Marc Awodey (November 4, 1960 — October 13, 2012) was an
American contemporary
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, t ...
and
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...
.
Work
His poetry collections include "Telegrams from the Psych Ward" (1999), "
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
; "Head to Head" Haiku (Paperback) The Minimal Press (2001); A
Haibun
is a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, combining prose and haiku. The range of ''haibun'' is broad and frequently includes autobiography, diary, essay, prose poem, short story and travel journal.
History
The term "''haibun''" was ...
Journey" (2003). and "
Senryu and Nudes" (2008) from Kasini House Books. He also authored the collection of essays "Art and Machine: 95 theses" (2004) discussing his poetry vending machine project of the late 1990s. Awodey's paintings can be found in the
Vermont State House
The Vermont State House, located in Montpelier, is the state capitol of the U.S. state of Vermont. It is the seat of the Vermont General Assembly. The current Greek Revival structure is the third building on the same site to be used as the St ...
collection and in many private collections throughout the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. A prominent solo exhibition of his paintings was held in the lobby of the
Vermont Supreme Court
The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court.
The Cou ...
from January 13 through February 15, 2008.
Awodey studied painting under
George Earl Ortman at
Cranbrook Academy of Art
The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of Cra ...
, and received an
MFA from Cranbrook in 1984. He lived in
Burlington, Vermont and served on the faculty of
Burlington College Community College of Vermont
The Community College of Vermont (CCV) is a community college in Vermont. It is Vermont's second largest college, serving 7,000 students each semester and is part of the Vermont State Colleges System. The college has 12 locations throughout Vermo ...
, and
Johnson State College
Johnson State College was a public liberal arts college in Johnson, Vermont. Founded in 1828 by John Chesamore, in 2018 it was merged with the former Lyndon State College to create Northern Vermont University.
History and governance
Both ...
. As an art critic, Awodey wrote over 500 reviews for Vermont's alternative weekly
Seven Days. He also wrote for ''
Art New England''.
He was also one of the first Vermont Justices of the Peace to perform
civil unions
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
in 2000.
New York Times July 2, 2000 article "In Vermont, Gay Couples Head for the Almost-Altar"
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Following his untimely death, a memorial tribute featuring many prominent Vermont artists, poets, and musicians was held on November 2, 2012, in the Unitarian Universalist Church in Burlington, Vermont, where his last remains are interred.
References
External links
*Artist'
official website
Art New England
Memorial page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Awodey, Marc
20th-century American painters
American male painters
21st-century American painters
American male poets
Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni
Johnson State College faculty
1960 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American poets
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American male artists