TRUST FOR MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING GRANT PROPOSAL

Request from the Trust for Mutual Understanding: $10,000

Host Institution in Poland: Academy of Fine Arts, Poznan

Key Collaborative Partners: Professor Mirek Pawlowski and Professor Krzysztof Molenda

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the Fall of 2002 I was a Fulbright Lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan, Poland. During my semester in Poznan I taught an interdisciplinary printmaking course, lectured at eight academies and galleries across the country, and presented exhibitions of my prints at the Fine Art Academies in Gdansk and Krakow. As a result of my Fulbright Fellowship I am assisting the Academyof Fine Arts, Poznan in planning the Impact IV International Printmaking Conference in Poznan and Berlin in September 2005. The conference will be attended by about 400 printmakers, students and related professionals from the Poland, Germany, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, South America and elsewhere. This proposal to the Trust for Mutual Understanding is seeking travel support for participation in the Poznan portion of the conference by three of the leading American artist-educators in printmaking and one distinguished print curator. These are Ruth Weisberg (Los Angeles, CA), Mark Pascale (Chicago, IL), Patricia Olynyk (Ann Arbor, MI) and Hugh Merrill (Kansas City, MO). Additionally, I am seeking travel support for my work in organizing the conference.

PROJECT NARRATIVE

1. The IMPACT Printmaking Conference

IMPACT is an international conference for print artists, educators, students, curators, critics, collectors and suppliers of art printing materials and presses. Held every other year in August or September, the conference is modeled on annual programs held by the Southern Graphics Council in the United States. I was a keynote speaker at the first IMPACT Conference that was held at the Centre for Fine Print Research at the University of West England in Bristol, England in September 1999: http://www.uwe.ac.uk/amd/cfpr/impact.htm. Subsequent conferences have been held in Helsinki, Finland: http://www2.uiah.fi/conferences/summeracad/impact/ and Cape Town, South Africa: http://www.impact2003.uct.ac.za/

The conferences have been attended by 300-450 delegates, and conference organizers publish full-text proceedings of the conference papers. Conferences are funded through registration fees, grants and institutional support. Enclosed is a copy of the conference program from IMPACT III held in Cape Town, South Africa. Our proposal to host IMPACT IV in Poznan and Berlin September 5-10, 2005 was approved by the IMPACT Board of Directors at the conference in Cape Town in August 2003.

2. How the Project Relates to My Previous Work

The concept of hosting the conference grew out of my Fulbright semester in Poznan. I have extensive esperience organizing conferences in the United States, including Southern Graphics Council Conferences in 1992 and 1995 in Knoxville, Tennessee and in 2002 in New Orleans, Louisiana: http://web.utk.edu/~gumbo. Southern Graphics Council conferences are the largest meetings of printmakers in the world, with as many as 900 delegates, of whom one-third are students. Hosting the IMPACT IV Printmaking Conference in Poznan serves as a way to build on our institutional linkage between Academy of Fine Art, Poznan and the University of Tennessee, and to better connect the historical legacy of graphics in Poland with an international community of printmakers. As Berlin is a viable airport destination for many international travelers attending the conference, we decided to expand the conference to include activities in Berlin as well as Poznan. In the Fall of 2002, I formed a conference advisory committee consisting of people in Poznan and an aligned group in Berlin. Berlin is a 3 hour train ride west of Poznan, and represents an important cultural and economic link, especially with the expansion of the European Union.

In 2003 I developed a web site and list-server to assist in planning the conference and to facilitate in communications. The web site (http://web.utk.edu/~imprint) includes sections for contact information for the planning committee, a listing of potential sponsors, a conference timeline, photo gallery and other information. With a small grant ($550) from the Goethe Institute in Krakow and a Professional Development Grant ($3,850) from the University of Tennessee, we were able to hold planning meetings in Berlin and Poznan in June and July of 2003 to develop a conference theme and finalize our proposal. In August 2003, through additional funding from the University of Tennesee ($2,200) I was able to travel to IMPACT III in Cape Town, South Africa to present our proposal to hold IMPACT IV, which has been approved by Steven Hoskins, from the Centre for Fine Print at the University of West England. Hoskins is the Chair of the IMPACT Conference Board of Directors. This proposal for a support from the Trust for Mutual Understanding is one of several steps we are taking to help underwrite the conference. While my partners in Poland and Germany are applying for European, national and foundation support for the conference and related exhibitions, I am seeking additional suport in the United States through the Warhol Foundation and the US Embassey in Poland.

