TREES, a group exhibition at Richard Levy Gallery

Trees
July 31– September 14
Friday September 6: Panel Discussion 5:30–6:45 pm,  Artist Reception 7:00–9:00 pm

Richard Levy Gallery is pleased to present Trees an exhibition of artworks by 14 artists exploring the concept of trees.  Artists Daniel Ballesteros, Susanna Carlisle + Bruce Hamilton, Johnny DeFeo, Mary Farmilant, Lawrence Fodor,  Welly Fletcher, Munson Hunt,  Alex Katz, Antti Laitinen, Gregory Lomayesva, Wes Mills, Oliver Polzin, and J P 제피 use a diverse range of mediums including painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, video and installation.

Honey Mahogany, 2021 mahogany, felt, flocking, brass, 21.5" X 12.25" X 4"

This sculpture is a tribute, mini-monument, portrait made in honor of the activist, San Francisco politician, and queer icon Honey Mahogany," the first transgender person to serve as Chair of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, and in 2024 was appointed director of the San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives. This sculpture is part of my Many-liths series exploring the diagonal as a manifestation of queer politics. There is no such thing as a monolith.

Albuquerque Journal article We're not on our own: Welly Fletcher explores interspecies relationships, animal intelligence and queer theory through sculpture

Big thanks to Kathaleen Roberts and Chancey Bush from the Albuquerque Journal for the words and images of me and Lenny in the studio:

https://www.abqjournal.com/lifestyle/were-not-on-our-own-artist-welly-fletcher-explores-interspecies-relationships-animal-intelligence-and-queer/article_77cbf2ea-9478-11ee-ab14-bb6d483df5d4.html

Image Credit: Chancey Bush, Photojournalist Albuquerque Journal

SLANT Critics' Picks in ArtForum by Nancy Zastudil

So honored to have my show written about by the fabulous Nancy Zastudil for ArtForum’s Critics Picks.

/// SLANT ///

I am pumped to be showing eight new sculptures with Richard Levy Gallery in SLANT, opening September 30th!

Richard Levy Gallery is pleased to present SLANT, an exhibition of sculptures by Welly Fletcher. SLANT comprises artworks inspired by interspecies relationships, animal intelligence, and queer theory.  The exhibition includes drawings and models that tell the story of the artist’s process.

Welly Fletcher investigates human exceptionalism and heteronormative perspectives in aesthetics. Diagonal rectangular columns made primarily of wood disrupt the right angles found in traditional minimalist sculpture. Interested in animal technologies and hierarchies of knowledge, they use patterns found in scales and feathers throughout their work. Other works mimic prehistoric sculptures of animals as a nod to human’s continuous kinship with them. Fletcher employs digital technologies such as CNC routers, 3D printers, and plasma cutters along with traditional handmade techniques.

Welly Fletcher is one of Southwest Contemporary’s 2022 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now. They have exhibited widely and has been awarded artist residencies at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, CA, Stello in Portland, OR, and Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, CO. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including the Sinister Wisdom and Portland Tribune. Fletcher is currently an Assistant Professor of Sculpture in the Department of Art at the University of New Mexico.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook: @levygallery @wellyfletcher #SLANT #wellyfletcher #richardlevygallery

Dates: September 30–November 11, 2023
Reception: September 30, 6–8 pm
Hours: Thursday–Saturday11 am–4 pm or by appointment
Location: 514 Central Avenue SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
Contact: 505.766.9888, info@levygallery.com, www.levygallery.com @levygallery

On Transfer Launch event

I'm psyched to have an interview with Susannah Magers included in the current issue ON TRANSFER of the fabulous lesbian art journal, Sinister Wisdom. Susannah put together an amazing line-up, and we'll be celebrating the launch of the issue this Tuesday Jan 17th at 7pm EST on zoom with some of the contributors presenting and in conversation. Register here if you want to join the celebration.

[Radical cover art by Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo]

Artists as Knowledge Carriers @ 516 Arts, ABQ

Super honored to have four artworks included in the next 516 Arts exhibition, Artists as Knowledge Carriers - Feb 4 - May 6, 2023. Two of the included works are collaborative Shield for Queer Kin artworks with artists Amanda Curreri and Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo.

Curator Rachelle Pablo says “In the rapidly shifting era of the pandemic and social justice reckoning, art professors’ commitment to their students remains strong. Their teaching spans artistic methodologies, cultural discernment, and a variety of skills to navigate the art world and creative economy.” Artists as Knowledge Carriers is curated by 516 ARTS Curator Rachelle B. Pablo (Diné) with input from curatorial consultant Leslie Moody Castro.

