Subject: Letter for Caroline Woolard
June 11, 2018
Dear Caroline,
Kindly see the attached letter from Moore College of Art & Design. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Patricia C. Phillips Academic Dean
June 11, 2018 Dear Caroline Woolard,Moore College of Art & Design has announced a fellowship to support and advance its historical mission and 21st century vision to educate women to be creative leaders, agents, and entrepreneurs. The College is delighted to inaugurate a new and unique fellowship that adds value to the academic experience and research community by making significant connections within the College, as well as the creative and civic life of Philadelphia. Jane Zimmerman Walentas graduated from Moore in 1966 and, with her husband David, has endowed this fellowship. The Jane and David Walentas Endowed Distinguished Fellowship supports an ongoing commitment to confirm and perpetuate the highest values of Moore College of Art & Design and represent the remarkable vision and generosity of the donors.The Walentas Endowed Distinguished Fellowship is a term appointment of distinction for an artist, designer, scholar, curator, thinker, and/or innovator who embodies creative and visionary leadership, seeks to inspire Moore students, and create opportunities for collaboration between academic programs, the Galleries, and other areas of the College. The Walentas Fellow will participate in a “customized” residency at Moore for one-to two- years and is expected to be a passionate contributor to the creative and intellectual life of the College and city. The Fellowship is both responsive to Moore’s priorities, new alliances, emerging opportunities, and other cultural developments, while being highly flexible to meet the expectations and schedule of a Fellow. The distinguished appointment may include a combination of teaching and workshops, interdisciplinary or discipline-based research, creative projects and programs, and other special projects and initiatives developed through collaborations with Moore faculty, students, and external partners. As part of the appointment, the Fellow will give a major presentation—the Walentas Distinguished Public Lecture.Recently, a panel including Moore President Cecelia Fitzgibbon, the donor Jane Walentas, two faculty members, and the Academic Dean convened to review prospective Walentas Fellows. The list of potential Fellows was developed through nominations from the Moore community, as well as the College’s extended community of cultural leaders and supporters. The panel reviewed all nominations and developed a prioritized short list. We are delighted to let you know that you are one of the leading nominees to be the first Walentas Endowed Distinguished Fellow.At this time, we invite you to confirm your interest to explore this opportunity with us—and your potential engagement in a process that includes submission of materials on your work, participation in a remote or on-campus interview to explore ways you may choose to focus and shape the Fellowship, and an open- ness and excitement to help launch the first successful and generative chapter of the Walentas Endowed Distinguished Fellowship at Moore— and in Philadelphia. The Walentas Fellowship will provide remuneration for whatever form the residency may take, as well as support for related expenses for travel, materials, and other requirements of the Fellowship.Kindly contact Patricia Phillips (see information below) indicating your interest and willingness to explore and participate in this review process at Moore.Sincerely,Cecelia Fitzgibbon, PresidentPatricia C. Phillips, Chief Academic Officer/Academic Dean
June 11, 2018
Dear Patricia Phillips,
What an honor. I would love to submit my materials for review. One important note: I now have a full time, tenure-track job at the University of Hartford, so to participate in this opportunity during the academic year, I would need my Dean’s approval and I would need to be bought out of full time teaching commitment ($62,000 a year). Alternatively, we could schedule the residency in the summer, if possible, though I doubt that is ideal for the mission of the program.
Please let me know if you’d like to speak on the phone. I’m available in PST as I’m at a residency in Seattle.
Best wishes,
Caroline Woolard
June 19, 2018
Patti,
I am so excited by the possibility of this Fellowship at Moore. As I mentioned, I teach Mondays– Wednesdays in Hartford, so I could do something once a month on a Thursday–Friday, or a long weekend (Friday–Sunday), and/or I could do a week-long intensive. I am certain we can make it work.
As I said, I started making objects for meetings because I want the physical environment of the meeting itself to be as wildly imaginative as the conversations that occur in those spaces. Recently, I have focused on furniture-clocks-objects for an intimate and alternative time. I have found that by bringing gatherings, like my
Capitoline Wolf
tables and my
Water Clock
time- keeping devices,
see chapter 7,
I make tangible the slow temporality of community-building; people sense the care that has gone into the facilitation practices I bring to group work.
For more information about my recent work, please see:
https://brooklynrail.org/2018/02/art/The-Art-of-Institutional-Possibility-CAROLINE-WOOLARD-with-Thyrza-Nichols-Goodeve
and
https://art21.org/artist/caroline-woolard/
Best wishes,
Caroline
PS: Here are some ideas to begin a dialogue:
The Study Center for Group Work,
see chapter 2,
is an open access library of collaborative methods. The Center focuses on collaborative methods that have been recommended by artists. These methods often embrace the unknown, encouraging people to listen deeply enough to be transformed.
And also: https://vimeo.com/198242353 (this was the day after the election, so the tone is a bit somber)
The first iteration of the Center was run at Cooper Union in 2016–2017. It then moved to the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center (2018) and is now being piloted at the Glasgow School of Art (2018–2019). It would be a great thrill to bring this to Moore.
