Dear Dr. Immerman,How surprising to see that you, the titular head of Montserrat College of Art, are unable even to acknowledge the individual who conceived of the Encaustic Conference, does the lion’s share of the work to produce it, and has made a growing hit in the art world for four years. What is it that prevents you from publicly speaking her name, or giving even the slightest credit to the conference founder and visionary? You had a chance to link Montserrat’s name indelibly with Joanne Mattera’s and ride on the success of the conference both nationally and internationally. You blew it.
If I started now to describe what Joanne Mattera has done for artists by writing about the medium of encaustic, we would be here all day. It is her book The Art of Encaustic Painting, appearing shortly after the Montclair Museum encaustic exhibit in 1999, that has created the enormous tide of interest in the medium. It’s a tide that continues to surge: every artist who uses wax has a copy of the book; from that book have flowed new techniques; new books by other artists now appear annually; markets for wax paints, tools, and training workshops have increased exponentially; encaustic affinity groups abound; and the encaustic medium inspires more beautiful art every year.
She had done enough; dayenu, one could say. And yet, while it can be hard-going to try to organize artists, she thought of ways that a conference could help them even more. By using her name and track record, she pulled one together notwithstanding their independent proclivities, gathering seasoned and beginning artists alike to learn, network and collaborate, which has increased the popularity of encaustic even further. With her vision, she created a juggernaut almost single-handedly, and Montserrat helped by providing classrooms and beds and electricity. These are incidentals to what the conference is all about.
It is ironic to see that Montserrat is still taking credit as being the “epicenter” on the College website. This strikes me as academically dishonest in a place where knowledge is everything. Usually students who do not cite their sources get flagged, whereas you and the college have a far greater responsibility. As an academic, you need to summon the reporters and publicly correct the record and broadcast this through your website and links. If you continue to ignore Joanne’s creations and contributions as the conference founder and leader, you will deserve whatever you get: flagging, flogging and a thoroughly unscholarly reputation. I have a responsibility to future artists to point this out whenever they are considering an education at Montserrat.
Yours truly,Shelley Gilchrist
Juror’s Award recipient, 4th Annual Encaustic Conference
Further, I find the newscast very much off the mark. The popularity of the medium has little to do with a high price for a Johns painting; art dealers may care, collectors may care, but if that is what it took to wake them up to wax, then they are just not paying attention.
Needless to say, the 2011 Annual Encaustic Conference will have new home.
Great letter, Shelley. I'd read Nancy Natale's blog earlier and tonight and was astounded by WGBH's shoddy reporting she exposed. I love your slant on the lack of integrity on the part of Dr. Immerman at Montserrat.
ReplyDeleteWow, Shelley, what a fabulous letter! You have beautifully summarized the dynamic effect of Joanne's book on the development of encaustic as a medium and a movement and the way that this encaustic bible became the foundation for the enormous achievement of the annual encaustic conference. That achievement was made possible only with the addition of Joanne's vision, knowledge and wide-ranging contacts in the worlds of art and academia.
ReplyDeleteYou have also pinpointed exactly why Montserrat's dishonest claims for their "ownership" of the conference do not withstand scrutiny and that their contribution consists primarily of physical accommodations.
I strongly hope that Montserrat will realize that they cannot have it both ways by proudly promoting WGBH's half-assed summary of the conference as a tribute to their becoming the "epicenter of encaustic painting" while proclaiming their innocence in this insulting omission.
Thank you for adding your strong voice to the chorus of those of us who object to the shoddy depiction WGBH presented of our wonderful conference.
Hi Shelley, I'm not seeing the president's response. Maybe the internet is just slow? I'll check in the a.m.
ReplyDeleteNEW is also writing a letter to the Pres. I'll post it on my blog a little later.
Excellent Shelley! Joanne is the conference. You nailed the point that colleges are always holding students to the higher ground. It is time they did the same for themselves. Perhaps the almighty dollar has something to do with this lack of a quick response to such a huge omission. The excuse in Dean Tonelli's email to all of us that they couldn't pass up a publicity opportunity points to that. A Letter to the Editor in the Boston Papers at the very least ASAP could start the ball rolling to make some ammends.
ReplyDeleteHi, Shelley and All--
ReplyDeleteI posted a Marketing Mondays feature on my blog today, called Standing Up For Yourself. This is the link: http://joannemattera.blogspot.com/2010/08/marketing-mondays-standing-up-for.html
I was not alone. I had much many people standing up for me, including Shelley Gilchrist, Nancy Natale, and Layra Tyler who posted items on their blogs. And I had many people standing with me, as the comments in these various venues will attest.
I appreciate your support. And I intend to produce a fabulous conference in 2011. More on that soon.
Best,
Joanne