3. The Significance of Holding IMPACT IV in Poznan

The conference theme for IMPACT IV is "KONTAKT." This theme was developed by members of the conference planning committee during meetings held in the summer of 2003. The word is the same in both Polish and German, and is readily understood by an English speaking audience. KONTAKT stresses the collaborative and populist nature of the printed multiple. KONTAKT also implies the bridging of cultures and nations. We think of the term in the context of the connections between history and the present, connections between artists and systems of patronage, and connections between curatorial practice and the artist. KONTAKT also poses the issue of globalism, trans-nationalism and regionalism in the context of the expanding European Union. Given the rich history of graphic arts in Poland, the proximity of Poznan to Berlin, and the newly expanding European Union, the time and place for this conference is right. Based on attendance at previous conferences, and the fact that this will be the first time IMPACT has met in Central Europe, we expect about 400 printmakers, students and related professionals to attend the conference. Conference delegates will come from the Poland, Germany, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, South America and elsewhere.

Below is a list of topics we hope to address through key-note papers, panels, exhibitions and other projects in conjunction with the conference:

4. Evaluation and Dissemination of the Conference

Proposals for presenting at the conference will be due in December 2004 and will be screened by the conference planning committee in January 2005. All delegates to the conference will receive a conference evaluation form with their conference program. A summary of these forms will be distributed to the confererence planning committee follwing the conference and to the group hosting IMPACT V in 2007.

IMPACT conferences result in full-text proceedings of the conference papers within two years of the conclusion of the conference. In addition to the text of all papers, the conference proceedings will include curatorial statements for exhibitions being planned in conjunction with IMPACT IV. We plan to publish the conference papers in a web-based format and on CD to allow for broad access to the conference papers. We expect articles about the conference to appear in European and American art journals, including Art On Paper and the Southern Graphics Concil newsletter Graphic Impressions.

5. American Participation in the Conference

We anticipate additional participation in the conference by American print artists and educators. The conference will be promoted through the College Art Association and the Southern Graphics Council newsletters. Paid participation by these and other foreign delegates will play a signifant role in funding the conference. Participation by the key American presenters listed in this grant proposal will assist in generating international conference attendance and will play a significant role in fostering cultural exchange during and subsequent to the conference.

We are seeking funding for airfare and hotels for participation in the Poznan portion of the conference by three noted American print artists and one distinguished curator. We are also seeking travel support for my own involvement in organizing the conference. Resumeís for each of these individuals are enclosed. Below is a brief description of the speakers and their role in the conference.

Ruth Weisberg is the Dean of the School of Art at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. She works primarily in painting, drawing, and printmaking. Her prints, drawings and paintings are in the collections of the American Museum of Art, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; Bibliotheque Nationale of France, Paris, France; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York. Ruth Weisberg is also a Past-President of the College Art Association and a recipient of their Distinguished Teaching of Art Award. Born in 1942 in Chicago, Weisbergís art is informed by her identity as woman of Jewish dissent. Weisberg has played an active role in articulating critical theory in printmaking through national conferences in the United States and through her 1986 essay "Syntax of the Print: A Search for Aesthetic Content" published in the Tamarind Papers. At the first IMPACT conference inn Bristol, England a final session was instituted to help create closure for the conference. During the IMPACT IV conference Ruth Weisberg will facilitate the final session in Poznan on September 9th summarizing the issues and themes covered during the conference. She is uniquely qualified to assume this important role during the conference.

Mark Pascale is the Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago where he has worked since 1989. He has organized exhibitions on the work of Ellsworth Kelly, Jasper Johns, Joseph Beuys, and Edvard Munch, as well as exhibitions of prints from Landfall Press and Universal Limited Art Editions. Over the past decade he has been active as a juror for national competitive print exhibitions in the United States. Three years ago he wrote an essay making a case for the value of such exhibitions titled "Why Bother?," in Graphic Impressions: The Southern Graphics Council Newsletter. Poland has a rich tradition of hosting competitive exhibitions, including the Krakow Triennale. During the conference, Mark Pascale will chair in a session devoted to the history and future of such competitions.

