward to connecting with the Calgary art community! Join me!