Artists include: Jamison Chas Banks (Seneca-Cayuga/Cherokee/Ioway), Stefan Jennings Batista, Craig Cully, Marcella Ernest (Ojibwe), Welly Fletcher, Motoko Furuhashi, Mayumi Nishida, Jazmin Novak (Diné), Daisy Quezada Ureña, James Rivera (Yaqui), Carissa Samaniego, Will Wilson (Diné), and Stephanie J. Woods.

Shield for Queer Kin: Protection, 2018/2023
collaboration by Amanda Curreri and Welly Fletcher
sashiko embroidery, soot-dyed cotton and digital print on cotton over patinated steel, cedar

12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now 2022

⚡ Pumped to be on this year’s list of 12 New Mexico Artists to Know Now 2022! ⚡⁠
⁠
➕ Adrian Aguirre (Las Cruces, NM) @adrian.aguirre.art⁠
➕ Morgan Barnard (Santa Fe, NM) @morganix⁠
➕ Amelia Bauer (Santa Fe, NM) @ameliabauer⁠
➕ Nina Elder (Datil, NM) @ninaelder_artist⁠
➕ Welly Fletcher (Albuquerque, NM) @wellyfletcher⁠
➕ Eric J. Garcia (Roswell, NM) @elmacheteillustrated⁠
➕ Terran Last Gun (Piikani) (Santa Fe, NM) @terranlastgun⁠
➕ Caroline Liu (Albuquerque, NM) @catsandart⁠
➕ Lucy Maki (Albuquerque, NM) @lucy_maki_⁠
➕ Tigre Mashaal-Lively (Santa Fe, NM) @tigrebailando⁠
➕ Jen Pack (Albuquerque, NM) @jen.pack.art⁠
➕ Mikayla Patton (Oglala Lakota) (Roswell, NM) @mikaylapatton.art⁠
⁠
⚡ Join us at the exhibition:⁠
Opening party: May 27, 5-8 pm⁠
May 27–June 25, 2022⁠
Pie Projects, 924 Shoofly St, Santa Fe⁠

This year’s call was juried by Louis Grachos, executive director of SITE Santa Fe, and Marisa Sage, director and head curator of the New Mexico State University Art Museum in Las Cruces.⁠

Elephant-Shoe opens August 14th at Rainbow Gallery

Elephant-Shoe
New sculptures by Welly Fletcher

Aug 14 - Sept 25, 2021; Opening Sat Aug 14th, 6-8pm
Rainbow Gallery (thundersky’s previous home!) 4573 Hamilton Ave Cincinnati, OH 45223

Elephant-Shoe, 2021 clay, cottonwood, felt, CNC carved aluminum

“Elephant-Shoe” mockup in the studio

Art in Practice: Celebrating 20+ years of artist retreats at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center

Celebrating the launch of this virtual exhibition of artworks created or inspired by 20 years of art practice retreats at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center which I have shared with this dynamic group of artists.

Click below to sign in and enjoy the harvest of beautiful works, fruits of our practice!

http://artinpracticeexhibition.org/

This site will be available for a year at which time we may be lucky enough to actualize the  original invitation to exhibit our work at the San Francisco City Center on Page Street.

HEADLANDS 2020 BENEFIT AUCTION & FUNDRAISER

I’m thrilled to lend my support to @HeadlandsArts during their upcoming Artists Are Essential Benefit Auction and Fundraiser. Artists *are* essential, and the work and artists championed by @HeadlandsArts are vital to today’s world. Visit Headlands.org/Fundraiser to donate, participate in upcoming events, and bid on artwork and experiences in the Benefit Art Auction, July 9 - 21.

In recognition of the interconnectedness of art and activism, Headlands will be donating 10% of proceeds raised to Bay Area organizations @tgijp — a group of transgender, gender variant, and intersex people, inside and outside of prisons, jails and detention centers, creating a united family in the struggle for survival and freedom — and @antipoliceterrorproject — a Black-led, multi-racial, intergenerational coalition building a replicable and sustainable model to eradicate police terror in communities of color and supporting families surviving police terror in their fight for justice.

I have donated Shield for Queer Kin (1/4 scale model) - get it for your collection and give to a great cause!

