Contemporary American painter Will Cotton will be at UCF on February 26 to give a lecture and a Q&A session. Cotton is known for his photo-realist depictions of landscapes as sugary confections, as seen in Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream album packaging and California Gurls music video. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Orlando Museum of Art, among others. Cotton is celebrated in pop culture for his work as the artistic director for Katy Perry’s 2010 California Gurls music video, as well as being the visual artist for the Teenage Dream album packaging.
Cotton’s lecture is part of Atlantic Center for the Art’s “Master Artist Community Outreach” as part of his residency at ACA. ACA provides a three-week residency program that brings together three “Master Artists” from different disciplines like visual arts, architecture, music, literature and theater. The Master Artists then select eight “Associate Artists” to participate in the three-week program, and Cotton chose UCF MFA students Annette Tojar and Gabe Cortese. The two Emerging Media, Studio Art and the Computer track candidates will work alongside Cotton from February 16 to March 8.
Through UCF’s partnership with ACA, students and faculty can apply to be an Associate Artist and benefit from a fee waiver. Faculty encourage students to apply when a particularly appropriate or meaningful Master Artist is in residency in tandem with their desired areas of study. As UCF has been an ACA partner for over 20 years, past faculty recipients include Mark Price, Carla Poindexter, and Laine Wyatt.
“Residencies are cornerstone experiences for developing and practicing artists,” says Jason Burrell, graduate coordinator for the Studio Art and the Computer program. “The intensity of their brevity, the compelling contact with internationally-renowned artists and networking with fellow artists in residency cohorts is transformative, professionalizing and elevates the level of individual performance in the arts.”
Cotton is familiar with the UCF area – he was previously an artist in residence at UCF’s Flying Horse Editions, where he created a limited edition set of prints and served as guest lecturer.
Will Cotton Master Artist Community Outreach
February 26, 2020 at 11:15am
UCF Student Union, Cape Florida Ballroom 316AB
This event is free and open to the public but due to limited capacity, please RSVP.
Will Cotton’s Community Outreach is made possible by Atlantic Center for the Arts Master Artists In-Residency Program.