‘A New View- Camden’ Artist Bios Part One

     On Friday and Saturday, November 1st and 2nd, twenty semifinalists presented their proposals for ‘A New View-Camden’ projects to the public and the artistic core team.  For those who did not attend the presentations, we will be slowly revealing who these artists are and their proposals over the next few weeks.  

This week we will be introducing Kathy Bruce, Tom Marchetty,  Aurora Robson, and SLO Architecture; Amanda Schacter and Alexander Levi. 

Kathy Bruce  “Earth Maidens”

 

Artist’s rendering of Camden Earth Maidens at 5th and Erie St in North Camden.

 

Kathy Bruce concentrates mainly in outdoor sculptures which are site-specific. She uses a variety of natural materials and often uses those materials found on the sites of her installations. She explores the topics of archetypal and mythological forms often when it comes to her art. Bruce has been featured in many art publications (including Sculpture Magazine) and is additionally seasoned lecturer and professor.

 

 

Tom Marchetty “Pod Park”

Artist Tom Marchetty grew up in Camden, NJ where his father had a welding shop near Site #6.
 

Tom Marchetty has worked with metalworking all his life in his family’s machine shop and studied the skill at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Over the years, his shop began collecting the machinery of American factories that were forced to close due to increasing outsourced labor. In 2013 he opened The Factory Workers which would act as a versatile, community makerspace that houses reclaimed factory equipment and creates unique tables.  Tom Marchetty has worked with multiple companies and philanthropies to create public, community centered art in the Greater Philadelphia area. 

 

 

Aurora Robson “For Now”

Rendering of Artist’s vision for Cooper’s Poynt Waterfront Park, Site #3.

 

Aurora Robson has worked with multi-media to create artwork that captures transformation, evolution, and dreams.  Her work ranges from paintings, junk mail collages, reliefs, sculptures, to large scale public installations. She has had her work featured in multiple, prominent periodicals and has received internationally recognized grants.  Aurora Robson has also recently founded Project Vortex, a collective of international artists who have promised to work exclusively with plastic debris in order to promote environmentally conscious art. 

 

SLO Architecture; Amanda Schacter and Alexander Levi “Camden Turntable”

 

SLO Architeture co founded by Amanda Schachter and Alexander Levi. Schachter received her B.A. from Columbia College in New York and M.Arch from Princeton University.  Levi recieved a B.A. Wesleyan University and a M.Arch from Yale University.  SLO has won a number of awards in the past decade for their work and their goal is to use architecture as a means to bring about social activism in local communities.