OLD WORLD ART: Machetanz Arts Festival to feature Russian-born sculptor

WASILLA — Russian-born sculptor Simon Kogan says creating art has always been a part of his life.

“It’s never been a choice, I just did it always,” he said in a phone interview this week.

Classically trained in Moscow, Kogan also served as an apprentice to sculptor Isaak Brodsky (not to be confused with the painter Isaak Brodsky, who died in 1939) before immigrating to the United States in 1991. Since then, Kogan has lived and worked in Washington state, traveling the world to teach sculpting, painting, anatomy and drawing to students of all walks of life.

This summer, Kogan has agreed to be the featured artist at the Machetanz Arts Festival hosted by Mat-Su College May 31-June 5.

“One reason I responded to the call was that I had wanted to visit Alaska but I never had a (chance) yet,” he said.

Kogan is scheduled to kick off the festival with a four-day workshop from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, Monday, May 31, through Friday, June 3. He will also give a free presentation that Friday from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. and a portrait sculpture workshop on Saturday, June 4, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Though he specializes in “people and humanity,” Kogan said he doesn’t typically have a structured plan for his workshops, for a couple of reasons: time and variation in student abilities and goals.

“Everybody wants to sculpt realism, but I’m trying to make them happy with what they can do and make them believe that what they can do is acceptable,” as art, Kogan said.

At the same time, Kogan himself has had to grow to accept the “everything goes” approach to art in the U.S., as well as what can sometimes be perceived as a lack of passion.

“A major difference is that, for an American, art is something else to do. For a Russian, it is a way of life,” he told the National Sculpture Society, which ran an artist profile of Kogan in its May 2012 news bulletin. “In the U.S., when I tell people that I am an artist, the response, often delivered with a forgiving smile, is ‘Yes, but what do you do for a living?’”

Though Kogan does make his living sculpting — he was commissioned to create Washington’s World War II Memorial, dedicated in 1999, and a Holocaust Memorial for Temple Beth Shalom in Spokane, for example — as well as creating other works of art, he said his workshops are “a huge learning experience” for him, too. Especially in his younger days, when he would teach students much older than himself, Kogan found there was much knowledge to be gained from his elders and their work.

“Teaching has made me a better artist and definitely a better human being,” Kogan said. “It’s humbling.”

To sign up for either of Kogan’s workshops, visit matsu.alaska.edu/MAF. Registration for the four-day workshop is $495, $95 for the Saturday workshop, and all necessary supplies are included.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.

Machetanz Arts Festival schedule

The Machetanz Arts Festival will be held Tuesday, May 31-Sunday, June 5 at Mat-Su College. In addition to artist workshops, presentations and demonstrations, the college will host a film festival with showings from 1 p.m. to about 10 p.m. each day.

Tickets for individual workshops can be purchased at matsu.alaska.edu/MAF. Tickets for the film festival can be purchased at www.glennmassaytheater.com under the Machetanz Arts Festival tab.

Tuesday, May 31-Friday, June 3

Four-day workshop, “Sculpting the Truth” with Simon Kogan: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Friday, June 3-Sunday, June 5

• “Build, Program and Take Home Your Own 3D Printer,” three-day workshop with Bryan McKimson: June 3, 2-5 p.m., June 4, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and June 5, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Friday, June 3

• “The Zentangle Method” with Donna Jacobson, CZT: June 3, 2-5 p.m.

• Raku Firing workshop with Sandra Cook: June 3, 2-5 p.m.

• Presentation by Simon Kogan: June 3, 4:30-5:15 p.m.

• “Artistry, Photography, and the Android” with Harry Banks: June 3, 2-5 p.m.

• “Paint the Northern Lights on Silk” with Gina Murrow: June 3, 2-5 p.m.

Friday, June 3-Saturday, June 4: Two-day workshops

• “Artistic Technique, Experimentation, and Enlightenment in Encaustic Paints” with Judy Vars: June 3, 2-5 p.m., and June 4, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

• “Landscapes” with Carl Abken: June 3-4, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

• “Digital Photography Workshop: Start to Finish” with Jim Frei: June 3-4, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

• “Invitation to Drawing” with Tom Nixon: June 3-4, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

• “Intermediate Watercolor Painting” with Vladimir Zhikhartsev: June 3-4, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Saturday, June 4

• “Sculpting a Portrait: Not the Way They Look, But the Way They Are” with Simon Kogan: June 4, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

• “Mixed Media Collage” with Laurel Carnahan: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

• “Hand building: Ceramics” with Steven Godfrey: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

• Raku Firing Workshop with Sandra Cook: 9-11:45 a.m or 1:15-4 p.m.

• “Paint Silk like a Pro” with Gina Murrow: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

• “Beginning Watercolor” with Don Kolstad: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

• “Mosaic House Sign” with Karen Urroz: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

• “The Zentangle Method” with Donna Jacobson, CZT: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

• “Introduction to Aluminum Sand Casting” with Pat Garley: 9-11:45 a.m or 1:15-4 p.m.

• “Art & Science Collide” with Barb Laucius and Kathleen Nevis: 9-11:45 a.m or 1:15-4 p.m.

• “Welcome to the Wonderful World of Fused Glass” with Charlene Howe: 9-11:45 a.m or 1:15-4 p.m.

• “Printmaking: Monotype Printing with a Pin Press” with Garry Kaulitz: 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Saturday, June 4-Sunday, June 5

• Writing workshops and writers panel discussion: 9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

Sunday June 5

• “Artistry, Photography the iPhone and iPad” with Harry Banks: 9-11:45 a.m or 1:15-3:45 p.m.