Flo McGarrell
Encyclopedia
Flores "Flo" McGarrell was an American
artist, filmmaker, writer and arts administrator. He was raised in Umbertide
, Italy and St. Louis, Missouri
, United States
.
He lived and worked in Roswell, New Mexico
, San Francisco, California
, Newbury, Vermont
and Jacmel
, Haiti
. He specialized in agri-sculpture - sculpture constructed from recycled and organic material and plants. In Jacmel, he directed a nonprofit arts center called FOSAJ.
was the recipient of a Fulbright grant, as well as fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts
, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation
at Bellagio
in Italy. His mother, Ann, is a writer, poet and translator. They moved back to America when Flo was 8 years old and now live in Newbury, Vermont
. Flo McGarrell received a B.F.A. in Fibers and an M.A. in Digital Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art
, 1992–1998. In 1997 he co-founded Little Big Bang, a non-profit arts organization which performed/exhibited for four years in such diverse venues as the Baltimore Museum of Art, the American Visionary Art Museum, as well as local galleries, festivals, and the streets.
After earning his first master's degree he taught video and electronic arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and at the Baltimore School for the Arts. In 2004 he received an M.F.A. in Art and Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where his hybrid skills in sculpture and digital craft were utilized to create inflatable spaces, with light, sound, and video projection. In 2007 he was part of the Roswell Artist in Residence Program where he experimented in sustainable living as sculpture.
Since his youth McGarrell was fascinated with Haiti and Haitian culture and in 2008 he took of the position of director of the art center FOSAJ in Jacmel, a city famed for its art located on the southern coast of Haiti. FOSAJ was founded in 2003 by a wealthy local family and its mission is to revive the international market for locally made art, which collapsed due to decades of political instability. McGarrell served as director of the center until his death and during his tenure he develop a relationship with local artists and the community. Fosaj board member Regine Boucard said of McGarrell that, "Everybody loved him — the artists, the students, the community. And he sort of understood the Haitians."
centered approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Port-au-Prince
, leveled buildings throughout Haiti, including the "Peace of Mind" Hotel in Jacmel. McGarrell had just dropped off his godfather in Port-au-Prince
and had stopped off at the hotel on his way to the FOSAJ center, where he both lived and worked. He was sitting with a visiting friend and fellow artist, Sue Frame, when the earthquake hit. and was killed as the building collapsed on top of him.http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/haiti/chi-artists-haiti-17jan17,0,1788208.story He was apparently killed instantly. Frame ran out at the first tremor; McGarrell hesitated briefly, perhaps concerned for his laptop computer.
approach to intellectual property.
McGarrell was the art director of the film, Maggots and Men, an experimental retelling of the story of the 1921 uprising of the Kronstadt
sailors in post-revolutionary Russia
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist, filmmaker, writer and arts administrator. He was raised in Umbertide
Umbertide
Umbertide is a town and comune of Italy, in the province of Perugia in northwestern Umbria, at the confluence of the Reggia river and the Tiber. It is 30 km North of Perugia and 20 km South of Città di Castello...
, Italy and St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
He lived and worked in Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell is a city in and the county seat of Chaves County in the southeastern quarter of the state of New Mexico, United States. The population was 48,366 at the 2010 census. It is a center for irrigation farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also...
, San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, Newbury, Vermont
Newbury (town), Vermont
Newbury is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,955 at the 2000 census. Newbury includes the villages of Newbury, Center Newbury, West Newbury, South Newbury, Boltonville, Peach Four Corners, and Wells River.-History:...
and Jacmel
Jacmel
Jacmel, also known by its indigenous Taíno name of Yaquimel, is a town in southern Haiti founded in 1698. It is the capital of the department of Sud-Est and has an estimated population of 40,000, while the municipality of Jacmel had a population of 137,966 at the 2003 Census.The buildings are...
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
. He specialized in agri-sculpture - sculpture constructed from recycled and organic material and plants. In Jacmel, he directed a nonprofit arts center called FOSAJ.
