Hill House Current and Past Artist News

Some seriously exciting news from the Hill House alums this month. It’s so fun to hear what these creative cats are up to out there in the world. Thanks for sharing your stories and inspiring us all to dream big. You all are it.

FUTURE ARTIST NEWS

David Gwaltney, a Hill House Alum, returns to the Hill House next week. He is a multi-instrumentalist solo musician playing cross-genre, focusing in both folk rock and electronic/hip-hop music, often experimental music. David also plays in a band called thecitylights*. Sounds pretty cool, right? Find out more about David here, or come see him in person when he plays at the 10th Annual Crosshatch Benefit Concert with a whole slew of Hill House alums!

PAST ARTIST NEWS

Christa Couture has a new album and is heading out for a Cross-Canada tour! The album, Long Time Leaving, can be pre-ordered on Bandcamp (CD or digital, along with other perks like postcards and posters) or iTunes. Either way you'll get an instant download of the first single "That Little Part of My Heart." Long Time Leaving officially comes out April 15th on Black Hen Music. The tour will take Christa from Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia, from April 2nd to May 7th, and you can see full tour dates on her site or in this Facebook event.

Charming Disaster released a song that they wrote at the Hill House! Ellia explains, “We wanted to capture the essence of our surroundings, so it includes not only the Hill House piano and the curious shaker that lives on top of the piano, but also the pot lids that make that beautiful gong sound when you hit them together, and a pot full of water, and the rim of a wineglass traced with a finger, and the whistle of the teakettle.” Amazing.

Jean Rohe will head to National Sawdust on April 27 to perform songs from The Odysseus Agreement, “an in-progress performance memoir in song that tells the story of a young woman on a single-minded quest to learn about the life and tragic death of her grandmother and namesake.” If you’re in Brooklyn, this sounds like a must-see to us.

Scott Hocking will be at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) on April 16th for their TEEN COUNCIL series to discuss his artistic practice, influences, life and more. Check it out!

Jordan Geiger has been working on a new project with his band Hospital Ships. Here's a taste: “I asked Thor Harris and his new band Thor And Friends to create a song in B-minor and film it. I then adapted ‘Oh My Light’ to it and recorded myself singing and playing along. After a little editing, this video is the result.” From Substream Magazine. 

 

AND OF COURSE…

Have you heard? The Tenth Annual (TEN YEARS!) Crosshatch Benefit Concert at Short’s Brewery is just around the corner! Mark your calendars: May 7, 2pm until late. This all-day party features a number of Hill House alum playing music so y’all can listen, celebrate, and dance. Come one, come all - bring your good cheer and some dollar bills for our spirited raffle of themed gift baskets!

Crosshatch is Hiring!

Event Coordinator Internship

OBJECTIVE

To gain hands-on experience planning and executing the Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference as well as food, farming and art events. This internship offers an opportunity to organize many different kinds of events throughout Northwest Lower Michigan, for six people up to 1,000.

INTERNSHIP

40 hours/week including some evening and weekend work, from 30 to 50 weeks. Crosshatch does not have a central office, so the intern will work remotely, coordinating with other Crosshatch staff. Parts of the experience will require excellent teamwork, while others require high levels of autonomy. Performance expectations are high and on-par with the best entry level jobs in this field.

Our service area runs the coasts from Manistee to Mackinac, with major areas of impact centered in Bellaire, Traverse City and Petoskey. The Event Coordinator Intern can live anywhere in this region, though a central location is advantageous. Travel throughout the region is a regular requirement of the position. Similarly, excellent telecommuting skills are required, including texting, email, phone, Basecamp, social media and other internet communication technologies. Start and end dates are somewhat flexible depending upon program requirements.

