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| Anne Alexander |
In February, Anne Alexander, a local artist and teacher,
received the news that she was accepted for a month-long artist retreat at
Monson Arts – a new residency program that started less than a year ago with
the support of the Libra Foundation.
“Our first program began on June 7, 2018,” explained, Monson
Arts Program Manager, Dan Bouthot."We
are a new residency program and arts center offering residencies for artists
and writers, shorter intensive workshops, and educational partnerships with
area schools."
“
According to the Monson Arts website, their residency
program “supports emerging and established artists and writers by providing
them time and space to devote to their creative practices. Residents
receive a private studio, private bedroom in shared housing, all meals, and
$1,000 stipend.”
Alexander knew she was an artist since second grade and
currently works in the mediums of carved stone, wood and modeled clay - making
forms selected from nature. She took time from her art projects in Monson to
explain how she was awarded this artist get-away to concentrate on her craft.
“I had applied early for the visual artist residency
program but there were already so many artists and writers who had applied and
were accepted that I was wait-listed for the next retreat,” explained Alexander
of this already highly competitive artists program. “I reapplied and received
the news two months ago, in February, that I was accepted. I began my residency
on April 1.”
One of her first experiences at Monson Arts began with a snowshoe
walk in the woods, of which there is plenty at the edge of Maine’s North
Woods—3.5 million acres of forest bordering Canada.
“I found the
perfect cedar tree to carve,” Alexander said.
“With the help of the program’s technician,
a tree was cut and moved to the woodshop. I carved an eight-foot tall sculpture using both power and hand tools.”
a tree was cut and moved to the woodshop. I carved an eight-foot tall sculpture using both power and hand tools.”
In her time there, which will end on Friday, April 26, she
has also developed a series of smaller clay sculptures and large drawings.
As a recent press release pointed out, many students in
the Windham and Raymond communities know Alexander as a frequent substitute
teacher at Windham High School. Having worked as an art teacher at
Gray-New Gloucester Middle School and Waynflete School in Portland for more
than twenty years, she now works part-time with youth in order to devote
herself more fully to her sculpture career.
As for advice for those who dream and hope to follow in
her footsteps, she offers the following words of wisdom. “I have always had a
‘day’ job because I wanted to be free to let my art be authentic instead of a
mode of financial survival,” she began. “However, I have many friends who make
art their full-time job and love it. But no matter which way you choose, art is more about perseverance and hard work than talent. You must have that intense feeling that says, ‘I simply have to do this.’ Otherwise, art as a lifestyle may not be the path for you.”
Anne Alexander exhibits her sculpture in galleries and
larger, human-size works in exterior-sited exhibits throughout New England and
beyond. Career highlights include receiving two Pollack-Krasner Foundation
grants and four Maine Arts Commission Good Idea Grants/Project Grants. She also
received a Senior Scholar Fulbright Grant to study the art of the Taino Indian
in the Dominican Republic in 1998-99. She currently teaches sculpture, ceramic,
and alabaster carving workshops to children and adults.
To see further examples of Anne Alexander’s sculpture on
her website www.annealexandersculptor.com or by following Anne Alexander Sculptor on
Facebook or Instagram.
