What I know is true...

 

There has been a lot of talk about the Fayetteville Underground lately. A lot of talk from artists, friends, patrons, supporters, media and board members: you name it, people are talking. It has been as interesting to be a part of, as it has been to overhear and watch. As Andy Warhol was quoted as saying, "Don't pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches." With all of this buzz in the air, sometimes I just need to cut through the chatter and remember what I know is true of my experience at the Fayetteville Underground. There are many amazing things that I have been a part of at the Fayetteville Underground and some that I am directly responsible for. This is a list for me, so I can remember.
 
When I joined The Underground, I wanted a place to work away from my home studio. That was my only expectation. The first year I was there I didn't show my work in the galleries or sell my work from my studio as I was under contract with the lovely ddp gallery on Mountain St. Since the organization needed money and couldn't make any from me, I worked more volunteer hours than most to subsidize my rent and prove my worth. I wasn't counting the hours though, because I soon knew I was a part of something bigger than just a studio and that what you put into the Fayetteville Underground was what you got out of it. When the ddp gallery closed, I started showing and selling my work through The Underground as well and I was overwhelmed not only with sales but also all the opportunities that seemed to come my way. Suddenly it became apparent that we, the artists,  were building something Fayetteville had never seen before.
 
On Saturday April, 25th, 2009 soon after moving my studio to the Underground I created the Fayetteville Underground Blog, to help familiarize the public with what was happening in the basement of the empty "old bank building." At first this blog was more in depth, as I interviewed artists and compiled press information for them with pictures of our new location.
 
I still maintain the blog today, posting special events and press information for upcoming shows, as well as other notable mentions for the Underground community. It serves as a small record of what we have accomplished in a short period of time and of all the brilliant artists that have crossed our path.
 
Besides starting the Fayetteville Undground blog, I was directly responsible for bringing many exhibitions to the Fayetteville Underground, listed below. This was an enormous task. There were countless emails, chats, diagrams, photographs, writings, ideas and questions sent back and forth between myself and some of the artists. Sometimes I even funded these shows, printing them in house, as well as mounting them. I also installed many of the exhibitions as well, handled sales and shipped the works back. I learned so much and have such a different understanding and appreciation of gallery owners and artists because of this. Thanks to all the visiting artists who had a show at the Fayetteville Underground. It was a pleasure working with you and your brilliant art. Thanks to Henry Turner for printing and installation assistance on the Institute du loop and Christian Demare exhibitions.
 
Matters of Consequence: January 2010 : Revolver Gallery
Christopher Baber and Michael Shaefer from Hot Springs, Arkansas

Strangers and Not So Strange: Feburary 2010: Hive Gallery
Craig Earl Nelson from Fayetteville, Arkansas

A place to drown: July 2010: Hive Gallery 
Institute du loop from Taipei, Taiwan 

Ghosts in the Landscape #2: August 2010: Hive Gallery 
Christian Demare from Paris, France

North, West, East, South: September 2010: Hive Gallery
Thomas Petillo from Nashville,Tennessee 

Theft by finding: April 2011: Hive Gallery 
Steven Heaton, Rob Kedwards, John Spurgeon (aka Shakesmyteeth) all from U.K.

Iteration/Span: May 2011: Hive Gallery
Stewart Bremner from Edinburgh, Scotland and Craig Munro from Birmingham, England

Mise en Place: July 2011: Hive Gallery
Michele Maule from Portland, Oregon

The World Without Us: September 2011: Hive Gallery
Steven Heaton from Manchester, England

Animal Technology: October 2011: Hive Gallery 
Flannery Grace Horan from Little Rock, Arkansas and Becki Lamascus from Fayetteville, Arkansas
 
As well as the exhibitions, I also gave several talks about my art, the Fayetteville Underground, the shows I curated and marketing art in general. I gave a lecture to the Boston Mountain Potters Association, on ways to successfully market one's art. I also gave the talk Art Collecting 101: The Thrill of Original Art at the Revolver gallery and gave a two-hour lecture/tour for students of The Osher Institute, called Artful Spaces: A visit to the Fayetteville Underground.
 