COMPENSATION

$10 per hour, mileage reimbursement.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assist with planning and executing the Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference
• Answer and return phone calls related to the NMSFC
• Communicate with volunteers to complete the many tasks that make the NMSFC run smoothly
• Data entry
• Participate in NMSFC planning committee meetings
• Assist with planning and execution of food, farming and art events
• Prepare materials for events
• Manage set up and onsite operations at events
• Attend staff meetings
• Act as an ambassador at events, introducing the organization and our work
• Poster
• Write thank you notes
• Manage speaker logistics and hospitality

QUALIFICATIONS

• Currently enrolled in or recently graduated from an accredited college or university
• A working knowledge of the major themes in sustainable agriculture, environmental concern and the arts at a local, state and national level
• Strong writing skills
• Flawless attention to detail and impeccable personal organization skills
• Exceptional verbal and interpersonal communication skills
• Self-motivated and professional demeanor
• Expertise in Google Drive, MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint, email, Mac OS
• Excellent organizational skills
• Strong ability to manage multiple tasks and projects at one time

TO APPLY

Interested candidates should submit the following application materials via email to Amanda Kik,

CoDirector, at amanda@crosshatch.org:

1. An exceptional one page cover letter
2. A resume tailored to this position
3. List of professional references

This position will remain open until filled by the right candidate.

ABOUT CROSSHATCH

Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology builds strong communities through the intersections of art, farming, ecology and economy. Over the last eleven years, we have organized hundreds of workshops, serving thousands in our community. Our service area is the 10-county region of Northwest Lower Michigan. To learn more, please visit www.crosshatch.org.

Hill House Current and Past Artist News

Another month has come and gone, Hatchies. How did that happen? Spring has (sort of) sprung in these parts and we're feeling excited about the magic and madness that's happening all around us.  

Current/Future Artist News

This week we say goodbye to Sioux Trujillo, who—along with her son Shaun—stayed for two weeks at the Hill House. Sioux was the 2009 Kresge Artist Fellowship recipient and has worked in the Detroit art community for 20 years as an artists, and an administrator for 10+ years. She was one of the founding directors for community+public arts: DETROIT, an initiative that brings community-driven public art projects to six underserved Detroit neighborhoods. Sioux is also the recipient of the 2012 Whole Thinking leadership development retreat. This retreat draws upon practices such as deepening connection the land, relationship building, working with and across difference, creativity, story, dialogue, and awareness practice. We were glad to have her downstate energy up north for a little while. 

We get to say 'hello' this week too, to artist-in-residence Latham Zearfoss. Latham is an artist and cultural producer living and working in Chicago. His artwork often centers on reclaiming historical and mythological texts, and revising them to incorporate radical notions of love and sex, possibility and probability. Latham will be in the Hill House for the next few weeks as we transition from winter to spring. We wish him squishy walks and rainy inspiration!

Past Artist News

Russell Brakefield has a poem featured in an anthology called The Michigan Poet.

Gabriel Birnbaum has a song on the latest Esopus Magazine compilation. Very cool!

Thais Beltrame is having a solo show for the month of April in Rio de Janeiro. Check out her intricate and inspiring work here. 

Ben Good released a couple songs he wrote at the Hill House. Let the log cabin energy wash over you as you listen. Check them out here and here.

Charming Disaster are on tour this April! Are they coming to a city near you? See the tour poster below!

 

And of course...

Are you an alum with updates for us? Contact Yvonne. Do you want to someday be a Hill House alum? Check out our residency page here for more information and instructions on how to apply. Next deadline is April 1, so put a spring in your step!

Big ideas, micro loans

Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology and Grain Train Natural Foods Market team up to provide a new micro loan program aimed at farms and food-related businesses.

BELLAIRE, MI— Farmers and food entrepreneurs have a new way to boost their business, thanks to a new community micro loan program. Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology and Grain Train Natural Foods Market have teamed up to offer low-interest loans for farms and food-related businesses in Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Emmet, and Otsego counties. 

Farmers, agribusinesses, and food business entrepreneurs are invited to apply for this micro loan program aimed at enhancing the food and farming network in the Northwestern Lower Peninsula. Ideal candidates will propose an idea that would boost a farm or food business and elevate the region's local food system. Applicants can apply for loans between $500 and $6,000. Loans will have a 2.5% interest rate with 18-month repayment terms. There is no application fee. 

Uses for the loan may include, but are not limited to: essential tools for the farm or food business, materials, land, livestock or infrastructure, certification costs, professional development expenses, value-added product production, marketing and distribution costs, and expenses related to processing and packaging of farm products. Applicants using sustainable practices are strongly encouraged, but they are not a requirement. 

