CEAM Welcomes Artist Laia Estruch in Partnership with the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain
Oct 5, 2023
Barcelona-based artist to spend two weeks at Flagler College as Artist-In-Residence
Flagler College is pleased to welcome Barcelona-based artist Laia Estruch as the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum’s (CEAM) Artist-in-Residence from Monday, October 16th through Saturday, November 4th. Estruch is the second Spanish artist to participate in the artist residency program in partnership with the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain in Washington D.C., a collaboration that was initiated in 2022, when the organizations jointly hosted artist and writer Pablo Vindel. An artist talk with Estruch will be held on Wednesday, October 25th at 6pm at Flagler College’s Ringhaver Student Center’s Virginia Room, 50 Sevilla Street, downtown St. Augustine. Additionally, the St. Johns Cultural Council and CEAM will co-host a reception to engage with the artist on Friday, October 27th from 6pm to 8pm at The Waterworks, 184 San Marco Ave., St. Augustine. Both events are free and open to the public.
Laia Estruch’s artistic practice centers the voice and the body through spoken word, song, sculpture, and publications. She explores the emotive qualities of the acapella voice, which allows for reflection on the performative character of language, sound recording, and the oral archive. In recent larger scale sculptural projects that function as stand-alone objects and vehicles for performance, Estruch investigates how urban spaces and physical environments play a role in our everyday lives. During her residency, Estruch will engage with Flagler College and St. Augustine communities. In addition to learning more about St. Augustine’s Spanish Heritage, Estruch will immerse herself in the natural landscape of Northeast Florida and collaborate with students, staff, and faculty on campus through class visits and special projects.
Christina Parrish Stone, Executive Director of the St. Johns Cultural Council, is thrilled to partner with CEAM and Flagler College to support the partnership with Spain Arts & Culture, and to work collaboratively for future artistic exchanges and programming. “The relationship of St. Augustine and the Kingdom of Spain is more than 450 years old, dating back to the founding of the City in 1565,” she said. “Over the next 12 months we will recognize the 100th Anniversary of St. Augustine’s sister-city relationship with Aviles, Spain, with activities celebrating our Hispanic heritage. We are pleased to host Laia Estruch at The Waterworks to provide an opportunity for the public to engage with a Spanish artist and learn more about the connections between our City and Spain.”
ABOUT LAIA ESTRUCH: A Spanish artist who has been awarded both the Premis Ciutat de Barcelona (2021) and Premios Cervezas Alhambra de arte emergente (2022), Laia Estruch has led workshops for the educational department of MACBA, Barcelona since 2016. She is currently working on a program there with children with autism and their families. Estruch has presented her work throughout Europe and across the world, including XXIII Bienal Arte Paiz Guatemala (2023), PUBLICS, Helsinki (2022), Centro Cultural de España, Mexico City (2020), and Chapelle des Beaux-Arts, Paris (2017).
High-resolution photos of Laia Estruch and her work can be found here.
ABOUT CEAM’S PARTNERSHIP WITH SPAIN ARTS & CULTURE: CEAM’s Artist Residency program continues to provide support for interdisciplinary artists who want to interact with North Florida’s vibrant community. The museum’s partnership with the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain connects St. Augustine's Spanish history with contemporary Spanish art by providing an emerging Spanish artist with the opportunity to connect and explore with the rich cultural ecosystem of St. Augustine. The Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain, through its cultural program SPAIN arts & culture, aims to foster positive bilateral relations between the U.S. and Spain while promoting Spanish culture in the U.S. through cultural exchanges among institutions and artists.
ABOUT THE ST. JOHNS CULTURAL COUNCIL: In partnership with the cultural community on Florida’s Historic Coast, the St. Johns Cultural Council presents and promotes arts, culture, and heritage activities and events in St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra, and the beaches, working to ensure that the County’s residents and visitors have access to high quality cultural experiences. For more information about the cultural assets in St. Johns County, visit www.historiccoastculture.com. Find opportunities for individual artists and cultural organizations and learn more about the Cultural Council at www.stjohnsculture.com.
CEAM programming is supported through generous funding from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and a grant from the Dr. JoAnn Crisp-Ellert Fund at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida. This program is sponsored in part by St. Johns County Tourist Development Council.
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The Crisp-Ellert Art Museum as well as Ringhaver Student Center are accessible buildings. If you are a person with a disability and need reasonable accommodations, please contact Phil Pownall at 904-819-6460. Sign Language Interpreters are available upon request with a minimum of three days’ notice. For more information about programming and upcoming events, please visit www.flagler.edu/ceam, follow on Instagram and Facebook @crispellertart or contact Julie Dickover at 904-826-8530 or crispellert@flagler.edu.
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