In July 2010 I gave an art talk about English artist, Institute du Loop's exhibition and in August I spoke about the work of French photographer Christian Demare. In September I lead another lecture/tour for the students of the Osher Institute and in November I gave an informal lecture about my work to a group of university students studying with artist Cindy Wiseman. Speaking about art and engaging the community is something I really enjoy doing. It was such a thrill to create my own opportunities and give back to the community at the same time.
 
Besides those speaking engagements, I often speak monthly with our local National Public Radio affiliate, KUAF's correspondent Jacqueline Froelich on Ozarks at Large, about our upcoming exhibitions. If I am not speaking, I am helping to facilitate the other artist's interviews.
 
Besides these exciting and more obvious tasks there are many other organizational things I do behind the scenes of the organization along with Co-Artistic Director Jennifer Libby Fay. We have helped schedule the artist's gallery shifts so that The Underground maintains regular gallery hours. We have also created the bulk of the programming for the Fayetteville Underground. Many weekly meetings are spent reviewing artist's submissions for exhibitions and studios from near and far. We spend hours coordinating with visiting artists, studio artists, and craft artists to fill our four galleries each month with top notch shows. We have also encouraged our fellow Underground artists to curate additional shows creating a varied and inclusive exhibition schedule.
 
Jennifer and I also coordinate the publicity with studio artist Matthew Depper, to make sure all the artists showing at the Fayetteville Underground get the publicity they deserve, as well as supervising the snappy banners, posters and vinyl letters that Matthew designs and orders, to help make us the professional organization that we have become.
 
A lot of time and energy goes into creating something as special as The Underground. Every studio artist, every craft artist and every visiting artist that has shown at The Underground has made it what it is today. I am grateful for all the opportunities the Fayetteville Underground has given me and my fellow artists.

I could never have done any of this without Jennifer Libby Fay. We make a brilliant team and I thank The Fayetteville Underground for our friendship and for showing us just what we can accomplish, all the while working on our own art and watching our own careers flourish. It has been truly amazing.

Thanks to the building owners, Ted and Leslie Belden for letting a dream grow and flourish for as long as it did in that beautiful space. Thanks to the art lovers and patrons for their support and encouragement, smiles and purchases. 

What I know is that I am an independent business owner as an artist and I will continue to make my art and I will continue to share it and all the art I love with the community that surrounds me. 

Connections

 

 The closing of eyes, mixed media on canvas 12x12"
© 2011 Megan Chapman $250

What a week! My exhibition, Sometimes I love you and other stories came down last Saturday. Then rather than feeling too sad about it, I quickly changed gears and helped artist Stewart Bremner fix up his new studio space at the Underground. It was quite amazing to see all the work he has managed to do while he has been visiting. You can read more about that at his blog- he has lots of exciting news to share as well!

Then there was a whirl wind trip down to Hot Springs, Arkansas (ranked number 4 small arts community in America) just to get away, look at some art, and check in with the Blue Moon Gallery. I have been represented by the Blue Moon since 2004. They were one the first larger commercial galleries that accepted my work and for that I will always be grateful. Sadly, I have been so busy at the Fayetteville Underground that I haven't gone down there as often as I should. It was lovely to see everyone and I was thrilled when they offered me a solo exhibition in December! That is right around the corner! I look forward to sharing some of my Falling into sound works with them and perhaps a few new pieces... we will see!

In other exhibition news, I was also offered an exhibition at the Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, Arkansas. This exhibition will be a two months in March and April. So I have things to do and soon!

I still don't know what I am supposed to paint next, and I probably won't know for a while. I am trying not to let that bother me and just focus on submitting my work to galleries across the country and work on getting more exhibitions scheduled. I am also quite busy with the Underground., as many of my readers know we have to find a new home soon, as we must be out by Janurary 15th. I will miss my studio and our beautiful galleries. I have learned so much and worked with so many talented people at the Underground. It really is a thrill and it is so exciting to see all the opportunities that have opened up for all the artists who have worked here over the years.

I think that is all I have for you this week, until next week keep fighting!

PS. Have you checked out my new website? Have you liked me on facebook? 

Thank you.

What comes next?

 Diving within © Megan Chapman 2011 

mixed media on canvas 30x40" $1,350

A month has come and gone and as I write this, my exhibition Sometimes I love you and other stories will close tomorrow at 5pm. It is always a strange feeling when a show comes to a close. A slight sense of loss or sadness hovers around me. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely happy and pleased at the response my exhibition has received and the sales were fantastic as well. Taking down the show will take mere minutes yet preparing for the show and installing it takes months and hours. The pieces that have sold will be wrapped up and off to find their new homes while the other ones will go back to my studio and wait for another opportunity to be seen.

What will I paint next? What will the next series be? Where will my work be shown next? These questions flood my brain. I will experience the post show blues and lull. Truthfully, I probably have been experiencing that for a while already- it's no big deal, the more shows I have, the more comfortable and accepting of this phase of the process I have become.

Will I work on paper again? Re-stock my etsy shop? Start making works for the Underground Christmas sale? Cull more of my older color work for another super sale? I just don't know. I will try to take good care of myself, watch films, listen to music, take photographs, write, and know that all the while I am doing that, I am replenishing the well of inspiration. The next series will come forward organically over time and I will be ready when it does.

Thanks to all my dear friends near and far, my family, my teachers, my lovely patrons and supporters, and especially Stewart for his love and support. Sometimes I love you and other stories,  was a challenging and exciting series for me and I am so glad I was able to share it with such lovely people.

In other news, my website had a complete redesign! Please visit my new site and share it with your friends. Click on the image below.

Until next week, keep fighting. The worlds needs your art.

A love letter to the Fayetteville Underground

Having a studio outside my home had always been a goal of mine, an expensive dream that would most likely remain impossible. Having a studio meant that I could close the door on my daily life and go to work like the rest of the world. It would be a place dedicated to the making of art, a place where messy dreams come to life and where drips of paint on the floor and walls were welcomed. A place for patrons to check in and see works in progress and develop a relationship with me as an artist. This is what I had wanted for so long and this is what I got. In April 2009 I moved into a small studio at the Fayetteville Underground in downtown Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The Fayetteville Underground was just forming at the time, taking the basement of a mostly vacant bank building on the somewhat empty downtown square. It was a big experiment, an idea to have four galleries and fifteen working artist studios and a classroom. A dream to make Fayetteville an arts destination and help to boost the economy and desirability of the town.

When I initially signed my lease I thought of it also as a personal experiment. I was a little concerned that the other studio mates might be a distraction or that I would feel nervous working in a group environment. I would be giving up the windows of my attic studio and it also meant I would be changing my schedule and how I worked as an artist. I had been the type of painter that would roll out of bed at three in the morning to paint and I worried if working in this more formal environment with the more regular hours would hinder my creativity. It took a long time to get used to the sounds of the building, the manufactured air and the remnants of bankers and their offices. I'd also be lying if I didn't mention that it took time to get used to my fellow studio mates comings and goings, music and moods.

To top off the studio experience there were the four galleries to fill and regular hours to keep and the whole act of helping to create what has now become one of the premier arts organizations in the state of Arkansas. When I look back and remember how The Underground was when it started and how far it has come over the last two and a half years it is astonishing. Being a part of the Fayetteville Underground has been one of the greatest adventures and accomplishments of my life.

I have been able to work with some of the most amazing people and my studio mates have become my family. We celebrate together and we share our sorrows too. We talk about our big ideas as well as our tangents that quickly burn out. We have supported each other through the thick and the thin. Many of us had studios before the underground as well as gallery representation, but we didn't have this team of fellow artists behind us and we didn't know what we could achieve as a collective body. We have brought local, national and international artists and their exhibitions to Fayetteville. The underground artists consistently create and install quality exhibitions month after month.

