March 2026 :: Open House #2 :: IN PROCESS Collective Residency :: IV_Gallery :: o p e n h o u s e

v e n u e

IV Gallery @ Cortright Electric

653 Elmira Road Ithaca, between the graveyard and grayhaven motel, rt. 13

o p e n h o u s e #2

IN PROCESS: A COLLECTIVE RESIDENCY

Jon Bailiff
Core Sample (Dan Torop & collaborators)
Blake Fall-Conroy
Laura Robert
Werner Sun
Jessica Warner
Melissa Zarem

v i s i t i n g h o u r s

March 1, 2026 2pm – 4pm

(poetry performance at 2:30pm)

l o g i s t i c s    

parking at cemetery preferred

front house by the road

enter in the back

toilet at grayhaven

respect resident privacy

this machine kills fascists

t h e r e s i d e n c y

Visual artists are often makers of objects, but sometimes these finished pieces hide the process by which they came to be.

“In Process” is a residency of artists and collectives who will transform IV Gallery @ Cortright Electric into a site of improvisation and play.

During this extended performance, individual projects and installations will mingle and overlap as they evolve. The artists will be working with a variety of materials — weavings, soil samples, paintings, prints, videos, sculpture, and electronics — and the outcome of this residency will be the curiosity and experimentation that is generated along the way.

Jon Bailiff is a visiting Artist-in-Residence at EYEVEE working in fiber, photography/video, physical presence, painting, printing, and improvisatory installation. A UW-Madison alumnus, Bailiff has designed for the Ukraine We Are Here multi-media exhibition, the late Frank Moore’s performance set design, Fish-Ins: Black Native Solidarity in the 60s, 1000 Artists@Inauguration, and the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History’s Shadow Theater. He served on the original Santa Cruz Public Arts Commission and teaches multi-media art, from weaving to robotics.

Core Sample: Last November, a group of collaborators (soil scientists, ceramicists, geochemists, machinists, engineers, and photographers) collected a deep soil core sample at The Soil Factory. This action was generated by a simple question: Does the soil have memory? After several attempts, a soft spot was found, and samples were taken down to 10 feet using an auger. Participants utilized a FWD truck, trowels and wrenches, and The Giddings Soil Sampling Coring Probe. Through photography, painting, and sculpture, artists Dan Torop and Laura Robert interpreted what was encountered, exploring their memories of a cold day in the field. This project also includes invaluable contributions from Anna Ialeggio, Johannes Lehmann, Tammo Steenhuis, Naaran Brindt, Jared May, Annette Dathe, Steve Pacenka, Bob Schindelbeck, Matthew Fenn, and Caitlyn Hatzell.

Blake Fall-Conroy is an artist and self-taught mechanical engineer. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he received his BFA in Sculpture from Cornell University and MFA in Art and Technology Studies from School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His artmaking practice is conceptually motivated, engaging with a wide range of social issues from consumerism and the American spectacle, to surveillance and the ubiquitous use of technology. Fall-Conroy’s projects often incorporate mechanical, electronic, or programmed components as well as objects or motifs found within the routine of daily life.

Laura Robert: As the 23/24 Kahn Fellow at the Ink Shop in downtown Ithaca, I explored the themes of affirmation, community and education. My practice relies heavily on repetition, both as a making form and as a tool for relationship building. Here at Cortright Electric I expanded my presentation to include written and spoken word, drawings as an expression of photographic documentation and sculptural forms to create language. Thank you for your presence.

Werner Sun is a visual artist with a background in physics, who lives and works in Ithaca, NY. He uses repetitive manual processes to slowly transform digital images into sculptural objects that evoke the gradual accumulation of knowledge in science. Commissioned for Cornell University’s Mann Library and Botanic Gardens, Sun has exhibited at the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester and Manifest Gallery. A 2019 Aon-CUE Artist Empowerment Award recipient, his work explores how scientific methods and artistic processes reveal our complex relationship to perception and understanding.

Jessica Warner creates paintings, drawings, and is working in printmaking as the Khan Family Fellow at the Ink Shop in Ithaca, NY. Her work explores how meaning evolves through the processes of making and looking. She has been a Resident at the Vermont Studio Center, and exhibited at The Kirkland Art Center and Neighbors Gallery. Her work is represented in collections at Cornell University and The Upstate Cancer Center. She studied at SUNY Purchase and has taught at the Community School of Music and Art, and Ithaca College.

Melissa Zarem is an abstract painter whose layered, experimental works explore the boundaries of perception. Her pieces, acquired by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Cornell University’s permanent collection, challenge viewers’ understanding of truth through intricate mixed-media compositions. A recipient of grants from the Constance Saltonstall Foundation and Vermont Studio Center, Zarem has exhibited nationally, including at Aqua Art Miami and the Abrons Art Center. Her black and white drawing book, Spring Loaded, showcases her distinctive artistic vision.

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