Water clocks (or clepsydrae) work like this: one large vessel is made, and filled with water. On the water’s surface, a smaller vessel is placed. The smaller vessel is made with a small hole at the bottom that allows the water to flow in. One interval has passed when the bowl sinks to the bottom of the larger bowl.
Time-keeping devices are always time-producing devices. Rather than understanding time as neatly divisible, linear, and disciplinary—the project of modernization—this project begins with the premise that certain practices and sculptural objects can offer an experience of an alternative and intimate time, a time which is specifically marked by our social engagement with one another.
What is unusual about my approach to cultural production is that I create multi-year initiatives with open-source Web 2.0 technology while also hand-building objects in immersive installations. In the past decade, I have created discrete sculptural objects while also building four service organizations with digital technology: (1) OurGoods.org, software that facilitates non-monetary exchanges between artists, (2) TradeSchool.coop, a program for peer learning in thirty cities globally, (3) BFAMFAPhD.com, an advocacy platform for cultural equity, (4) and the New York City Real Estate Investment Cooperative, to democratically finance affordable space.
I would love to create a website for peer-to-peer review of student work, across institutions, and ideally, across counties, so that Moore supports a kind of technology for the commons, to cultural exchange for artists and emerging artists. We could determine the shape this would take, at Moore.
July 9, 2018
Hi Caroline,
Please accept my apologies for not getting back to you sooner. President Fitzgibbon has been away and we finally have been able to discuss “next steps.” We would be delighted to have you as the inaugural Walentas Endowed Fellow. (We have been in conversation with one other person, but we think the timing/potential content is better for the next iteration of this initiative.)
The next step is for you and I to begin to bring some shape—with respect to focus/content and temporal frame/availability/commitment—to what this fellowship can become. As you know there is no precedent for this at Moore (but certainly good examples at other schools and organizations), so we will imagine this into existence. Caroline, let’s begin with some phone calls, and I also am happy to visit with you in New York—and/or invite you to Moore to meet with Cecelia (president), faculty, etc. I know that you have had significant experience creating programs, so I am wildly enthusiastic to begin the conversation, hear your ideas, and also answer your questions and provide relevant background and context.
I am flying to California on Wednesday and return Tuesday morning, July 17. It is possible that I may have some time to talk on Thursday, July 12. Or we can wait until I am back in Philadelphia. Where are you and what is your availability?
Best wishes,
Patti
August 23, 2018
Patti,
I am inspired to dream after this first visit to Moore. This week is busy, as I am about to open
https://www.pratt.edu/events/event/13873/
on Tuesday and
https://knockdown.center/ event/carried-on-both-sides-encounter-three/
on Thursday. Would you, Jane, and Cecelia be able to join me for a private tour of my show at the Knockdown Center on Saturday, October 27th from 2–4pm? See the invitation attached, and please share it with them as well. Send my thanks! After this week, I move to CT and will take a week or two to settle in, and can begin to make a plan for this big project, and have regular phone calls with you, starting in late September, I imagine.
To get the ball rolling on this Fellowship, I keep wondering: What is the scale of this project? I’d really like to get clear about labor / materials / stipend / in-kind budget soon, so that I can be realistic in my dreaming, and also think strategically about partners who can also bring some funding and in-kind gifts like spaces/venues for this endeavor.
(1) Is it possible to work with an undergraduate or graduate assistant? Could this be an internship or other work-study position? I would love to do this, starting in the spring, and continuing into the fall and spring of 2019/2020, to have assistance with research, follow up with faculty/staff/partners, and on-the-ground connections to groups.
(2) Can you give me a budget break down, so I know when and how I will be paid a stipend, how you will disburse funds (do I give you receipts?), and whether travel/hotel/hospitality/marketing are covered, or in a separate budget? In my experiences with MoMA, Cooper Union, Cornell, and the CAC in Ohio, 1/3 of the budget went to hotel/travel/marketing, so this makes a big difference. I would prefer to be reimbursed by you for materials and labor, or for you to purchase them directly.
(3) Can you tell me which departments/areas of Moore might be able to supplement the budget/assistantships, so I can know whether they are covering things like fees, partner stipends, communications design work, video, photography, meals, travel, etc, or if this is coming out of the $50k?
Once I know this, I can think about an appropriate and equitable scale for my dreams.
Sending thanks and gratitude,
Caroline
-
September 7, 2018
Hi Caroline,
Thank you for your patience. The conclusion of the summer and opening of the new school year has been labor intensive but good (four staff and faculty searches to complete, opening of the renovated library, etc.) I will respond to your questions below as fully as I can. This will get us started and then, as you suggest, we should schedule phone calls and/or other meetings. And we also should think about when you might want to make another trip
to Moore and Philadelphia—and what would be your priorities regarding an itinerary of conversations, meetings, etc.
What is the scale of this project?
