Artists & Communities Host Site: Roswell Museum and Art Center
100 West 11th Street
Roswell, NM 88201
Web site: www.roswellmuseum.org

Millennium Artist:
Jonas dos Santos
Performance and Installation Artist
Pennsylvania
E-mail: jonaslink@compuserve.com

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Roswell Museum and Art Center (RMAC)'s Artists & Communities residency project with multidisciplinary artist Jonas dos Santos was interdisciplinary, intergenerational, culturally diverse, and celebratory.

dos Santos' residency began in February 2000 and finished in April, with culminating event, "Art on the Plaza, 2000." Of the 56 individual state projects, dos Santos' New Mexico residency with the Roswell Museum and Art Center was the first completed Artists & Communities project.

With the input and participation from a wide-variety of community members and local artists of all ages, dos Santos created artworks that served as the creative elements for a series of satellite events and art programs planned by Roswell Museum. Participants created costumes, oversized accessories, hand printed fabric, banners, and large sculptural objects that explored Roswell's future at the beginning of the new millennium.

The culminating event for dos Santos' residency was "Art on the Plaza, 2000." Scheduled for April 22, 2000, this one-day event transformed the museum grounds and and nearby plaza into a community wonderland for residents of all ages and cultures to enjoy. Many of the activities required darkness for full effect.

The festival's centerpiece was a monumental kimono-as-sculpture designed and created by dos Santos with the assistance of numerous community members. The kimono, entitled, "The Fabric of the Community," was embellished with hundreds of handmade dolls fashioned by a number of seamstresses and then painted by students at University High School, Monterrey Elementary, Missouri Avenue Elementary, Military Heights Elementary, Washington Avenue Elementary, and Yucca Recreation Center.

Other artistic elements of "Art on the Plaza, 2000" included sticks gathered from the Mountain States Pecan orchards that were transformed into interactive environments and sculpted river features by Roswell High School students and their instructors Robyn Einhorn and Archie Sartin. Unity Center teens, under the direction of Matt Barinholtz, created hundreds of toy cars out of recycled materials such as plastic bottles, that highlighted walkways around the plaza. These teens also took part in creating a time capsule designed by Roswell artist Larry Welz. Twenty-two community organizations added their aspirations for the new millennium to the capsule, to serve as a lasting communal document for future generations. All of these activities, and many others, served to unite community members from diverse backgrounds in a shared creative process.

Discussing dos Santos' residency, Laurie Rufe, Director of the Roswell Museum and Art Center said, "[t]he process has been a celebration of art, helping to foster a dialog built upon respect, collectivity, and cultural sensitivity. As a result of the Artists & Communities residency with Jonas dos Santos, the healing hand of art is weaving new stories and relationships for our future."

dos Santos added, "[a]rt is a vehicle for affirmation, empowerment, and healing. The artist shares the creative process with the community, working together to create art that reflects diverse identities, cultural aspirations, and visions - a great metaphor for the new millennium. Hurray Roswell 2000!"

MILLENNIUM ARTIST BIO

Jonas dos Santos is a performance and installation artist who has produced work for The Experimental Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Museo del Barrio, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Institute of Contemporary Art of the University of Pennsylvania.