Congratulations to Professors Max White and Michael Flanagan, two University of Wisconsin-Whitewater faculty who just completed the third round of workshops for artists in Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico. Each of the workshops lasted two weeks and culminated in a show on August 5, 2011 at La Mano Mágica, a studio and gallery in the city of Oaxaca. Student participants in the workshops were professional artists or from art related professions such as gallery ownership or architecture.

These workshops are part of an on-going series of cultural exchange projects sponsored by the UW-Whitewater College of Arts and Communication and various institutions in the city of Oaxaca. For the workshop just concluded special thanks go to the Instituto de Ciencias Juridicas, the Taller Juan Alcázar, the Taller Rufino Tamayo, and La Mano Mágica.  Each of these Oaxaca based groups provided support vital to the successful conclusion of the workshops.

Max White delivered a graphics workshop that focused on monotype techniques.  This was the second monotype workshop conducted by Professor White in Oaxaca. The first was conducted in January, 2011 at the Museum of Oaxacan Painters. Techniques taught in the workshop included the direct “a la prima” painting method, the viscosity resist technique, the multiple drop transparent color technique, the stencil-making & split-fountain (color blend) roll technique, and the 2-plate drypoint monoprint approach. A session on solar plate techniques for creating intaglio and relief prints was included at the end of the workshop. Commenting on the workshop, Professor White said the students were a marvelous and highly talented group. She also said the appreciated being in Oaxaca as a teacher and not simply as a tourist. Works produced by the participants in this workshop will be featured in a September, 2011 show at the Fiskum Gallery on the UW-Whitewwater campus.

For the second consecutive year Michael Flanagan delivered a  workshop in museum studies. He delivered the first in July, 2010 at the Museum of Oaxacan Painters.  Flanagan, who is the Director of Galleries at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, addressed a wide range of topics related to museum and gallery management in the workshop. Topics addressed included finances, scheduling, artwork preservation, liability, and exhibition management. The workshop concluded with students dividing into two teams, adopting a theme, and selecting works to represent the themes. Works for the show were generously provided by the collections from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the Taller Rufino Tamayo, and La Mano Mágica  gallery. The final steps of the workshop involved matting and framing the artwork, planning the layout, and then hanging the show.

Apart from Professors White and Flanagan, a number of people were responsible for the success of the workshops. Among these are Maestro Juan Alcázar, founding Director of the Museum of Oaxacan Painters and well-known Oaxacan artist. Pictured above with Professor Flanagan, Alcázar is the coordinator of the workshops in Oaxaca. Appreciation is extended as well to Maestro Arnulfo Mendoza , noted weaver and owner of La Mano Mágica, who for two weeks provided the workshop and gallery space for the workshops. Silvia Piñeiro and Diane Fredericks  also provided invaluable assistance . Finally, a special thanks must be given to Irasema Villarreal and Margarita Ahuatzin who served as interpreters for the workshops.

Director Flanagan has announced that in addition to Professor White’s workshop prints that will be displayed in the Fiskum Gallery, the first show of the season in the Crossman Gallery on the UW-Whitewater campus will feature  twenty eight artists from Oaxaca. Coordinated by Maestro Juan Alcázar, the show is entitled “Sobreviviendo: manéjese con cuidado” (Surviving: Handle with Care). The theme of Sobreviendo is an environmental one that focuses on endangered species in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Below is a copy of the announcement of the exhibit and reception for the workshops just completed. The public and the press were invited.