The City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department is proud to announce the appointment of Camela Guevara as Artist-in-Residence (AIR) for FY2017/18. The City’s AIR serves as a key resource for the department’s outreach programs, especially in the area of art instruction. Camela will share her unique skills, talents, and experiences by providing residencies and workshops to public schools, seniors, and various community groups within the city limits of North Charleston through June 2018.
Camela Guevara is a contemporary textile artist and painter based in Charleston. Her tactile fiber art pays respect to traditional, time-honored sewing and weaving techniques through the lens of spare, geometric imagery with an emphasis on materials. Figure skating costumes, over-the-top fashion, and utilitarian textiles inform her abstract and non-functional fiber pieces. In addition to working with textiles, she has most recently been creating expressive gouache paintings that visualize her internal stream of consciousness without judgment.
Guevara received a BA in Studio Art with a concentration in sculpture, printmaking, and painting from the College of Charleston in 2010 and attended the Penland School of Crafts for weaving in 2016. Her work has been exhibited in a number of solo and group exhibitions locally and beyond. Recent shows include the South Carolina Palmetto Hands Juried Fine Craft Exhibition (North Charleston, SC), the Piccolo Spoleto Juried Art Exhibition (Charleston, SC), Nasty Women at Redux Contemporary Art Center (Charleston, SC), Feminist Fiber Art at the Virago Gallery (Seattle, WA), New Weave at the Southern Gallery (Charleston, SC), and Telling Her Story at the Greenville Center for the Arts (Greenville, SC). Camela has offered art instruction to children and adults for 7 years through organizations such as the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department, Girls Rock Charleston, Space Craft Studios, and Redux Contemporary Art Center, and currently works as both Assistant Manager and Outreach Coordinator for Artist & Craftsman Supply’s Charleston Uptown location. The opportunity to inspire others through art and make art accessible to a wide spectrum of the community were key motivators for Camela to pursue the artist-in-residence position with North Charleston. “I grew up in North Charleston and feel really lucky to have had art in school every single year,” she says. “It’s definitely why I’m still making art today.”
As North Charleston’s Artist-in-Residence, Camela plans on teaching embroidery and sharing fiber art with the community. “Embroidery is so expressive and customizable, as well as therapeutic,” she explains. “I’m always amazed by how quickly people pick it up and do their own thing with it.” In addition, Guevara has her sights set on creating collaborative pieces with students, like a quilt or weaving. She also intends to offer instruction in expressive gouache techniques that are reflected in her current body of work. “I am interested in merging my fiber art and painting practices, so we shall see what happens there,” she says.
The North Charleston City Gallery will host an exhibition of Guevara’s work throughout December 2017 and January 2018. The gallery is located within the Charleston Area Convention Center at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. School liaisons, arts teachers, and the general public are invited to meet the artist at a free gallery reception on Thursday, December 7, 2017, from 5:00-7:00pm.
Art teachers and school liaisons may initiate the request for FREE services by the AIR by contacting the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at (843)740-5851. Community groups are also welcome to submit requests, which will be considered on a first come first served basis. All project requests should be placed at least two weeks in advance, with residences completed by the end of May 2018.
More information about the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department’s AIR program, as well as the department’s other programs, exhibits, and events, can be found on the Arts & Culture section of the City’s website.