Patricia Olynyk is Assistant Professor and Director of the Penny W. Stamps Distinguished Visitors Program and Witt Visiting Faculty Program at the University of Michigam School of Art. Her work explores the intersection between science and art, and encompases traditional and digital print processes, papermaking and book arts. Ms. Olynyk has extensive international experience, including research at Kyoto Seika University and Osaka National University of Foreign Studies in Japan. Through support from the University of Michigan, Ms. Olynyk will organize an international exchange portfolio with editions produced by 20 artists (including at least 5 artists from Poland) that will be presented at the conference while it is in Poznan.

Hugh Merrill is a Professor of Art at the Kansas City Art Institute where he has taught since 1976. Merrillís prints are in the collections of the Fogg Museum of Art, Cambridge, Mass.; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minn.; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City, Missouri; and the Virginia Museum, Richmond, Virginia. He has played an active role in the American printmaking community and has written extensively on educating the next generation of print artists. Merrill is a Past-President of the Southern Graphics Council and co-organized the 1991 SGC conference in Kansas City. He has an extensive record as a visiting artist, and was a lecturer in 1993 at Jaegallonian University in Krakow. Over the past decade he has been especially in community-based art projects. For the conference, we propose that he arrive prior to the conference to coordinate a community-based print project with a select group of students from art academies in Poland. The resulting project will be featured while the conference is in Poznan.

Beauvais Lyons is an Ellen McClung Berry Professor of Art at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he has taught printmaking since 1985. His one-person exhibitions have been presented at over 40 galleries and museums across the United States. His work is in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Museum of American Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum. From 1994-96 Beauvais was the President of the Southern Graphics Council, the largest printmaking organization in North America. In the Fall of 2002 he received a Fulbright Fellowship to teach printmaking at the Fine Arts Academy in Poznan, Poland. He is one of the key coordinators for the IMPACT IV conference. We are seeking funding for three trips by Professor Lyons to Poznan in preparation for the conference.

6. Preliminary Schedule of Activities for the Conference

Saturday-Sunday Sept. 3-4, 2005: delegates arrive in Berlin

Monday Sept. 5, 2005: evening reception at Kathe Kollwitz Museum

Tuesday Sept. 6, 2005: Lectures, exhibitions and receptions at Universitut der Künst, Berlin and the Akademia Künst.

Wednesday Sept. 7, 2005: Demonstrations and exhibitions at Kunsthaus and Druckwerkstatt Kreuzberg Bethanien, Afternoon train to Poznan departing from Ostbanhauf Station, Exhibition Reception in Poznan

Thursday Sept. 8, 2005: Product Fair, Sessions, Exhibitions and Receptions in Poznan.

Friday Sept. 9, 2005: Product Fair, Sessions, Exhibitions and Receptions, Evening Banquet in Poznan.

Saturday Sept. 10, 2005: Morning Train to Berlin, Closing Print Cabaret in Berlin

Sunday September 11, 2005: Conference Delegates depart Berlin

7. Projected Timeline Before, During and After the Conference

Previously Formation of the conference planning committee, summer 2003 planning sessions, approval of conference proposal in Cape Town, conference grant development.

Fall 2004 Beauvais Lyons travels to Poznan to work with the conference committee on building partnerships with funding agencies. Call for presenters mailed internationally through the University of West England to 1,000 printmakers.

February 15, 2005 Conference Sessions Proposals Due.

Spring 2005 Beauvais Lyons travels to Poznan for second planning period. Conference proposals screened. Design of conference prospectus.

March 2005 Conference Prospectus mailed.

Summer 2005 Beauvais Lyons travels to Poznan. Conference program prepared for printing.

Sept. 5-10, 2005 IMPACT IV Conference takes place in Poznan and Berlin.

Fall 2005 Conference Proceedings collected for publication

Spring 2006 Conference Proceedings published.

8. Key Conference Organizers and their Roles

Beauvais Lyons, Ellen McClung Berry Professor of Art, is principal facilitator for the conference planning process. Lyons is maintaining the conference web site and is working to coordinate conference planning and communications. Through three separate trips to Poznan and Berlin he will conduct additional planning sessions and coordinate conference fundraising with Polish and German members of the planning committee.

Mirek Pawlowski, Dean of Graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan, will be the principal contact for the project in Poland. Since 1999 he has coordinated the Polish National Biennial of Student Graphics, which will open its fourth biennial in conjunction with the conference. Pawlowski will facilitate conference exhibitions and venue logistics in Poznan.

