The Flash Card Project
One of over 50 flash cards sent to artists as part of The Flash Card Project
“After being in communication with many artists who were not feeling creative during the pandemic, I thought this simple prompt would encourage all of us to create. This exhibition will demonstrate how we kept our creativity going during this time, and reflect our feelings over the duration of the pandemic.”
Carbondale Arts presented “The Flash Card Project”, a group show curated by local artist, Wewer Keohane. The exhibition was open to the public beginning First Friday, July 3, and was on exhibition through July 31 at the R2 Gallery (located inside The Launchpad at 76 South 4th Street in Carbondale).
All artwork was up for auction online through July 29. Proceeds from the auction benefitted the artists and Carbondale Arts. Viewers were able to see an image of the original flash cards that inspired the artists’ works and were invited to enjoy the creativity that evolved from the process.
Keohane sent invitations to 75 artists, mostly living within the Roaring Fork Valley, to accept a randomly chosen flash card from her as inspiration to create artwork, and as a prompt to examine their time of isolation during the pandemic. Over 50 artists accepted the challenge.
The flash cards, originally printed by the American Guidance Service as a tool for language learning, had been in Keohane’s studio waiting for a collage project. Initially proposed as an exhibition for 2021, Keohane approached Carbondale Arts to see if an earlier date would be available. As the pandemic has postponed some spring exhibitions into 2021, a space opened up in July 2020.
Participating artists included Chris Bergstrom, Teresa Booth Brown, Pama Collé, Brian Colley, Dominique Colver, Phil Colver, Joice Davis, Lynne DeNio, Tania Dibbs, Staci Dickerson, Linda Drake, Gayle Embrey, Chris Erickson, Charles Doug Evans, Sheri Gaynor, Bill Gruenberg, Annaday Hiser, Kathy Honea, Deborah Jones, Reina Katzenberger, Scott Keating, Steve Keohane, Wewer Keohane (curator), Nicole Levesque, Nancy Lovendahl, Carol Loewenstern, Ingrid Magidson, Charles Morris, Jocelyn Murray, Alyson Muse, Lynette O'Kane, Suzan Obermeyer, Margaret Pearson, Vanessa Porras, Michael Raaum, Sondie Reiff, Kat Rich, Shannon Richardson, Erin Rigney, Andrew Roberts-Gray, Annette Roberts-Gray, Lisa Singer, Stefanie Soychak, Leslie Stoupas, Laura Stover, Lea Tawd, Lumen Tawd, Mellie Test, Felicia Trevor, Sarah Vincent-Hoag, Nannette Weinhold, Lara Whitley, and Ellen Woods.
“The Flash Card Project” was generously sponsored by Forum Phi, an award-winning Architecture & Interior Design Firm with offices in Carbondale and Aspen, Colorado. Forum Phi thoughtfully provides a collaborative architecture and interior design environment, with client-centric and sustainability-driven processes. The team specializes in design-led renovations and highly crafted new builds, with an expanding portfolio of work across the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond.
This exhibition was open to the public July 3 - 31, 2020.
A note from Wewer Keohane, curator
During the sequestered days of March 2020 I began giving my studio a face-lift: painting the floors and going through EVERYTHING. I found hundreds of large flash cards that I’d been saving for a collage project and had an idea to choose a card (randomly or purposefully) for up to about 30-70 artists and send it to them to do whatever they want, hoping to be able to exhibit it sometime in the future. The working title was “Putting the Pieces Back Together” but I kept referring to it as “The Flash Card Project”.
Years ago, I had an exhibition and did a series of small works hung on clipboards of standard size, and I thought this would be a compact and aesthetically pleasing way to display works in “The Flash Card Project”. Clipboards are also used as a place to keep notes, a learning tool.
After being in communication with many artists who were not feeling creative during the pandemic, I thought this simple prompt would encourage all of us to create. This exhibition will demonstrate how we kept our creativity going during this time, and reflect our feelings over the duration of the pandemic.
I love stimulating creativity and joy within the world, especially to artists I love and respect, and I am really thrilled how this idea has been embraced.