2015 Biennial Ambassadors
Dates: January 12 - July 1, 2015
Locations: Denver, Colorado / Mexico City
Artists: Daniel Monroy Cuevas, Melissa Furness, Cristóbal Gracia, Matt Scobey
Curators: Adam Gildar, Carla Herrera Prats
The 2015 Biennial Ambassadors was a collaborative program developed by ArtPlant for the Biennial of the Americas and involving SOMA in Mexico City. The program involved a series of four 10-week artist residency exchanges between Denver and Mexico City. From January to July 2015 ArtPlant (Denver) and SOMA (Mexico) hosted two artists from the sister city as each artist created a project of their choosing while immersing themselves in the local creative community through artist and curator studio visits as well as public talks. Each participating artist received $20,000 in funding towards their experience. The residency culminated in an exhibition during the Biennial of the Americas featuring works created over the course of the residency.
Residency Blog | Residency Exhibition
AMBASSADOR ARTISTS
DANIEL MONROY CUEVAS MELISSA FURNESS CRISTÓBAL GRACIA MATT SCOBEY
B. 1980, Guadalajara B. 1975, Britt, Iowa B. 1987, Mexico City Born 1979, Danville, IL
Lives and works in Mexico City Lives and works in Denver Lives and works in Mexico City Lives and works in Denver
CURATORS
ADAM GILDAR CARLA HERRERA-PRATS
PROGRAM COORDINATORS
LAURA CORTES HESSELBACH (MX) KAITLIN MAESTAS (DEN)
SELECTION COMMITTEES
DENVER
Elissa Auther : Curator | Museum of Art and Design
Mardee Goff: Curator | Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art
Ana Maria Hernando: Artist
Lauren Wright: Artistic Director | Biennial of the Americas
Saniego Sanchez: Director | Dikeou Collection
MEXICO CITY
Carla Herrera Prats: Artist / Director | SOMA Summer Program
Yoshua Okón: Artist / Founder of SOMA
Mariana Munguía Matute: Independent Curator
COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS
Inaugurated in 2010, the Biennial of the Americas stages a bi-annual festival celebrating the ideas, arts and culture of the Western Hemisphere. The Biennial of the Americas’ mission is to build meaningful and productive connections in the Americas; elevate Denver as an international city of intellectual and cultural engagement, and catalyze action through dialogue and cultural exchange.
Based in Mexico City SOMA is a space to reflect and discuss about different art events in the national and international level. SOMA’s mission is to encourage dialogue, collaboration and even confrontation between artists and cultural producers from different backgrounds and generations. Through its educational programs, residences and public lectures, in SOMA the aesthetic, political and social consequences of art production are analyzed collectively.