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For Artists, a Sanctuary From Sept. 11
January 23, 2002
By STEPHEN KINZER
SANTA FE, N.M. - Two years ago the Lower Manhattan Cultural
Council accepted Sonya Sklaroff, a painter known for
evocative cityscapes, into a program that gave artists
studio space in the World Trade Center. During her six
months there she produced a series of vertical pictures in
black and white that depicted views from her 91st-story
window in Tower 1.
Like many New York artists who lived or worked in Lower
Manhattan, Ms. Sklaroff was emotionally shattered by the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. She lost several friends, as
well as the buildings to which she had developed deep
emotional ties, and found it impossible to go back to work
in her Houston Street studio.
These days Ms. Sklaroff is painting exuberant landscapes in
the awe-inspiring deserts and mountains of New Mexico. She
is among about 80 New York artists who have been accepted
into a residency program aimed at helping them recover from
the effects of the attacks and find ways to renew their
lives and careers.
"I came here to detox and relax and do something new," she
said in the sunny, high-ceilinged space where she now
works. "What happened in New York was devastating to me
because of my connection to the buildings. My life changed
because of this event."
"I'm loving the skies and the colors out here in New
Mexico," she added, "and actually I feel a little guilty
about having such a wonderful time. But being here has
completely recharged me. I've decided that I have a job to
do, which is to go back and record the beauty of New York
and show people what a great place it is."
The program that led Ms. Sklaroff to New Mexico is
sponsored by the Santa Fe Art Institute, which was founded
in 1985 but has struggled to find its role in this city's
burgeoning cultural landscape. For years the institute, on
the College of Santa Fe campus, has offered summer
residencies to artists, and its new building, completed in
1999, has living and working space for a dozen.
In September a New Yorker, Diane R. Karp, who had been
publisher of New Observations, an art journal, became the
institute's director. She was driving her station wagon
across the country when, on a road in Oklahoma, she heard
of the attacks. By the time she arrived in Santa Fe, she
had resolved to do something for New York artists who had
lost their apartments or studios, or who had been otherwise
affected by the terrorism.
New Mexico has long been a magnet for creative artists
ranging from Georgia O'Keeffe to D. H. Lawrence. Many have
developed a powerful connection to the majestic landscape.
Visually and spiritually, this place is almost unimaginably
far from the carnage and devastation of the World Trade
Center site.
"I felt so disconnected out here, and I was searching for
something I could do that would make a difference," said
Ms. Karp, who added that she knew of no other program
supplying residencies to affected artists. "There was a
crying need for these artists not only to have a place to
work, but also to find some emotional refuge. Santa Fe is a
really healthy place. It regenerates the people who come
here."
The first artists in this hastily conceived program arrived
in October. Each had submitted an application describing
his or her situation, along with slides of work. Nearly all
who applied were accepted. The artists stay for two to four
weeks and are given a studio and living space but no
stipend. Southwest Airlines has given free trips to those
who cannot afford the airfare. Several foundations and
private donors have contributed, and the Santa Fe Opera
donated $5,000.
Participants include realist painters like Ms. Sklaroff as
well as abstract artists, portraitists, video artists,
sculptors, photographers, installation artists and even
performance artists. They have no fixed schedule or
commitments and are not expected to produce any specified
amount of work.
"It's interesting to watch what they do," Ms. Karp said.
"Almost all of them are incorporating some aspect of Sept.
11 into their work, either directly or indirectly. And the
landscape seems to insinuate itself into almost everyone's
work. It's very powerful. There's definitely a healing
aspect to it."
One of the artists in the program, Margaret Evangeline,
works on large aluminum plates whose surfaces she grinds to
produce shimmering three-dimensional effects; she then
paints the plates with abstract patterns. From her studio
on West 26th Street in Chelsea, she witnessed the effects
of the attacks.
"Signs of death were everywhere," Ms. Evangeline said. "I
was seeing these heartbreaking funeral processions every
day. Even two months later, the smell in my studio was so
strong it made me sick. I couldn't work. I was so
fragmented that I couldn't focus on anything. When I heard
about this program, I started to cry because that was just
what I needed."
Ms. Evangeline has an arrangement with the New Mexico Air
National Guard that allows her to take her plates to remote
fields and fire at them with a variety of weapons. The
results are stark and powerful.
"I hate to admit it, but I felt much better after I did
it," she said of her experiences shooting at the plates.
"It cleared something for me. My work has always been about
loss and displacement, and I think this experience is going
to change it in a big way. It's a paradigm shift. The light
out here is astonishing. Being in a sanctuary like this,
where so many artists have worked over the years, can't
help but affect you."
In a nearby studio a German-born digital artist, Trebor
Scholz, worked on a project about the war in Kosovo, where
he spent last summer. He lives in Brooklyn, and his wife
was supposed to be part of the World Trade Center artists'
program this year. When the first tower was hit, he was on
the phone with a friend who lived half a block from the
site.
Mr. Scholz spent much of the autumn producing work that
combined images of American flags with videotaped
interviews he conducted with Arab-Americans in New York.
"These people were feeling the same fears as everyone else
because their city had just been bombed, but they had
become targets," Mr. Scholz said. "They were being spit on
and fired from their jobs. Their husbands and brothers and
sons had disappeared, and because the government hadn't
admitted yet that it was arresting these people, no one
knew what had happened to them."
"It was a very difficult time," he added, "and like
everyone else here, I was so happy to get out of New York.
This is a fantastic opportunity to be away from it all,
surrounded by mountains and nature. Diane had a wonderful
idea. It's a blessing."
Although like Mr. Scholz, some artists who lived through
the shock of Sept. 11 have produced work that refers
explicitly to the events, most have approached them
indirectly.
"My responsibility is not literally to portray death,
destruction and devastation," said Mariah Fee, who creates
silk-screen collages. "I feel too much responsibility to
the people who died to try to encapsulate their suffering
as a product or an artwork. It's more a desire to
communicate in some way how my life and so many other lives
have been changed forever."
"I was spending my days weeping and wailing," she said,
"and when I got the fax about this program, I rushed to
apply. Being here in New Mexico has given me a chance to
think this through. I was more nihilistic and existential
before this happened. I feel stronger now, more dedicated
to my work and my friends. I've cast off the sadness that I
felt in New York."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/23/arts/design/23ARTS.html?ex=1012786756&ei=1&en=10be198db9615632
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