Medal Day 2007

As the place where MacDowell began and the place where MacDowell contributes so much, Peterborough will be an even bigger cultural destination in 2007 when the Colony salutes the freedom to create — right where that freedom is most expressed.  First, in a program called Peterborough Projects, MacDowell will award up to six residencies to artists whose work will engage the local community in an event, happening, or conceptual work. The goal of these special projects will be to partner artists with volunteer citizens in the making of memorable works. Specific focus will be on those projects which maximize community participation, can be seen/experienced by the general public, and are temporary in nature. The possibilities are as endless as the creative ideas of our artists, but what we know for sure is that this will be an exciting collaboration between MacDowell and Peterborough's citizens that will create a one-of-a-kind, truly unforgettable art experience.

The not-to-be-missed capstone to the local celebration will take place over the annual Medal Day weekend on August 11th and 12th, 2007.  We have commissioned Colony Fellow and 2006 MacArthur winner Anna Schuleit (pictured in banner) of New York City to create a sensational installation that will engage numerous townspeople and children in a unique performance piece.

“Each time I have been to MacDowell,” says Anna, “I have been struck by the curious contradiction of the Colony:  out of such privacy comes the art that finds a public audience. In art galleries, concert halls, movie theaters, and on bookshelves everywhere, the work done in the cloistered, protected setting of Peterborough has had major impact on the outside world.

“As an artist asked to create a visual memory for MacDowell on the occasion of its Centennial, I considered this dual nature. I asked myself how one might pay tribute to it but also unite it with MacDowell's other face — that of its community at large.  Planning for the celebration, which will unfold over August 11th and 12th, has been underway for months now.  So as not to spoil all the surprises in store, I won't give away too much here, but I can share a few details.

“A stage production will be the opening event of the Medal Day celebration and feature children from Peterborough paired with MacDowell artists in a string of 10 collaborative performances. These collaborations will use the decades of MacDowell as a theme and incorporate the telephone — the signature device of communication and connection in the 20th century, which is also the only forbidden object in MacDowell's studios. 

“From the stage a transition will be made onto the grounds of the Colony, turning the audience into participants within a site-specific installation that extends along miles of roads and walkways. Scattered around MacDowell's 450 woodland acres, telephones attached to trees, illuminated in the dark by cones of colored light, will ring and be available to anyone at any time to pick up.  Voices from around the world will provide a moving evocation of the Colony's story.  As voice is paramount to the artist, so voice becomes paramount in our celebration.  It becomes the method of connection and the means of sharing a moment in time. In the spirit of public art and with the use of telephones as a tool for exchange and dialogue, the public is invited to interact with the life of the colony, its network of artists, and wealth of past creations.

“Part play, part public performance, part installation — and part mystery (what might a Centennial birthday cake look like?) — the MacDowell project I envision will enable links between audience and artist, space and time, history and the future.  By ‘violating’ MacDowell's trademark privacy in a loving way, we will bridge the inside to the outside and perhaps be able to lift boundaries between those within the walls of the Colony and those beyond them.  It is only then that we can really understand the spirit and significance of MacDowell this past century. And the century to come.”  

       

Anna Schuleit is a visual artist whose large-scale installations revolve around the archaeology and remembrance of public sites and modern ruins. She was recently given a fellowship by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants by such institutions as the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and the Elizabeth Greenshield Foundation.  In addition to the MacDowell Centennial celebration, she is currently working on an installation for an uninhabited island in Boston Harbor for the Institute of Contemporary Art’s Vita Brevis 2007 exhibition.