I believe I have done some of my best work of my career during my time at the Fayetteville Underground. I think it has to do with the freedom and excitement that comes from working around other like minded artists. Our work improves as we are not working in a vacuum and have a built in audience that arrives each month during our First Thursday artist receptions. It is reassuring to know that someone will see our work, even if it is just a piece in progress in our studios. And that brings me back to First Thursday. I remember the first few and then suddenly the crowds! Suddenly it just took off and we were hosting 1000 people at the Underground a month! It was a thrill to feel the swell of people and to absorb their support and enthusiasm for the art we were providing them. Suddenly the empty square started filling up with new businesses and the empty bank building wasn't so empty anymore. We were starting to accomplish our goals as an organization and people were starting to take notice.

This did not happen over night and it was not easy, it took many meetings and much organization to create what the Fayetteville Underground has become. The Underground is about one thing and one thing only, and that is art. When rumors were flying about our lost lease we kept working, we kept doing what we do best, to bring the best in visual art to the city of Fayetteville. We kept having our studios open. our First Thursday receptions and we kept smiling (most of the time). We kept sharing our experiences of what the Fayetteville Underground has meant to us or what great show we were bringing next, or our next big body of work in progress.

My studio is my haven, my safe place in this world. Where I can float away into my art and bring forth new ideas to share with the public and my fellow artists. The family I have made there is special to me and we believe strongly in the value of what we do. This is our life and our livelihood. We will have to be out of our current building by January 15th and we have been a nervous wreck as a group ever since we found out this sad news, but we are a united group and we hope to find a new home for our studios and galleries.

Our lives have been deeply touched by all those whose talent, skill, and generosity has helped to create the Underground. I am not the same person or artist I was when I signed my lease in 2009 and I can't wait to see what this next incarnation of the Fayetteville Underground brings not only to the artists but to Fayetteville. 

Viva la Underground!

In other news: My exhibition Sometimes I love you and other stories closes on October 1. So please go see it at the Vault Gallery at the Fayetteville Underground before it does. Gallery hours are W-F 12-7 and Saturday 10-5. I am grateful for the support this exhibition has received!

I am also having a special sale of the color paintings in my studio. All of these works are half price until September 30th! Learn more about that here. If you have any questions about my sale please email me at megancha@gmail.com.

The rewards of saying yes

Home 

Mixed Media on Canvas

© 2011 Megan Chapman

Sold

Being an artist is a thrill, you just never know where this profession will take you. I have been incredibly lucky to have gracious patrons that have passed in and out of my life over the years and I always enjoy meeting new ones and learning their stories and interests. This week I went on a little adventure with some patrons and it was such a fun experience I thought I would share a little bit of it here.

Sharon and Gary are artists as well as patrons of mine and artist Stewart Bremner. Besides painting, Stewart is currently photographing a series of vintage and classic cars and our patrons have been following along vicariously with his project. Sharon kindly suggested we connect with Gary and his collection of cars.

So Stewart and I made arrangements and off we went! This past Wednesday was all about cars and spending time with lovely people talking about cars. We drove around the neighboring towns in NW Arkansas and the cars were as beautiful and impressive as were the people we encountered.

I just wanted to remind myself about the wonderful connections that come from being an artist. It is all apart of being connected to something bigger than yourself and saying yes to opportunities as they present themselves. Passion is contagious whether it is the passion for restoring old cars or creating art. Wednesday was a wonderful day that I won't soon forget, and all brought to me by art!

Thank you Sharon, Gary and Don for sharing your time, your cars, and your passion with us.

In other news, my exhibition Sometimes I love you and other stories is on display for the remainder of September at the Fayetteville Underground in the Vault Gallery. Gallery hours are W-F 12-7 and Sat 10-5. I am very proud of this body of work and overwhelmed at the response this work has received. If you have not already seen the show, please don't miss it.

