Satellite Exhibition
Space Grant 1708
May 14 – September 6, 2021
Space Grant 1708 is a selection of works by artists who participated in 1708 Gallery’s Space Grant 1708 initiative from May 11 to June 26, 2020. While the gallery was closed to the public during the pandemic, 1708 gave four artists (Nico Cathcart, Emily Culver, Nadd Harvin, and Christine Sloan Stoddard) the opportunity to use the gallery as a studio space, the storefront window as an exhibition platform, and more. Each artist used the space independently during a two-week session. .
The Space Grant 1708 selection process was open to all artists and creatives from any disciplines, media, and interests to work where they might not have the space otherwise. The creation and implementation of this opportunity was based on what 1708 could provide to artists most in need.
Nico Cathcart is a painter and muralist hailing from Toronto, Ontario, and is currently living in Richmond, Virginia. She strives to discuss intersectional feminism and climate change in her highly-colorful realistic works which often include local flora and fauna, as well as the female form. Her Symbiotic series are canvas works which explore a contemporary take on the traditional memento mori. By crossing the images of skulls with pollinators, sea ice, and ocean level rise, she is asking the viewer to contemplate the connections between themselves, and nature. Her work has been shown at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, and the Hermitage Museum in Norfolk, as well as galleries across the continent. In 2020, Nico was honored as an Agent of Change for her use of activism in her art by the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, and was the recipient of the 1708 Gallery Space grant. She also was invited to do a TED Talk about the responsibility of public art, and her disability in 2018.
Emily Culver (BFA Tyler School of Art '12, MFA Cranbrook Academy of Art '17) is a multimedia object maker originally from rural Pennsylvania. Culver's work has been exhibited nationally, internationally and has received numerous awards. Currently based in Norfolk VA, Culver is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Old Dominion University.
Nadd Harvin is a self-taught painter/illustrator and art instructor whose work exists as a testament to the process of both their art and life. Their work has become increasingly centered around the creation and manipulation of time and space, as a means to explore dreams, memories, escape, self, and similar themes. In a world where rest and self indulgence can be hard to come by, especially in many disenfranchised communities, Nadd’s work hopes to communicate the sometimes radical nature of escape, self preservation and awareness.
Christine Sloan Stoddard is a Salvadoran-American author, artist, and filmmaker born in Arlington, VA. She is also the founder of Quail Bell Press & Productions, best known for Quail Bell Magazine and the Badass Lady-Folk podcast. Her most recent books include Heaven Is a Photograph (a narrative poetry and photography collection), Hello, New York: The Living And Dead (a photo book), and Naomi & The Reckoning (a novelette). Her films and visual art have appeared in exhibitions and programs by the Queens Botanical Garden, the Elisabet Ney Museum, the Phillips Collection, the New York Transit Museum, Pratt Institute, the University of Maryland, the New York City Poetry Festival, and beyond. Her feature film, Sirena's Gallery, shot largely at 1708 Gallery, is currently in post-production. A graduate of VCUarts and The City College of New York-CUNY, she splits her time between New York City and her native Virginia.