Krzysztof Molenda, ASP Professor, will coordinate student participation in the conference. An accomplished designer, Professor Molenda will oversee promotional materials and the conference program in collaboration with Lyons and Pawlowski.

Additional key members of the conference planning committee in Poland include Wojciech Makowiecki, Director of Arsenal City Gallery; Marek Raczak, Director of Zamek Center of Culture; Professor Wojciech Suchocki, Director of National Museum; Grazyna Halasa, Curator of Prints at the National Museum Poznan; and Professor Jan Pamula, Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts and Board Member from the Krakow Triennial. A complete list of individuals associated with the conference planning process is available on the conference web site at: web.utk.edu/~imprint/people.

LETTERS OF SUPORT BEING SENT UNDER SEPARATE COVER

Professor Paul Lee, Director of the School of Art, University of Tennessee

Professor Andrzej Weilgolz, Director for International Programs, ASP Poznan

Professor Stephen Hoskins, Director, Centre for the Fine Print, University of West England

ITEMIZED PROJECT BUDGET

Funding for the conference, with a listing of potential conference sponsors is described on the conference web site at: http://web.utk.edu/~imprint/funding.html. Conference delegates will be responsible for their own transportation, meals and hotel. In most cases, conference speakers will have their registration fees waived. It is expected that 400 people will attend from Europe, North America, Africa and Asia. Almost half of the conference budget will come from registration fees paid by conference delegates. An effort will be made to subsidize participation by Polish and German delegates especially students. We are applying for state and foundation funding from Germany and Poland and are arranging dormitory housing in order to allow students to attend the conference at minimal cost. The balance of funding will come from grants and in-kind support. It is expected that the total conference budget will be around $120,000 of which over half will come from grants such as this one.

Below is a preliminary budget for the conference:

INCOME TOTAL: $120,000

Regular Registration (250 delegates x $150) $37,500

Discounted Registration (150 delegates x $50) $7,500

Registration Subsidies for 150 people $15,000

Trust for Mutual Understanding $10,000

Other Grant Support $50,000

EXPENSES TOTAL: $120,000

Call for Entries Postcard $500

Prospectus (printing, design, posting) $5,000

Publicity $2,000

Conference Program (printing and design) $10,000

Exhibition Program Support in Berlin and Poznan $30,000

Fee Waivers for Selected Speakers (50 x $150) $7,500

Travel Support $20,000

Conference Signs, Graphics, Badges $5,000

Administration Expenses/Bookkeeping $10,000

Receptions and Banquet Support $6,000

Conference Proceedings $4,000

Trust for Mutual Understanding Budget Request: $10,000

All funds will be administered through the School of Art at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The Trust for Mutual Understanding will be credited in all published materials as an official sponsor of the conference.

$3,600 Travel support for Beauvais Lyons to Poznan for three planning trips ($1,200 each) in preparation for the conference.

$1,500 Airfare and housing for Ruth Weisberg, Dean of the School of Art at the University of Southern California.

$1,500 Airfare and housing for Mark Pascale, Associate Curator of Prints at the Art Institute of Chicago.

$1,500 Airfare and housing for Patricia Olynyk, Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Michigan

$1,900 Airfare and housing for Hugh Merrill, Professor of Art at the Kansas City Art Institute.

MISSION OF THE THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE SCHOOL OF ART

The University of Tennessee School of Art's first mission is to serve our students by teaching. We are dedicated to being the best teachers we can be by continuing to be active and productive scholars and artists. We strive to contribute to the liberal education of the student artist / designer / art historian as well as to offer courses in the visual arts to the broader student population. The School of Art recognizes its responsibility to reach out to the community, region and beyond. Students and faculty members fulfill this responsibility by exhibiting their work, publishing their research, and offering their artistic, scholarly and design expertise to area schools, museums and community organizations. We believe that faculty have an obligation to serve an active role in our campus, local, and regional communities as well as in national and international academic and professional associations.

ORGANIZATIONAL OPERATING BUDGET AND TAX STATUS

Attached is a one page summary of the UT School of Art from the most recent fiscal year and a copy of the IRS certification for the University. The University of Tennessee is a public university (Federal tax ID #: 62-6001636) The University is governed by the UT Board of Trustees. For more information, see their web site at:

https://san4.dii.utk.edu/pls/portal30/docs/FOLDER/BOT/HTML/INDEX.HTML