For an in depth look at some of the story behind the show and some more about me, you might want to read this recent profile by Haley Ray, a journalism student of the University of Arkansas. You can read it here. I was really pleased that she contacted my mentor/professor Ron Graff from the University of Oregon for a quote in the piece.

Tomorrow, Saturday September 17th I will be participating in a meet the artists event at the Fayetteville Underground from 10-1pm with fellow studio mate Linda Sheets. We will be on hand to discuss our work in more detail and in a more intimate setting than a typical First Thursday. If you are local or regional I hope you can drop in and learn more about our exhibitions.

Also for the next two weeks only, I am having a special sale of the color paintings in my studio. All of these works are half price until September 30th! Learn more about that here. If you have any questions about my sale please email me at megancha@gmail.com.

As the world slides by

Sometimes I love you and other stories is off to a very strong start! Two more pieces sold last Saturday and another on Monday. A total of seven paintings have found new homes in the first week of the show! I am beyond pleased and so grateful for everyone's support.

As I often do, I gave myself permission to take some time off and just absorb the body of work I have created. I let myself enjoy seeing it in the gallery and I just spend time with the work and simply being in my studio but without the pressure of having to create anything. I don't think about the next series or direction. Now is not the time for that.

Today I went for a long drive in the meandering country side, listening to music and I just let the world slide by.

Don't forget to do this. Take the time, refill the well and celebrate what you have accomplished. And as always keep fighting...

Sometimes I love you and other stories is in the Vault Gallery through the month of September at the Fayetteville Underground. Gallery hours are W-F 12-7 and Saturday 10-5. If those hours don't suit you, feel free to email me at megancha@gmail.com and I can open the gallery for you by appointment.

Sometimes I love you...

Sometimes I love you and other stories from stewart bremner on Vimeo. Sometimes I love you... a short film by Stewart Bremner.

Oh what a week! Last night, Sometimes I love you and other stories opened at the Vault Gallery in the Fayetteville Underground. It was a lovely night, the crowds were amazing and the show looked great. I am happy to report that the evening concluded with four sales as well!

my paintings on the vault gallery walls

I am very proud of this exhibition and of myself for taking some risks in order to create the work. The glowing white paintings came together perfectly and transformed the gallery. The patrons who came to view the show last night were very receptive and their comments validated what I had to hoped to accomplish with this show. These works are my story and are intimate but at the same time they communicate something all of us feel and can relate to. The responses and stories I heard from people were also intimate and this was very special and moving to me. I heard stories about long distance relationships and new love, as well as from an older man who had just lost his wife. The words in one particular painting echoed his longing for and thoughts of her. Overcome with emotion, he was barely able to speak as he pointed to the painting that reminded him of his lost love. I soon became unable to speak as well. That moment in the night is one that I will hold close and remember always, his response was a gift to me and somehow my art was a comfort to him.

Last night was also a lovely reminder of how special the Fayetteville Underground is and how vibrant Fayetteville's art scene has become. The conversations, the interactions and the sheer number of people that attend First Thursday at the Underground is astounding. I feel very fortunate to live and work where I do and very proud of what I have helped the Underground achieve. My work has grown and expanded so much in the time I have had my studio at the Underground and my scope and reach within the art community both locally and internationally has as well. I am fortunate and grateful.

If you missed the opening of my exhibition, it will be on display throughout the month of September and gallery hours are W-F 12-7 and Saturday 10-5. Click here to listen to an interview on our local NPR station about the exhibitions at the Underground this month. If you have any questions about these works or would like to contact me personally about them or arrange for a tour of the show please don't hesitate to email me at megancha@gmail.com.

my paintings on the vault gallery walls

Thanks to all my friends near and far, my family, my art supporters and patrons. Thanks to my family of artists at the Fayetteville Underground. Thanks to Rodney Wilhite for the loan of his wonderful typewriter.

Love and thanks to Stewart Bremner for doing the impossible.