de Young Artist Studio

One of the many goals of the Artist-in-Residence program at the de Young Museum is to explore connections between the artists and the surrounding park environment. These connections enrich our museum visitors' experience through the guest artists' explorations and interpretations. Visiting artists from around the globe offer a unique experience to learn about natural materials found right here in Golden Gate Park.

Māori artist Glenda Hape uses flax to weave and create contemporary art. There are more than 7,500 exotic plant species surrounding the de Young in Golden Gate Park, including several types of ornamental flax. The species of flax Glenda needed to continue her weaving projects in the Kimball Gallery is called Phormium tenax, also known as New Zealand flax (or harakeke in the Māori language). Last week, Glenda explained how difficult it is to harvest the materials she uses in her artistic practice, but with the assistance of Andy Stone, gardner and park supervisor for the San Francisco Recreation and Parks, Glenda's harvesting trip around Stowe Lake was bountiful and she found just the right flax (harakeke).

FRAME|WORK is a weekly blog series that highlights an artwork in the Museums' permanent collections. This week, we feature an exemplary Māori cloak from the Museums’ inaugural collections (currently on display at the de Young) in honor of the October Artist-in-Residence, Māori weaver Glenda Joyce Hape.

On July 8, visitors who attended Friday Nights at the de Young had the chance to experience the Artist Fellows Showcase, which featured contributions from the first class of Artist Fellows: Campo Santo, Kevin Epps and Todd T. Brown. The Koret Auditorium was transformed into a dynamic space of interdisciplinary exploration and expression with three pieces that brought you into a hip-hop theater collective, onto the streets of Oakland and into the sights and sounds of Africa and South Asia.

Corinne Okada Takara completed a residency in the Kimball Education Gallery two years ago.  Her project, Rhythms in Space, explored the assembly of recycled materials into airy three-dimensional tapestries and wearable art, while presenting a visual footprint of diverse cultures in the Asian diaspora.  She pulled various motifs from the museum collection, along with visual patterns observed in the museum's surroundings.  Visitors created tapestries from these images using wire, netting, and other recycled materials. 

Now, Corinne is preparing for two large projects in the spring in San Jose.  One if funded with a Target Arts Grant and the other is self-funded.  Please check out her new site for the project at http://kck.st/fhbHwt.