Glori Simmons
Montalvo artist residents open studios
By Shari Kaplan
For the second time this spring, Villa Montalvo invites the public to attend its Artists' Open Studios, a free event in which artists in residence welcome visitors to their studios or offer performances and presentations.
On April 23, visual artists Cheryl Coon and Cheryl Dietz will open their studios between noon and 2 p.m. Beginning at 2 p.m. in the Carriage House Theatre, composer Michael Twomey, and poets Glori Simmons and Brian Komei Dempster will will present several of their works. A reception follows.
San Franciscan Coon holds a master's of fine arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her works focus on the structure of living organisms with a particular interest in the process of decay and deterioration.
Coon uses natural materials mentioned in ancient medical journals, or that have elaborate cultural myths surrounding their healing properties. During her stay at Montalvo, Coon is gathering plants and other natural specimens for use in drawings and installations.
Dietz, a sculptor from Albuquerque, N.M., holds a master's of fine arts degree from the University of New Mexico, where she also taught art classes. She participated in downtown Albuquerque's "Route 66" window installation project as well as in several solo and group shows in New Mexico, Illinois and Colorado. While at Montalvo, she is working on soft sculptural components for a future installation titled "Body Score," which revolves around sports.
Michael Twomey
Pennsylvania resident Twomey holds degrees from the University of Montana, Northwestern University and the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. He has performed and premiered his music throughout the United States. He also holds many grants, commissions and awards in both composition and performance. Twomey is sketching a chamber concerto for the Lydian Chamber Players while staying at Montalvo. Its title, "knock, fall, vanish...nothing," is taken from a work by the 13th century poet Rumi.
Dempster, a San Franciscan, holds a master's of fine arts in creative writing from the University of Michigan. His poems have appeared in Ploughshares, Green Mountain Review, Quarterly West, Crab Orchard Review and The Asian Pacific Journal, the latter earning him a nomination for the Pushcart Prize. During his time at Montalvo, Dempster is working on poems centered on his grandparents' homeland, Japan, and his recent visits to temples, landmarks and cemeteries. He is also composing poems focused on the Holocaust and the Vietnam War.
Simmons is also a poet and San Franciscan who earned her M.F.A. from the same university as Dempster. Her poems have appeared in nine literary publications. She was a co-writer and production manager for Brown, an experimental short film shown at three international film festivals. While at Montalvo, she is working on the final edit of a manuscript called Manifesto for the Hands, a series of poems celebrating the inventiveness of people who turned oppression into an outlet for expression.
The international, multidisciplinary Artist Residency Program brings up to 30 artists per year to Montalvo. The artists participate in a working residency for one to three months in a setting that gives them privacy, time for creative reflection and inter-artist dialogue, and--during open studios--a chance to meet the public. The program is funded through concert proceeds, member donations, corporate and foundation support and from the Compton Foundation. Villa Montalvo is at 15400 Montalvo Road, Saratoga. For information, call 408.961.5818.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
