Life and Work of Marcie Begleiter
Interview published in the Central Coast Voyager
Photo of Begleiter by Brittany App
I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Central Coast Voyager magazine. Here’s an excerpt and a link to the full interview.
Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcie Begleiter.
Hi Marcie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in NY and moved to LA to attend graduate school. Started out working in indie film as a storyboard artist and art director, at the same time attending the graduate program at Art Center College in Pasadena. Mentors in the program were a diverse group of artists from Lita Albuquerque to Mike Kelly. After getting my MFA I exhibiting photo installations at various DTLA venues while also teaching at Otis College and the American Film Institute. I was fortunate to receive early encouragement through project grants from the NEA, LACE and the Foundation for Art Resources.
I also received support in those early days from a publisher who encouraged me to write “From Word to Image”, a book focusing on visual storytelling. That project led to invitations to teach workshops at film schools in the US and Europe. My studio practice, which I’d put on hold to finish that project, stayed dormant until the pandemic. The force of that global experience combined with the quickening of climate collapse has propelled me to make work focused on wild eco-systems.
In the past 2 years residencies at the Banff Centre, PLAYA, Summer Lake and the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology have fueled my work. The experiences of engaging with those wild spaces are the foundation of my current solo show “Chimera: the Future of Nature” at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. (https://sloma.org/exhibition/marcie-begleiter/)
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My road has been circuitous. I’ve had wonderful opportunities and serious set-backs. I’m tenacious, so after licking my wounds, I get up and engage with the next thing. And as I’ve grown older, I don’t worry about the ups and downs as much.