"We at Crosshatch, along with The Grain Train, see a demand for more local food in the community and wanted to help farmers on the ground by getting tools in their hands and increasing the capacity to process or package." Jen Schaap, Food and Farming Programs Coordinator for Crosshatch, said. "We're excited to see how these individual ideas will have a wider-reaching positive effect on the region's local food system."

Providing a micro loan for area farmers and food business entrepreneurs has the potential to affect change on the whole region. The easier it is for farmers to do their work, the more local food we'll see at the market. Crosshatch and Grain Train hope that this program will continue and grow as the years go on, providing more opportunity to strengthen the local economy and keeping Michigan focused on healthy, sustainable food for all. 

The micro loan program kicks off March 1 and the deadline to apply is May 3. The loans will be distributed in June of 2016, and borrowers will be required to have three meetings with the loan administrators throughout the term to discuss how their project is evolving. For more information and to apply for a loan, visit www.crosshatch.org/micro-loan/ or contact Jen. 

Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference — Oral History Project

At this year's Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference, we invited farmers, eaters, and food producers to tell their stories. The Traverse Area District Library (TADL) was there to record the stories as part of their project: Food for Life on Two Peninsulas. The project is now up on their site for the public to listen to! Gather 'round the speakers and settle in for some good stories.

From the TADL: 

TADL Introduces New Oral History Collection Featuring Michigan-based Food Producers

February 29, 2016 (Traverse City, MI) — Traverse Area District Library (TADL), in partnership with Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology (formerly ISLAND), has released Food for Life on Two Peninsulas: Stories from Old Farm Families, Migrant Workers, and the New Food Producers of Grand Traverse Bay, an oral history project developed and curated by TADL staff and volunteers. The purpose of the project is to document the impact of the local food economy and focus on a central question; “What has becoming a regional “foodie” destination meant to the people and farms in our communities?”

TADL staff and volunteers conducted interviews with food producers and developers attending the 2016 Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference held on January 30, and executed by Crosshatch and partnering organizations. Interview subjects for the project range from former Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) owners to pioneers in regenerative farm animal grazing practices. Representing food producers from communities throughout Michigan, the interviews documented a variety of experiences, longevity, and spoke to each of their roles contributing to the local food economy.

"Seasoned farmers and greenhorns alike will find these oral histories contain an enthusiasm for locally-produced, responsible food, that draws our passionate statewide food community together. We are grateful to Crosshatch for the opportunity to gather these personal stories, and we look forward to adding more in the future," said organizer Amy Barritt, Special Collections Librarian at TADL.

There are ten interviews available posted online. For more information, and to listen to these oral histories, please visit TADL's Local History Collection's websitehttp://localhistory.tadl.org/foodforlifeoral, or contact the Reference Department at 231-932-8502 or ask@tadl.org.

Hill House Artist Residency Deadline Approaching - PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 24, 2015

Contact:
Mollie Thomas
231-622-5252
mollie@crosshatch.org 

Northern Michigan's Hill House artist residency application deadline approaching soon.

BELLAIRE — Crosshatch Center for Art & Design’s Hill House artist residency applications for the June 2016-December 2016 residency season are due April 1.

The program supports musicians, writers, theater/performance, visual artists, and now parent artists as well.  Artists who apply to the program will go through a jury process. Selected artists are awarded time and space to create new work, with a two- to four-week stay in a semi-secluded log cabin near East Jordan, Michigan. The musician residency also offers a small stipend to emerging songwriters to aid in professional development. 

The cabin is surrounded by forest and is within walking distance of the Jordan River. It includes a well-stocked kitchen (with locally sourced food when available), a selection of instruments and some basic recording gear. Artists are invited, but not required, to engage in community outreach through performance, readings and workshops with coordination and promotion help from Crosshatch. The Hill House residency program is unique as it accepts parent artists, artists who want to bring a pet, and allows artists from different disciplines to be in residence together. The only cost for an artist to participate in the Hill House residency program is a $25 application fee.

"My Crosshatch Hill House residency provided me an invaluable opportunity to work uninterrupted, connect with the land and deepen my own understanding of what it is to be an artist and human being," says Jeff Morris, one-half of Charming Disaster along with Ellia Bisker, (musicians-in-residence, January 2016).

Crosshatch is a non-profit organization based in Northern Michigan that builds strong communities through the intersections of art, farming, ecology and economy. For more information about the Crosshatch Hill House residency, including a link to the online application system, visit our site or contact Yvonne.

###

Hill House Current and Past Artist News

Current HILL HOUSE ARTIST NEWS

Join us in welcoming Katie Ford to the Hill House. Katie's practice explores the concepts of personal landscape and intimate space through the construction of mixed media installations, objects, and works on paper. From Katie's website: 

I see my experience moving through the world as fundamentally linked to the landscapes I inhabit and those that are made through my interactions with the people and spaces around me. These may be the physical space of a conversation, a familiarly traced path through a neighborhood, or the emotional tug of two people in faraway cities. My work comes out of the desire to dig into the relationships we build around our physical and emotional habitats.

Katie has exhibited her work nationally and has been awarded residencies with organizations such as Elsewhere (Greensboro, NC), Have Company (Grand Rapids, MI), Cabin Time (itinerant), and the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. She will be at the Hill House until mid-March. Welcome, Katie!

 

Past Hill house Artist News

So much is happening with so many of the Hill House alums; we're just going to go ahead and blurt it all out right here! Seeing all this creativity and momentum from so many Hill House artists really truly makes our hearts warm. Y'all deserve a hearty pat on the back and a hug (and fair wages and compensation for your art!). Keep up the awesome work. 

New Albums/Published WorK/Exhibits/Music Videos

Brandi George, poet, earned her PhD from Florida State University last week, and published her first book of poems, Gog, in November 2015 with Black Lawrence Press. 

Scott Hocking will be featured in Essay'd, 30 Detroit Artists, available August 2016 through Wayne State University Press. 

Trevor Grabill, Skye Livingston and Thais Beltrame artwork featured on Michigan Writers Dunes Review Journals.

Erik Jarvis has a new EP coming out soon. 

Max Lockwood released a new EP Dudee Free in December 2015.  

Rebecca Rego and The Trainmen successfully funded their new album through Kickstarter. 

Phillippe Nash's new track, "Something in My Eye" was released in January 2016. 

Jason Ackman's work was featured in the exhibition, "Transition," earlier this month at The Applebee Art Gallery at MacMurray College.

Katie Vota is currently running a solo exhibition and participating in a residency at Corner. The exhibition, entitled "Transference of Touch: From Garment to Body" is in collaboration with Chicago's 2nd Floor Rear Performance Festival.

Performances

Matthew Kennedy has programmed 'The Last Place on Earth,' a double concerto for saxophone, percussion, and string quartet for the University of South Florida's 2016 New Music Festival. 

Rachel Cole's film Monsters and Animals will show at the Queens World Film Festival on March 18. 

Artists at Other Residencies

Christy George is in residence at 'A Studio in the Woods' for Spring 2016. Christy is one of seven artists awarded a Flint and Steel Residency this season. These residencies match artists with faculty members to create risk-taking new works designed to fuel social change. 

Erinn Beth Langille runs an artist residency, The Lemon Tree House, in Tuscany for emerging and established artists, musicians, and writers, with an upcoming deadline of March 30, 2016. 

Awards Season

Max Lockwood is up for two Jammie Awards: BIG DUDEE ROO - I Know You Know is up for Song of the Year and BIG DUDEE ROO - Heavy Dudee is up for Best Alternative Album. 

Rebecca Rego and the Trainmen have been nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year by The Deli Chicago. The Deli is an independent publication and website that focuses on local indie music scenes and emerging artists. 

Tiny Desk Concert CONTEST

Many of the Hill House artists are entering the NPR Tiny Desk Concert contest. Check out these videos!

jessicaintherainbow.bandcamp.com jessicaintherainbow.com facebook.com/jessicaintherainbow

Phew! That's a whole lotta alumni news. Check back soon as we're constantly getting emails and updates about all the cool stuff Hill House alums are up to. 

And if you're interested in becoming a Hill House alum yourself, check out our Artist Residency page to learn all about it. Our next deadline is April 1, so get moving!

Cheers,

Crosshatch

2016 Farm Route to Prosperity Summit

Registration closes a week from today for the 2016 Farm Route to Prosperity Summit - register now. This summit, being put on by our friends at the NW Michigan Food and Farming Network will focus on what's being done and what we should do to continue working toward the goal of 20% local food by 2020. We need your voice! 

After a certified local foods lunch, there will be break-out sessions to brainstorm ideas, make plans, and commit to taking action over the next 12 months. Session topics may include: education, wellness, direct/indirect sales, farm to institution programs, agribusiness and more. There's something for everyone to learn, share, and take action. 

The summit is intended for anyone interested in the northwest Michigan food system (so if you live and eat here, that's you!). Farmers, consumers, institutions, non-profits, students and more: come and work together at the summit. 

Registration is $15 for farmers and students, or $30 for all others. Registration closes at 8:30am on Friday, February 19. 

We'll be there! Will you?

Cheers,

Crosshatch

The first Crosshatch artists-in-residence: Charming Disaster

We've had many, many artists come and stay at the Hill House. Hundreds of words written, strings strummed, brushstrokes painted. And we have truly loved getting to know all the souls who have come north to stay. Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris (musicians in collaboration) will hold a special place in our hearts though, as the very first *CROSSHATCH* artists-in-residence. 

Ellia and Jeff arrived in January as ISLAND residents, but will leave February 10th as Crosshatch residents. We're stoked to have such fine people staying at the Hill House during this momentous time.  

Ellia and Jeff come to Michigan from Brooklyn, New York where the both work and live. For 10 years, Ellia has been playing her songs about doomed love, works of literature, and existential mysteries as Sweet Soubrette. She is also the singer and lyricist of Funkrust Brass Band, a 20-piece punk marching band, and plays in the "parlor-rock" ensemble Kotorino, headed up by Jeff. Jeff started playing music in New York with improvisation-based theatrical bands before forming Kotorino. 

Since 2012, Jeff and Ellia have played together as Charming Disaster. They came to the Hill House to work on this project and it looks as though they're having fun - check out the videos below that were recorded at the Hill House during their stay!

Jeff and Ellia are planning to attend the Short's Open Mic night this Tuesday, February 9th at 7:30pm before they say goodbye and head home on the 10th. Come out and hear Charming Disaster in person! Let's go ahead and call it "pub-rock". We'll see you there. 

Cheers,

Crosshatch

We Are Crosshatch.

Dear Hatchers [Hatchies? Crossies? We're workin' on it, we'll come up with something good, we promise]:

Eleven years ago we started a nonprofit and we called it the Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design, or ISLAND. We thought it was pretty good – who doesn’t love a good acronym? But over the past decade and then some, we’ve grown – our island turned into a cluster of islands; we are no longer a rock, an iiiisssland, we’re a whole damn community of farmers, artists, gardeners, learners, lovers, eaters, growers, doers, movers and shakers. And so we’re changing our name. We’re departing the island (but it’ll always have a special place in our hearts).

We shall henceforth be known as: Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology. We remain a small, all-hands-on-deck, passionate organization that focuses its efforts on strengthening communities through the intersections of art, farming, ecology, and economy. 

The first lifecycle of ISLAND required a lot of experimenting and learning from trial and error. And it was fun! But Crosshatch is a tween now, we’re old enough to know what we’re doing and where we’re going: Phase Three.

Phase three will be the development of the Crosshatch property located in Bellaire, Michigan. While Crosshatch currently is, and always has been, a “homeless” organization, the property will someday be the location of a working farm, multiple artist spaces for residents, a community building, and more. The Crosshatch property will materialize our longstanding concept of integrating art with farming and ecology: Where Art meets Earth.
 

TL;DR: We used to be called the Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design, but now we’re called Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology. We continue to dig in, dive deep, get up early and stay up late in the name of creating stronger communities through the magic of art, farming, food, ecology, economy, working together and having fun. We are trying our best and we love you.

Cheers,

Crosshatch