Latitude For Art events 2024:
October: Artist in Residence:
Lisa Marr is a filmmaker, musician, mentor, teaching artist, curator, and community cinema activist whose work is a catalyst for creative collaboration and collective liberation. Since 2001, Lisa has facilitated free experimental/documentary screenings and workshops for thousands of emerging filmmakers as part of the Echo Park Film Center Collective, a non-profit LA-based media arts organization with a focus on handmade analog image education, exhibition, residencies and resources.
https://sellyourtvandcometothecinema.org/
October: Artists in the Garden – hosted by Martin Cox, artists; Destiny Gowdy, Jennie Saparzadeh, Ben Welker-Quinn, Soyoung Shin, David Arenas, Polina Zaslavskia, Sarana Mehra, Lisa Marr gathered for a discussion of their practice.
Artists in the Garden is an event where artists are invited to Laguna Castle Garden in small groups to talk for about 5 – 10 minutes each on their practice, (or creativity, struggles or successes etc) with other artists in a round robin. Intended as a community networking activity with no tech element, just artists talking about their work or their practice or concerns. Designed as an antidote to an epidemic of anxiety and isolation, we hope to boost communication and community between artists and thereby extending out to their networks.
September: A talk by painter Hayley Barker in the garden. Hayley was the first artist at the Latitude For Art residency in Laguna Castle. Hayley’s time here led on to her debut exhibition with L.A.’s Night Gallery in 2023. Her show titled “Laguna Castle”, explored the natural and human environment of a unique residency offered by Latitude For Art. “I was particularly captivated by the garden. It had a lot of layers to it… You could tell that people had been tending it in different kinds of ways over the years.” -Hayley Barker.
July: A significant long planned event occurred July 1st. Latitude For Art was gifted by the Isa-Kae Meksin Living Trust the property called “Laguna Castle” in Echo Park, Los Angeles. With many artists and some seniors as long time permanent residents in this intentional community, managed for 30 years by Martin Cox. With space for our Latitude For Art office, a part-time artist residency space and lush garden area for events we are in a great position to continue our mission.
June: We held the annual Isa Festival at Laguna Castle Garden. A lively event that invites in put from artists and visitors in a celebratory manor. The event also raises important funds for our operating budget.
May: Latitude offered it’s first embedded artist residency where an artist has a residency experience within a preexisting organization or institution.
Artist Shay Myerson spent 2 1/2 weeks making work in the large studio in San Gabriel, CA belonging to artist/Board member Hayley Barker while Barker was in Europe for an exhibition. A number of new works were produced and artist/ Studio manager Siobhan Furnay commented, “it was beneficial to Shay in that it allowed her a special, designated space to explore her ideas. The space allowed for experimentation, and to work on a larger scale for some works.”
April: Annual event “Steve Kent’s Porch Time” in honor of longtime resident and former theater director Steven Kent held in the garden at Laguna Castle. A gathering of residents and local community members and Kent’s former colleagues and students. A sharing of music and stories and art.
Spring 2023 we activated the artist residency space with a new gallery space, “The Castle Wall”.
Summer 2023 we introduced a series of ongoing encounters for artists to meet and talk in small groups. Called “Artists in the Garden”, visual artists came together to discuss current issues in their practice, thoughts on developing new works, and to provide a space away from social media for artists to interact with other artists and to create community.
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2023: Residency artist at Laguna Castle: Musician Kathryn Korniloff,
2023: Residency artist at Laguna Castle: Writer Destiny Gowdy
2022: Our first Los Angeles residencies for solo artists begin mid 2022.
Artists Hayley Barker, Tara O’Neil and spent multi day residencies at Laguna Castle
2021: After a delay during the Covid disruption Latitude For Arts GilsfjordurArts residency in Iceland resumes. With protocols in place, vaccinated artists are allowed in to Iceland and we begin our season in May. Available slot are filled for the six residencies.
The Latitude For Art board meet to plan our projects beyond the GilsfjordurArts. We launched our instagram @LatitudeForArt, and start work on our website. Grants were applied for, a fundraiser held in July. Martin Cox, returns to Iceland to put the GilsfjordurArts residency in order. Our season ends at the end of October with a big snowfall.
2020: The year of Covid. Through the end of 2019 Artist Director Martin Cox filled all the slots for artist residents for our 2020 GilsfjordurArts season. Once news of Covid circulates, we delayed and rescheduling goes in to action, then it becomes clear that the season will not happen. Most artists elect to come to the Iceland project in 2021.
During the shut down we are able to make some improvements to the residency farm house. We find a some artists already located in Iceland to attend solo residencies. We accommodate about 5 artists with varying lengths of stays.
In California we are able to provide an art studio for painter Maud Simmons with a summer long studio space to continue her studio practice.
2019: The season opens in May for GilsfjordurArts artist residency as the snow recedes. Martin Cox, Artist Director arrives ahead of the first artists to install wifi in the Brekka and prepare for the season. We have a full season of artists for 6 residencies with 3 artists each. The lonely farm house in Gilsfjörður, proves to be very popular. We become members of resartis.org and hold a fundraiser in Echo Park for household improvements and future expansion. Martin Cox, returns to Iceland to increase local community ties and offer the local school a workshop. Connections are made for the artists to explore with the school in Reykholar, the Sheep museum in Strandir and the Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft.
The name “Latitude for Art” is chosen for the non-profit to formalize and over see the needs of the project in Iceland and to expand our programming in California.
In October Latitude For Art gains it’s 501 3 c status as a California based non-profit corporation
November 2019: Inaugural screening of “Blood and Glory” (short film) written and directed by Satinder Kaur is held in the garden at Laguna Castle. Produced by Women in Media; two homeless, female veterans’ friendship is tested when they confront adversity, discrimination, and even mother nature itself in their attempt to find work and survive the day.
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