Summer Open 2022
Photos by: Pedro Wazzan, 2022.
BAKEHOUSE ART COMPLEX ANNOUNCES COHORT FOR THE THIRD EDITION OF SUMMER OPEN
Bakehouse Art Complex is pleased to announce the cohort for the third edition of its annual Summer Open program. For twelve weeks beginning in June 2022, the organization will be providing twelve Miami-based artists with free workspace to support their practices. The selected artists will be utilizing the two exhibition galleries, Audrey Love Gallery and Swenson Gallery, as communal studios and will have full access to shared art-making facilities. The program is designed to support the practices of local artists by providing them with critical infrastructure and an opportunity to foster relationships and engage with the organization’s community of artists.
The third Summer Open cohort will feature artists Susan Alvarez, Ben Paljor Chatag, Alberto Checa, Jose Luis Garcia, Laura González-Possamai, Juan Ledesma, Shawna Moulton, Gabriela Fernandez, Zelmira Rizo-Patrón, Mark Russell, Smita Sen, and Joaquín Stacey-Calle.
The cohort was selected by a jury composed of Bakehouse staff, Head of Special Collections and Archives for Miami-Dade Public Library System, Stephanie Garcia, visual artist and arts organizer, Michelle Lisa Polissaint, and Emerson Dorsch Gallery Director Ibett Yanez del Castillo. The program is organized by Bakehouse Curatorial + Public Programs Manager Laura Novoa.
Summer Open was conceived by Bakehouse Art Complex as a way to extend the use of its 2.3-acre campus to more artists. As opportunities for free studio space are exceedingly rare in Miami, this program helps fulfill a significant need for artists in the area. The initiative expands on the organization’s mission to address the need for affordable workspace for artists in Miami’s urban core.
About the Artists
Susan Alvarez is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Miami, FL and White Plains, NY. She graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2022, earning her BFA in Interdisciplinary Sculpture. She had her first solo show in the fall of 2020, Equivocal Systems, at MICA. She has exhibited her work in various group shows including the Mount Royal Mansion exhibit curated by Abigail Deville in Baltimore, MD and AXA Art Prize Exhibition in New York, NY.
Ben Paljor Chatag is a Tibetan-American contemporary multi-disciplinary artist based in Miami, FL. He was born in Lhasa, Tibet, lived in Northern India as a refugee and now calls the United States his home. Ben received an MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2020. He has also studied traditional Tibetan Thangka painting in Northern India. Most recently, he was co-curator of an exhibition at Tibet House USA Gallery in New York and completed the Oolite Arts’ Home and Away Residency at Anderson Ranch, CO in March 2022.
Alberto Checa is a multi-disciplinary artist who immigrated to Miami, FL from Cuba in 2008. Checa received a BFA from Tufts University and a BA from University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins. Checa has exhibited and performed at Satellite Art Show Performance is Alive (Miami, FL), Central Saint Martins (London, UK), Anderson Gallery (Boston, MA), and Miami’s YoungArts Gallery, New World Gallery and YALE Club Social.
Gabriela Fernandez was born in Havana, Cuba and is currently based in Miami, FL. They have exhibited both locally and nationally, notably in Franconia Sculpture Park where they resided as a 2021 Emerging Artist resident. They have selected as part of Yale’s Norfolk Program in 2019 and graduated New World School of the Arts in 2020.
Jose Luis Garcia is a photo-based artist living and working in Miami, FL. He received his BFA in Visual Art from New World School of the Arts/University of Florida and his MFA in Studio Art from Florida International University. He has exhibited locally in venues such as the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Coral Gables Museum, O Cinema Wynwood in partnership with ArtCenter/South Florida, Bakehouse Art Complex, Laundromat Art Space and Turn-Based Press.
Laura González-Possamai was born in New York City and is currently based in Miami, FL. In 2017, González-Possamai moved to Miami to pursue a BFA at New World School of the Arts/University of Florida.
Juan Ledesma was raised in Lima, Peru and is based in Miami, FL. Ledesma received his BFA from Florida Atlantic University in 2012. In 2021, he had a solo exhibition, Rhythm of Speech, at Locust Projects, Miami, FL. Select group exhibitions include Instrument at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (2018) and Performance for Parafiction at ArtCenter South Florida, Miami, FL (2017), among others. Ledesma received the Oolite Arts’ Ellies Creator Award in 2019 and participated in the Oolite Arts’ Home & Away Residency at Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida (2020) and MFU: Miami, ArtCenter South Florida / BHQFU, Miami, Florida (2017).
Shawna Moulton is a multi-disciplinary artist born in Freeport, Bahamas, raised in Kingston, Jamaica, and currently based in Miami, FL. She received a BFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts and continues to grow her art practice. She has several years of experience working in museum education departments such as the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, the Norton Museum of Art, Young At Art Museum, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts Museum.
Zelmira Rizo-Patrón is a Peruvian-American artist based in Miami, Florida, working primarily in drawing, painting and printmaking. She received a BA from Cornell University in comparative literature with concentrations in architecture and printmaking. Complementing her art practice, Zelmira garnered curatorial and writing experience as former curatorial fellow and research assistant at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami and as research assistant at CENTRAL FINE gallery.
Mark Russell Jr. is an artist born, raised, and based in Miami, FL. Russell received a BFA with a concentration in Visual Arts from Miami International University of Art & Design (2018). Select group exhibitions include Carrie Meek Senior Center - Liberty City’s Voices of Our Community: Race, Risk, Resilience Art Exhibition (2021), The MLK Parade & Festivities Art Exhibition (2021) in Little Haiti, and Liberty City Creative Exhibition at the Sandrell Rivers Theater (2020).
Smita Sen is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Miami, FL. Sen has had solo shows at Recess (2021) and the Brooklyn Public Library (2022). Sen’s work has been shown internationally in Dubai, U.A.E, and at venues like Recess (Brooklyn, NY), Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY), Flux Factory (Long Island City, NY), Anthology Film Archives (New York, NY), and the Knockdown Center (Queens, NY). Sen was in-residence at Recess (2021), Mildred’s Lane (2018), and received the Instigator Fellowship from New York University ITP Camp (2018). She has given talks and workshops at Columbia University, Bard College, NYU ITP Camp, and LRLX NY. Sen holds a BA in the Visual Arts from Columbia University (2016).
Joaquin Stacey-Calle is an artist born in Quito, Ecuador and based in Miami, FL. He is scheduled to graduate from Florida International University in 2022 with a BFA and minors in Art History and Marketing.