Headlands Center for the Arts: @HeadlandsArts

TGI Justice Project: @tgijp

Anti Police-Terror Project: @antipoliceterrorproject

Design by Noopur Agarwal

Shield for Queer Kin (1/4 scale model)

Shield for Queer Kin, 2018

ADVICE FOR FUTURE HOMECOMERS

Advice For Future Homecomers

September 13 - November 10
Exhibition and program series at People’s Liberty
1805 Elm St. | 10am-4pm Thursday-Saturday

Wave Pool is thrilled to organize the final exhibit in the People’s Liberty storefront, aimed at inviting reflection and exchange around homecoming and what it looks like to engage in our changing communities with thoughtfulness and care.

Artists include The Archive of Creative Culture, Elese Daniel, Lizzy Duquette, Llewelynn Fletcher, Christian Schmit, and Catherine Whithead. The exhibition and programs are curated by Calcagno Cullen of Wave Pool.

9/13, 6-9pm: Opening Reception and Pretzel Tasting
Every Friday and Saturday, 9-11am: Pretzel Baking Workshops with Christian Schmit
Every Friday and Saturday, 12pm until no more pretzels: Pretzel Cart Activation
10/18, 10/25, 11/1, 11/8, all at 8pm: Puppet Shows with Lizzy DuQuette
10/19, 2-4pm: Panel Discussion with Asa Featherstone, James Luckett, Christian Schmit, and Kate Zaiden
10/24, 6-9pm: Poetry and Pretzel Knot Class with Elese Daniel and Christian Schmit
11/15, location and time TBD: Discussion with Amy Franceschini and Lode Vranken from Future Farmers

Totem for Diagonal Resistance: Animal Intelligence

ANYTIME DEPT: AD 2019 Cincinnati Edition

June 22 - July 28, 2019

Psyched to be invited to be in this lineup as the fabulous Anytime Dept holds their last exhbiition in their current incarnation:

M’Shinda Abdullah-Broadus, Keith Benjamin, Britni Bicknaver, Amanda Curreri, Mark Dejong, Welly Fletcher, Kelly Kroener, Jesse Ly, Jordan Tate

Totem for Diagonal Resistance: Cincinnati 3-way, 2019

waterjet, patinated steel on clay slab 4" X 2.75" X .75"

OPEN SOURCE 1.4 at the Carnegie

THANK YOU to fabulous curator (and friend) Sso-Rha Kang for including me in the final iteration of Open Source at the Carnegie Galleries.

Open Source 1.4 will feature more than 120 works from 52 artists selected by 11 curators. The Carnegie’s season invited guest curators to engage with artists from around the region to present objects and installations in a continuously evolving gallery environment. As new artists and curators were introduced into the process, new contexts and groupings emerged from the pairing of objects that remain from previous Open Source installments.

guest curators: Jessica Caponigro, Matt Coors, Annie Dell’Aria, Matt Distel, Sso-Rha Kang, Sarabel Santos Negron, Linda Schwartz, Maria Seda-Reeder, Sarah Rose Sharp, C.M. Turner, and Cori Wolff

Headlands Center for the Arts Artist in Residence

Headlands Center for the Arts- Artist in Residence, Spring 2018
Sausalito, CA
Feb 26th – May 2nd, 2018

*Praise-be kitty-grrl*, I am an Artist in Residence at Headlands Center for the Arts this spring.  Please visit me during the Spring Open House on March 25, 2018, from 12-5!

ALTERED VIEWS: Experiencing the Contemporary Landscape

May 25th – July 29th, 2018
Lexington Art League, Lexington OH

Opening May 25th 6-9pm @ The Loudoun House; FREE to LAL members/students with valid I.D;  $5 general public; Food and drinks by Sweet LiLu’s with music by Volare String Quartet.

Come see Non-orientable Lavendar Menace, my collaborative sculpture made with Terry Berlier!

JUST PASSING THROUGH: Sculptures and Installation

Kalmanovitz Hall Rooftop Sculpture Terrace @ University of San Francisco
Feb. 23 – Dec. 11, 2015
Opening event: Thursday Feb 26th, 12-2pm
Open hours:  Weekdays 9am – 5pm
In this group show, large-scale works invite viewers to explore the ways in which we inhabit and pass through space.  I have completed a new large-scale sculpture as a part of this exhibition – Transformation Mask: Hawk is fabricated in blocks of pecky-cedar, and flocked in 350 colorful powder-coated aluminum feathers.  More info on the venue and exhibition can be found here.