The oldest continuously operating art colony in America
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 31, 2023
CONTACT: Tony Blackman, Director: RNAC.director@gmail.com
Goetemann Artist Residency Program Events
Environmental/Installation Artist Talk with Julia Shepley, The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck (6 Wonson Street, Gloucester):
Sunday, September 10, 4PM
Presentation and Discussion of Site-Responsive Installation with Julia Shepley, Ocean Alliance (32 Horton Street, Gloucester):
Thursday, October 5, 5:30PM
Talks Free and Open to the Public
Gloucester, MA
In its 19th annual Goetemann Artist Residency program, the Rocky Neck Art Colony (RNAC) invites the public to attend two talks by the 2023 Environmental/Installation Artist in residence Julia Shepley. This program is a collaboration with RNAC’s partner Ocean Alliance, conceived by former RNAC Board President Kathy Archer.
Shepley will be creating a site-specific environmental installation throughout September at Ocean Alliance on Rocky Neck. At the beginning of her residency, she will give a free talk at the Cultural Center about her extensive body of work. During her stay, Shepley will host a limited number of open studio hours, to be posted on rockyneckartcolony.org, to engage with the community. Her residency will wrap up at Ocean Alliance with the presentation of her new work.
About the Environmental Installation Artist:
Sculptor and installation artist Julia Shepley’s work references the changing effects of light and shadow on natural and built environments revealing shared structures and patterns. Working in photography, wood, ink and other mixed media, she pieces together multiple observational viewpoints, as well as the warped elongated shapes of shadows and reflections, to evoke shifts of natural forces and human attachment. “My work in all media is a form of observational and exploratory drawing,” says Shepley.
During her September residency, Shepley will create on-site artwork inspired by investigation into the whale research work done at Ocean Alliance as well as from the study of patterns of light and shadow at the ocean’s edge. She hopes to expand on a new direction in her sculptural work that integrates light and reflective components.
As Shepley writes about residencies, “I’ve learned that the process and activities of preparation can be one of the most important and fertile components of a residency experience. Considering how best to use the resources of a particular site provides an incentive to stretch my practices and research a new skill or methodology, as well as obtain or revisit a variety of materials with which to experiment.”
Shepley has exhibited nationally and internationally. Her work is held in public and private collections including The Rose Art Museum, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Fidelity Investments, Simmons University and Boston Public Library. She has been widely reviewed in publications such as The Boston Globe, Sculpture Magazine, ArtScope, and Art New England. Shepley studied at Boston University, and is a member of the Boston Printmakers and the Textile Study Group in New York City. She is an active and founding member of the Boston Sculptors Gallery and works out of her studio in the Brickbottom Artist Building in Somerville, MA. She is recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, including from The New England Foundation for the Arts and has been awarded many residencies, including at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica di Venezia in Venice Italy.
Shepley’s new prints will be included in the show Somerville Prints! at the Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, MA, from November 30-December 30, 2023
She will exhibit new sculptural drawings in Object Lessons at the South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA February 15, 2024 – March 30, 2024.
Shepley will present two Public Artist Talks:
Introductory opening talk: Sunday, Sept 10, 4-5:30PM at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck
Closing presentation and talk: Thursday, Oct. 5, 5:30 PM at Ocean Alliance
For more information, visit https://rockyneckartcolony.org/2023-goetemann-artist-residency/
www.juliashepley.com
The Rocky Neck Art Colony, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, nurtures excellence in the arts through exhibitions, workshops, residencies and vibrant cultural events for its members and the public. Long renowned for its luminous light, Rocky Neck’s harbor and coastal location have been magnets for some of the most revered realist painters in US art. Edward Hopper and Emil Gruppe are examples, as well as Stuart Davis, Marsden Hartley, Theresa Bernstein, Milton Avery and Nell Blaine, among others. Today, Rocky Neck continues to attract artists and art lovers to a thriving, creative community. www.rockyneckartcolony.org. Telephone: 978-515-7004.
Images below [high-resolution images available on request]
Julia Shepley in her studio working
Julia Shepley, Ride, 2021, bamboo, wood, wire, acrylic ink, 6″ x 32″ x 7”
Installation View at Boston Sculptors Gallery 2022 with Shepley
Installation view of exhibition at Boston Sculptors Gallery 2022