Biography
McGarrell was born Flora McGarrell to expatriate artist parents in Rome, where his father James McGarrellJames McGarrell
James McGarrell is an important American painter known for painting lush figurative interiors and landscapes.-Biography:...
was the recipient of a Fulbright grant, as well as fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
at Bellagio
Bellagio
Bellagio is a comune in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located on Lake Como. It has long been famous for its setting at the intersection of the three branches of the Y-shaped lake, which is also known as Lario....
in Italy. His mother, Ann, is a writer, poet and translator. They moved back to America when Flo was 8 years old and now live in Newbury, Vermont
Newbury (town), Vermont
Newbury is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,955 at the 2000 census. Newbury includes the villages of Newbury, Center Newbury, West Newbury, South Newbury, Boltonville, Peach Four Corners, and Wells River.-History:...
. Flo McGarrell received a B.F.A. in Fibers and an M.A. in Digital Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art
Maryland Institute College of Art
Maryland Institute College of Art is an art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the first and oldest art colleges in the United States. In 2008, MICA was ranked #2 in the nation...
, 1992–1998. In 1997 he co-founded Little Big Bang, a non-profit arts organization which performed/exhibited for four years in such diverse venues as the Baltimore Museum of Art, the American Visionary Art Museum, as well as local galleries, festivals, and the streets.
After earning his first master's degree he taught video and electronic arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and at the Baltimore School for the Arts. In 2004 he received an M.F.A. in Art and Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where his hybrid skills in sculpture and digital craft were utilized to create inflatable spaces, with light, sound, and video projection. In 2007 he was part of the Roswell Artist in Residence Program where he experimented in sustainable living as sculpture.
Since his youth McGarrell was fascinated with Haiti and Haitian culture and in 2008 he took of the position of director of the art center FOSAJ in Jacmel, a city famed for its art located on the southern coast of Haiti. FOSAJ was founded in 2003 by a wealthy local family and its mission is to revive the international market for locally made art, which collapsed due to decades of political instability. McGarrell served as director of the center until his death and during his tenure he develop a relationship with local artists and the community. Fosaj board member Regine Boucard said of McGarrell that, "Everybody loved him — the artists, the students, the community. And he sort of understood the Haitians."
Death
On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a devastating magnitude 7.0 M earthquake2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
centered approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
, leveled buildings throughout Haiti, including the "Peace of Mind" Hotel in Jacmel. McGarrell had just dropped off his godfather in Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
and had stopped off at the hotel on his way to the FOSAJ center, where he both lived and worked. He was sitting with a visiting friend and fellow artist, Sue Frame, when the earthquake hit. and was killed as the building collapsed on top of him.http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/haiti/chi-artists-haiti-17jan17,0,1788208.story He was apparently killed instantly. Frame ran out at the first tremor; McGarrell hesitated briefly, perhaps concerned for his laptop computer.
Works
An early interest in metalsmithing over time, developed into a commitment to installation art with a focus on political concerns and ecology. Most of McGarrell's mature work utilized strongly color-coordinated plastics to create interior/exterior spaces, and living plants to create functioning vegetable gardens, also situated indoors and out. McGarrell's installations were created, as much as feasible, from discarded, recycled materials. His gardens functioned from recycled grey water and included hands-on, instructive material on creating compost at home and the artist's own recipes for meals designed from both a nutritional standpoint and their palatability. This teaching material, as well as most of McGarrell's other writing, was distributed freely, in accordance with the artist's dedication to free copyright, or Creative CommonsCreative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
approach to intellectual property.
McGarrell was the art director of the film, Maggots and Men, an experimental retelling of the story of the 1921 uprising of the Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
sailors in post-revolutionary Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Transgender identity
Born biologically female, McGarrell identified strongly with androgyny since childhood, and the transgender and queer (or radical queer) community as an adult. He began formally identifying as a male in 2003-04. This gender reassessment was brought about through a limited amount of hormone therapy—not elective surgery however—and was part of an intellectual journey into radical politics which was, in turn, related to the artist's philosophy and output. He described himself as "a total gender mash up (beard, miniskirt, etc.)" and "as a non-passing transperson."External links
- Interview by Georgia Kotretsos, "Inside the Artist's Studio: Flo McGarrell"
- Zagria blogspot.com
- McGarrell's CV
- Dan Simmons, Chicago artist survives earthquake but friend is killed trying to escape hotel, Chicago Tribune, 17 January, 2010.
- Blog. January, 2010.
- [Links to 7 articles about Flo McGarrell] http://my.saic.edu/news/35068/In-Memory-of-Alumnus-Flores-Flo-McGarrell-.htm
- http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7219295