The Fourth Annual Encaustic Painting Conference
June 11 – 13, 2010
Montserrat College of Art

Post-conference Workshops
June 14 –16, 2010

Summary of 2009
Third Annual Encaustic Painting Conference

For the third consecutive year, artists and educators (this year over 225) congregated at Montserrat in early June for the Annual Encaustic Painting Conference, promoting the rediscovered art form and demonstrating how Montserrat extends arts education far outside the traditional classroom experience. The conference was followed by three days of workshops and commanded an international crowd from the US, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, France, and Iceland, who enthusiastically embraced a full schedule of events including panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions, demonstrations and conversations about the challenges and rewards of working in encaustic.*

“This year our participants were energetic, enthusiastic, inquisitive, spirited, generous, and full of give and take,” said Conference Director, Joanne Mattera. “Encaustic has been enjoying resurgence over the past 10 years and our successful conference is evidence of that. Each year our attendance grows as more artists discover the medium and understand its strength, luminosity and beauty.”

Besides the nationally known artist Joanne Mattera, speakers included the widely respected editor, curator, educator and critical thinker, Barbara O’Brien, former director of the Montserrat Gallery, who is now Curator of the Kemper Museum in Kansas City; Miles Conrad, director of the Conrad Wilde Gallery in Tucson; and Kandy Lozano, now a partner in the Martin & Lozano Gallery in Los Angeles.
           
A highlight for participants was the chance to show in a group exhibition juried by DeCordova Museum curator, Nick Capasso. With three other exhibitions, which included painting, sculpture, books and mixed-media, participants could view the work of a diverse range of contemporary artists working in the medium.

Four museum experts were also on hand to discuss the encaustic objects and paintings they have conserved, including ancient Fayum portraits, 20th Century murals, and contemporary paintings.  Panelists included Pamela Hatchfield, Conservator of Objects, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston;  Kate Smith, Independent Conservator, formerly of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston; Mimi Leveque, Conservator, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; and Carolyn Tomkiewicz, Chief Conservator, The Brooklyn Museum, New York City.

Dean Laura Tonelli was pleased with the achievements of this year’s conference. “Besides serving the encaustic audience, we hoped to extend the conversation beyond the medium, and that was accomplished beautifully this year, with session topics ranging from “Gender Matters” to “Gallerists in Conversation.” The conference has created a name for Montserrat regionally, nationally and internationally, not only as an Encaustic center, but as a place where meaningful dialogue about contemporary art practice occurs.”
 
The Fourth Annual Conference of Encaustic Painting will take place Friday-Sunday, June 11 to 13, 2010 with three post-conference workshops days June 14 - 16. For information on the Encaustic Conference, visit:
www.montserratencausticconference.blogspot.com.

* Pigmented beeswax, worked molten, that sets immediately as it cools.