This morning, it was announced that Chelsea Raflo, Jane Garver and John Paul Floyd are the recipients of the inaugural award.

From the press release:

Leap Year will provide Raflo, Garver, and Floyd with timely monetary and interpersonal support, and it will also help them understand how to move forward as creative individuals. They will be paired with two different mentors, receive free memberships to many arts related organizations in the Atlanta area, and will be able to participate in a series of workshops and discussion groups specifically tailored to their medium, background and needs. They will also receive a small stipend to be used for supplies, free studio space and opportunities for community service and public art installations. At the end of the program, these three artists will have a group exhibition to showcase their new body of work. The program will officially begin on September 1st.

MINT created Leap Year in collaboration with community arts center WonderRoot, Georgia Lawyers for the Arts, North Georgia artist residency the Hambidge Center, Bang! Arts Management and Promotion, and arts service org C4.

Info and statements from the artists after the jump.

• 'Testing' by Chelsea Raflo

Chelsea Raflo
“Through my participation in the Leap Year program, I hope to push myself further as an artist, both in terms of the quality of my work and the time spent working. I want to refine my focus and learn how to integrate my creative pursuits more seamlessly into the rigor of daily life. My overall goal is to create a momentum with
an established direction; ideally, one that will keep me in motion for the years to come.”

Statement:
I am drawn to themes related to time and its effect on our lives: development, aging, and clinging to memories. Growing up, growing old, and eventually giving up all that we have come to accept as reality they are universal but unresolved concepts, and ones that I have yet to fully comprehend. At its fundamental level, my work reflects my desire to capture the mystery and desperation of these concepts through illustrating my own internal dialogue.

I have always struggled with what I perceive as constraints in the physical world of art, specifically working with flat canvases and static compositions. I gravitate toward work that somehow breaks out of the box, encompassing movement and a multi-dimensional aspect. Video appeals to me for the absence of limits: with this medium, I can work in a virtual space with no walls or edges, planes that twist away and distort themselves, and a continuously evolving composition. The technical aspects involved in time-based media are literal manifestations of the themes that I find so compelling, such as movement, transience, and immateriality versus the confines of the physical.

In my work, I attempt to blend the honesty of drawing and written text, the vibrancy of painting, and the dynamic impact of collaged imagery and sound to create a sense of both familiarity and surrealism. I work with stop animation and digital collage techniques to integrate the physical processes of art making with film.

• 'Rattlesnake' by Jane Garver

Jane Garver
“I feel really grateful to the generous people who spent their time putting the Leap Year program together, and I look forward to art-making in this supportive environment. As an artist applying for shows and figuring Page 2 of 2 out 'what's next' is so persistent. I feel very supported knowing I will be part of this program for an entire year, and can use some time to make art I have previously pushed aside.”

Statement:
As an artist, I have become increasingly interested in how sculpture and performance have such a capacity to include an audience, change a space, or be time-based and dynamic. In effort to relate my drawings to performance and sculpture, I began to challenge myself by drawing in public spaces such as on MARTA, in museums, and in the doctorʼs office, making sure to never go anywhere without a sketchbook. I set out to define whether or not my two-dimensional work could become included in my very anti-private and antiproduct-based methods. My drawings became like little records of actual moments and interactions, which
pressed me further into the direction I was already headed in sculpture. Currently I am immersed in a social interaction project, Voice Box, that will culminate in a sound installation at Flux 2011. For this project I am building twenty luminous boxes made of steel and silk. Each box will house a recording of someone singing, with a map of Atlanta indicating where each recording took place. In this project I am continuing to try to make art in a public realm, with an interest in spontaneity and recording momentary occurrences. So far I have been amazed at the outcome of asking a random person on the street to become part of my artwork. I am interested in the art that occurs when I relinquish control over intended outcomes. I favor embracing daily events and conversations as an endless supply of source material, approaching art making as a lifestyle and a state of mind.

• 140 by John Paul Floyd

John Paul Floyd
“I feel honored to have been chosen to receive the Leap Year mentorship. This year I plan on taking full advantage of the great network of resources Atlantaʼs art scene has to offer while fully committing to my artistic ambitions. Through Leap Year, I hope to learn and develop the skills needed to thrive and grow as an
artist in this community.”

Statement:
Our lives have become flooded with photographic images. Technological advances in cameras have made image making automatic and almost second nature. Its as if the photographer is nearly removed from the process. I am interested in traveling back in time to explore photographic processes that require a total hands-on approach. I believe this will enable a more honest and tactile expression in my artwork. I am also interested in photographing places within our state that have one way or another stood still while the land around them has been developed and modernized. I hope that combining my interest in historical
photographic traditions and exploring the natural beauty of our land will bring forth a dialog of preservation.