This week, Jared Bowen speaks with the artist Stephanie Cole about her exhibition “Secular Cathedral” at Fuller Craft Museum. Plus, a look at the latest from Arlekin Players Theatre.
“Stephanie Cole: Secular Cathedral,” on view at Fuller Craft Museum through January 10, 2021
Stephanie Cole is an artist who never expected to have her own museum exhibition. At 75, Cole has worked in painting, drawing, and sculpture for as long as she can recall — a fact well documented in photographs of her sketching as young as four years old. But today, the artist is getting her due at the Fuller Craft Museum with the show, “Stephanie Cole: Secular Cathedral.” Creating sculpture using a variety of found objects and unique materials including stained glass, wood, and fibers, Cole creates deeply personal works that explore themes of family, grief, and love.
“I see an artist who is juggling the demands of family, juggling demands of taking care of an antique home,” says Artistic Director and Chief Curator of the Fuller Craft Museum Beth McLaughlin, “and at the same time feeling compelled to create work that speaks to those experiences.”
“Insulted. Belarus(sia),” a series of virtual play readings from Arlekin Players Theatre, November 17–19
Fresh off the breakout success of “State vs. Natasha Banina,” Arlekin Players Theatre returns with a series of play-readings for online audiences. “Insulted. Belarus(sia)” is a play set during the ongoing protests in Belarus where hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets opposing the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko (labeled a “falsified election” by the US State Department) who has been deemed “Europe’s last dictator.” Playwright Andrei Kureichik incorporates the thoughts, dialogue and observations of real-life figures in this urgent, of-the-moment piece. Adding a chilling, dramatic reality to the work, Kureichik is participating in post-show discussions of the production remotely and from an undisclosed location since fleeing Belarus under threat of arrest.
“I think it is so, so timely," says Artistic Director Igor Golyak. "People don’t really understand how close tyranny can exist, we think it can no longer exist in today’s world. But it does, and it’s much closer than we think."
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