Locust Projects selects twenty South Florida high school students to participate in the 2015 LAB (LOCUST ARTS BUILDERS) program:
Matthew Alvarez, TERRA Environmental Research Institute; Tony Bernardo, New World School of the Arts; Ezekiel Binns, Miami Edison Senior High; Isabella Bru, Miami Arts Charter School; Catherine Camargo, New World School of the Arts; Joseph Canizales, Design and Architecture Senior High; Juan Cardona, Design and Architecture Senior High; Andres Cazalis Hudec, New World School of the Arts; Jennifer Dupotey, New World School of the Arts; Kelly Eriksen, Palmer Trinity School; Glenn Espinosa, G. Holmes Braddock Senior High; Valeria Fernandez, Dr. Michael Krop Senior High; Nicole Giraldo, Design and Architecture Senior High; Anastasia Khlioustov, Dr. Michael Krop Senior High; Tommy Maharlika, North Miami Beach Senior High; Max Mayoral, Miami Beach Senior High; Theo Rodino, TERRA Environmental Research Institute; Nicolas Stapel, TERRA Environmental Research Institute; Niki Stebbins, Design and Architecture Senior High; Andrea Tabora, Ransom Everglades.
Locust Projects presents the 6th year of LAB (Locust Arts Builders). This year, 20 South Florida high school students were selected from an open call and had the opportunity to create a collaborative exhibition at Locust Projects in Miami’s Design District.
Under the direction of Miami-based contemporary visual artists Monica Lopez de Victoria (of the TM Sisters) and Clifton Childree, students were given the opportunity to create a collaborative exhibition at Locust Projects and manage all aspects of the show’s production during a three-week summer intensive. Students also visited art institutions on guided field trips and interacted with invited members of the local art community at Locust Projects. The LAB program extends Locust Projects’ longstanding commitment to experimentation and innovation in artistic practice to the next generation of South Florida artists. LAB promotes contemporary art and project-based learning as a means to encourage creativity, critical analysis, and problem solving, while also helping participants to develop their communication skills. This unique initiative allows young artists to learn the practical aspects and experience the excitement of creating a public exhibition in collaboration with their peers.
Locust Projects is excited to welcome California-based MFA student Christina Mesiti who has been selected to develop and produce her project Port for the LAB MFA exhibition in the Project Room. Mesiti is studying for her MFA at Claremont Graduate University in California, and received her BFA in Painting from Arizona State University. This is the first year that Locust Projects has held a national open call for the LAB MFA program, and we are thrilled to have received proposals from students attending a broad range of schools across the United States.
ABOUT LOCUST PROJECTS Locust Projects is a not for profit exhibition space dedicated to providing contemporary visual artists the freedom to experiment with new ideas without the pressures of gallery sales or limitations of conventional exhibition spaces. Local, national and international artists are encouraged to create site-specific installations as an extension of their representative work. Locust Projects supports the local community through educational initiatives and programming that are free to the public.
LAB is funded by the Alvah H. and Wyline P. Chapman Foundation, The Cowles Charitable Trust, and The Children’s Trust. The Children’s Trust is a dedicated source of revenue established by voter referendum to improve the lives of children and families in Miami-Dade County.
Locust Projects’ exhibitions and programming are made possible with the support from: The Alvah H. and Wyline P. Chapman Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; Cowles Charitable Trust; FAENA, The State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the National Endowment for the Arts Art Works Grant; Locust Projects Exhibitionist Members.
