It's Studio Visit Time at The Bakehouse
HOW TO STUDIO VISIT
Exploring an artist’s studio offers an insider look at their practice and process, and gets collectors and art enthusiasts closer to understanding their work. It can be a deeply intimate experience and one that can create profound connections and deep relationships.
Here are some tips for a smooth studio visit:
1- Research in advance, just not too much.
2 - Dress for the workshop, not to the hilt.
3 - Take your time to observe and digest your surroundings.
4- Put your devices on silent and ask before taking a picture.
5 - Speak from your heart, keep it real.
6 - Always stay open.
Buying Artwork:
When you find a work you love, ask the artist “how can I purchase a piece?” If they have representation, request contact information. If they offer to sell directly, inquire about what works may be available and a price list.
From left to right: Morel Doucet, Nicole Salcedo, GeoVanna Gonzalez, Najja Moon; Bookleggers, Michelle Lisa Polissaint, Laura Novoa (curatorial & public programs manager at Bakehouse Art Complex) and Juan Pablo Garza. Photos captured by Pedro Wazzan from his ongoing series, In The Studio.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Morel Doucet | Season Three
Morel Doucet is a Miami-based multidisciplinary artist and arts educator born in Haiti. Using a variety of mediums including ceramics, illustrations and prints, he examines the realities of climate-gentrification, migration, and displacement within Black diaspora communities. His work catalogs a powerful record of the Black experience through environmental decay at the intersection of economic inequity, the commodification of industry, personal labor and race. Morel graduated from the New World School of the Arts with the Distinguished Dean’s Award for Ceramics. From there, he formalized his education at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), receiving his BFA in Ceramics with a minor in creative writing and concentration in illustration. Learn more at moreldoucet.com.
Juan Pablo Garza | Season Two
Juan Pablo Garza is a multidisciplinary artist born in Maracaibo, Venezuela who currently lives and works in Miami. Working across mediums, Juan Pablo´s playful and sculptural work has been exhibited in countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Canada, United States, Spain, Holland and Germany. His solo show Reforma del Ahora (Al Borde. Maracaibo, 2012) was published in Artforum as one of the best exhibitions of the year according to curator Sofia Hernandez Chong Cuy. He was co-founder and co-director of the Contemporary Art Space Al Borde (2010-2014) in Maracaibo, which in 2012 won a grant from the Fundación Cisneros/CPPC within its program to support cultural organizations. Juan Pablo was selected to participate in the residency program Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, with a grant from the Fundación Cisneros/CPPC. Juan Pablo has also participated in Ox-Bow fall residency program and Bemis Center residency program. He is currently an artist in residence at Bakehouse Art Complex. Learn more at juanpablogarza.com.
GeoVanna Gonzalez | Season Three
GeoVanna Gonzalez is a Miami-based artist and curator, and the first commissioned artist of Commissioner’s third season. Her practice explores shifting notions of gender and identity in our environment, and the relationships between the organic and the technological. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California where she received her BFA at Otis College of Art and Design. Interested in producing alternative environments, her work explores the connections between private and public spaces through interventionist and participatory art, new forms of collaboration, and collectivity. Learn more at geo-vanna.com.
Najja Moon | Season Two
Najja Moon is a Miami-based artist and cultural practitioner, born and raised in Durham, North Carolina. Her practice is centered on the idea that art is utilitarian. An amalgamation of practicalities that improve her life—design and language, cultural responsibility, and community, her visual arts practice uses drawing and text to explore the intersections of queer identity, the body and movement, Black culture, and familiar relations, both personal and communal. Learn more at najjamoon.com.
Michelle Lisa Polissaint | Season Four
Michelle Lisa Polissaint is a Haitian-American visual artist and arts organizer based in Miami, Florida. An artist-in-residence at Bakehouse Art Complex, she holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Florida International University with a concentration in Photography and fiber-based painting with a minor in Art History. She has also completed coursework in non-profit management at Johns Hopkins University. Her artistic practice explores the nature of human interaction, memory, and themes related to her ethnic background through textiles, photographs, and paintings. Currently, Michelle is working on a new series of paintings that employ dying techniques and layer textiles to retell the stories of her past and explore the colors associated with these histories. Learn more at michellelisap.com.
Nicole Salcedo | Season Four
Nicole Salcedo is a Cuban American interdisciplinary artist born, raised and based in Miami, Florida. Nicole earned her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied fibers, performance and object design with her main practice being in drawing. Using meditative marks to create dense patterns, Nicole weaves between micro and macro lines, opening up rhythmic pathways that offer a deeper connection to the energies which flow throughout the universe. Learn more at nicole-salcedo.com.
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONS
Bookleggers is a nonprofit mobile library that expands access to free books as a way of building community. Learn more at bookleggerslibrary.com.
Bakehouse Art Complex envisions a world that supports and values artists and recognizes their ability to shape, reflect, and transform our world. Its mission is to address the need for affordable living and work spaces for artists in Miami’s urban core. Learn more at bacfl.org.