newsletter #19 - august, 2012

New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Fellowship Award, and Other News:

For more information about my book, A Space for Faith: The Colonial Meetinghouses of New England,
or to order copies, please visit: A Space for Faith.

• New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Fellowship Award:

  I am extremely pleased to be awarded an Honorable Mention by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts in their 2012 Artist Fellowship competition.
  
  While an actual Fellowship would have been wonderful, this Honorable Mention is far more significant than what they gave me in grade school when I did not make it into the school play. This year's competition, which is held every 3 years, was across all of the visual arts. There were 2 Fellowships and 3 Honorable Mentions awarded, which means that I am one of the top 5 visual artists in this year's state-wide competition.
  
  The Arts Council's announcement of the fellowship awards may be viewed here: 2012 Fellowship Announcement.
  
  A press release about my award may be seen here: Wainwright Fellowship Press Release.
  
  I anticipate that this award will enable me to have more exposure (i.e., exhibitions) in and around New Hampshire. Stay tuned!

• New Hampshire Humanities Council Humanities To Go Selection:

  
  I am also pleased to announce that the New Hampshire Humanities Council has selected me as one of their presenters in their 2012 Humanities To Go program.
  
  Beginning later this year, libraries, historical societies, and other non-profit organizations in the state of New Hampshire will be able to receive financial support for hosting my illustrated presentation titled New England's Colonial Meetinghouses and their Impact on American Society.
  
  This presentation is complementary to my recently-published book of photographs of these marvelous structures. For more information about the book, please visit: A Space for Faith.
  
  The new Humanities To Go catalog will be introduced do the public during a reception on Friday, September 28, 2012, 12:00 to 1:00 PM, at the New Hampshire Historical Society, 30 Park Street, Concord, New Hampshire. Admission is free, but registration is suggested - please visit: Humanities To Go catalog launch reception.

• Wainwright on Exhibit:

  I currently have work hanging in two exhibition venues:
  
  

  • Afterimage Gallery, Dallas, Texas
  
  
  • The Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, Massachusetts: 18th Juried Exhibition, July 19 – September 2, 2012
    Juried by Paul Kopeikin, Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles

  
  In addition to these exhibits, a traveling exhibition of my Colonial meetinghouse photographs is available to museums and university galleries. A complete description of this exhibition can be found here: Traveling Exhibition.
  
  To inquire about bringing an exhibition to your venue, please: Contact Paul.

• My Photographs on Other People's Book Covers:

  In addition to my own book, A Space for Faith The Colonial Meetinghouses of New England, I am pleased that my photographs have been used as book cover art on two recent publications:
  
  

  • The New England Soul: Preaching and Religious Culture in Colonial New England by Harry S. Stout, published by Oxford University Press. Harry Stout is the Jonathan Edwards Professor of American Religious History at Yale University, and is well known as a leading scholar on this subject. I am honored to be able to participate with him in this publication.
  
  
  
  • Author of the essay in my book, Peter Benes has recently published his much-anticipated book, Meetinghouses of Early New England, published by University of Massachusetts Press. While my artistic work with Meetinghouses has been aimed at putting a popular face on this piece of American history, Peter's new book is the definitive scholarly text for the serious student of American history. For example, there are 27 pages of footnotes, and a bibliography that spans another 26 pages!

• Recent Corporate Acquisitions:

  I am pleased that my photographs have recently been acquired by the following organizations:
  
  

  • The Dana Farber Cancer Institute
  
  
  • The Yawkey Center for Cancer Care
  
  
  • Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center

  
  I always welcome inquiries about acquiring my work. I have just produced a CD-based tool for showing my work which contains more images and other information than may be found on my web site. A copy will gladly be sent to collectors, galleries, and art consultants - just ask: Contact Paul.

• New Work:

  At long last, I have some exciting new work that is beginning to be shown -- the above-mentioned show at the Griffin Museum is the premier of this new series.
  
  I first had the concept for this body of work in the fall of 1967 when I took my first physics class at the age of 17. The "double pendulum" was just a textbook exercise to my classmates, but to me I saw it as a way to make art. Using my idea, I made several exciting photographs that fall, one of which hangs on my studio wall.
  
  The photographs in this series are time exposures made in total darkness, looking up, at an LED attached to the bottom of a double pendulum. Depending upon how the pendulum is suspended and started, a wide variety of images can be created. The pendulum consists of a 30 pound piece of steel hung from the attic of my barn by a 14 foot steel cable. Since total darkness is needed, I have stopped making new images until later this fall when it gets dark earlier, and when the mosquitoes and other bugs have been killed off by a good hard freeze.
  
  Look for more in the future!