Caroline, you are the first so we will be dreaming and precedent-setting together. We imagine this as a two-year experience/fellowship. The unfolding, timing, length and frequency of visits is something that will be developed based on your proposed project/work, ideas, thoughts on cadence and timing and, of course, your availability. The Walentas Endowment provides $25,000 annually—a total of $50,000. I do believe that a significant part of this has to be secured for your artist fee/honorarium with the remaining resources dedicated to expenses (project-related, your travel, housing and other costs while in Philadelphia, etc.) Once we get a little further into this process, I would be happy (with your guidance) to draft a working and revisable budget that we can work with ... I also believe that what you may propose to do may interest or attract other resources/ partners (Mural Arts? Jacque’s Liu’s office? Free Library? Barnes?)
(1) Is it possible to work with an undergraduate or graduate assistant?
I think it will be wonderful to engage student interns or assistants. I am confident that we can identify 1–2 students for spring 2019. And all BFA students are required to do a summer internship between the junior and senior year. I am sure there would be students who would be thrilled to do their summer 2019 internship with you. And for our next admission cycle for the MFA/MA—and as we are doing financial aid offers—we can build 1–2 graduate assistantships into your project for 2019–2020. And I am currently working with a second year MFA student who will have some available hours on her annual assistantship to work with you.
(2) Can you give me a budget break down, so I know when and how I will be paid a stipend, how you will disburse funds (do I give you receipts?)
Caroline, I expect that I will need to check in with our Business Office to develop some scenarios for how we will release money to you. But I did imagine that your fees/compensation should be a significant part of the overall budget of $50,000. And then we should begin to get a sense of what other expenses would be (# of trips to Philadelphia for the duration of the Fellowship, materials and other project expenses, etc.) I think that if I can begin to draft a budget with you, this will be illuminating and also begin to bring both a temporal and physical shape and realistic scope to your proposed project—or whatever it becomes.
(3) Can you tell me which departments/areas of Moore might be able to supplement the budget/assistantships, so I can know whether they are covering things like fees, partner stipends, communications design work, video, photography, meals, travel, etc, or if this is coming out of the $50k?
Any student interns or assistants will be covered by the college through financial aid, graduate assistantships, etc. All students will be compensated and be given clear “contracts” regarding their scope of work, estimated hours to be worked, hourly wages, etc. We have a great new Executive Director of Marketing and Communication (Nicole Steinberg) who will be delighted (and I am sure) to support communications, etc. We will seek to be imaginative and resourceful in our use of existing budgets and available funds at the college.
Once I know this, I can think about an appropriate and equitable scale for my dreams.
Shall we schedule a phone call in the next few weeks? I generally am around and happy to work with your availability.
I am excited about working with you, Caroline—and doing all that I can to support your ideas and vision. By the way, I recently had dinner with Mierle Laderman Ukeles in New York. She said that you had wondered if she had nominated you for the Walentas Fellow. She did not. Actually, I did. In our “call” we invited Moore faculty and staff to make nominations/recommendations—and I exercised my opportunity to participate. Of course, I was delighted by the outcome of the panel’s deliberations and decision.
Not sure why my computer inexplicably keeps changing the font. Sorry for this.
All best,
Patti
CONSULTING SERVICES AGREEMENTThis consulting services agreement (“Agreement”) is made and entered into on March 1, 2019 between Moore College of Art & Design, “College” and Caroline Woolard, “Consultant,” and is effective retroactive to March 1, 2019.Background/Scope: The College is engaging the Consultant to serve as the inaugural Jane and David Walentas Fellow. During this engagement, the Consultant will collaborate with members of the College community and selected artists, cultural and other community organizations in the Philadelphia area. During this collaboration, the Consultant will work with members of the Moore community to bring art process and art objects into spaces, circumstances, meetings, and other quotidian settings and passages. The Consultant will make, with support of Moore studio technicians, who shall perform such work during their regular work time for the College, beautiful objects for facilitation settings, meetings, and other group settings.These objects will be displayed first at Moore, and then shall be loaned to and become a central part of the Free Library of Philadelphia’s new Public Engagement space where they can be used on site and/or borrowed for use by community organizations and artist-led workshops to enhance collaboration among community and art institutions while animating the library and its new community engagement space as a center for contemporary art.Other key collaborators include the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives; Maya Pindyck, Director of the Margaret Minik Writers Studio; Joanna Jenkins, Associate Dean of Graduate, Professional, and Continuing Education; Ashley York, Head Studio Technician; and Nicole Steinberg, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, as well as a number of College faculty members.
By signing this Agreement, Consultant agrees that the College may, both during and after the term of the Agreement, take photographs of any artwork, and may reproduce images of any artwork or written materials created in connection with this Agreement, including but not limited to:
in publicity and/or publications in conjunction with this Agreement; in promoting the College in any media (including but not limited to, print, catalogs, websites, and social media) for educational use. The College, in its sole discretion, may choose at any time not to display a particular art object on College property, or may remove any art object from display on College property, and such action shall not constitute a breach of the Agreement.
This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be binding upon the party signing, and all of which together shall constitute a single Agreement.In consideration of the foregoing, and intending to be legally bound, the parties have executed this agreement on the date set forth above.Caroline Woolard
Around this time, I began training for a 120 mile circumnavigation of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe.