Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Cushner.
Steven, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I have been a working painter for close to 50 years. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and my oldest friend is Stan Klein, founder, and director of Firecat Projects. Stan and I have had parallel careers – we both went off to art school, we have worked as art handlers, museum and gallery preparators, framers, teachers, curators, writers, speakers, and performers. We have exhibited nationally, both individually and together, and between us, we have had just about any and all experiences an artist would like to have. Recently, we began a joint project that we call SIDESHOW – the idea is to travel the country, meeting artists, looking at their work, operating a mobile gallery, doing visiting artist gigs, sharing our 50 years as artists in the world, and perhaps helping younger artists find ways to navigate the art world
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I am a painter. I love the physical activity of painting and believe that each painting is a recording of everything the artist thinks, feels, and experiences during the making of the painting. I am trying to capture, recreate, evoke a sense of beauty – not necessarily a visual beauty, but the sense of joy, balance, rhythm, and ecstasy that any of us experience when all is right in our world.
What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
Like most painters, the work is solitary, and for most of us, needs to be. I have found it is enough to have a handful of friends who are involved in the same activity, who share the same experiences – the successful (and at times, less successful) surprises and discoveries you bump into along the way. Any place, any city, has a community of artists, of thinkers, of like-minded people, and you need to put yourself out there enough to become part of this community, in the way that fits you and your temperament. I have a small group of painter friends – we get together every few weeks to drink and talk about whatever – shows we have seen, the music we have heard, films we have watched, books we have read – mostly gossip, and sometimes a bit about our own work. Look at everything. Be supportive and kind to your friends. Visit their studios. You will learn more from them than you will from your study and relationship with art history, and they will be most helpful in building a life and career in the arts. You will be rewarded with these relationships.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My work is represented by a few galleries – Hemphill Fine Arts in Washington, DC, the Reynold’s Gallery in Richmond, Virginia, and I have shown many places around the country, including Firecat Projects in Chicago.
I have work in the collections of the Hirshhorn Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, the Yale University Art Gallery. I have taught at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, American University, and George Mason University, and have been a visiting artist at Anderson Ranch, the Chautauqua Institute, Arizona State University, the Maryland Institute College of Art, and Towson State University. I have received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment For the Arts and the DC Commission On The Arts and Humanities.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hemphillfinearts.com www.cushnerama.com
- Email: sdcushner@verizon.net
Image Credit:
Mariah Karson, Chicago, Illinois, Greg Staley, Washington, DC, Max Hirshhfeld, Washington, DC, Firecat Projects, Chicago Projects, Chicago, Illinois, Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington, DC
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
