Neon as Soulcraft — Seattle Teaching Residency

Written By Opie Project (space)

Gas Filled Tube Suckers Studio, Tacoma, WA
April - June 2024
Teaching Residency

Teaching Artist: Dani Kaes
Student Artist: Melissa Jean Golberg

Teaching artist Dani Kaes and student artist Melissa Jean Golberg co-authored The process of building a safe space (2024), an installation that foregrounds neon learning as both an artistic and relational act. The work reflects on the histories of exclusion that have shaped neon and other heat-based craft traditions, while celebrating the role of collaborative environments in repairing those gaps. Constructed through shared experimentation and iterative making, the installation emphasizes the value of mistakes, patience, and embodied discovery.
During the residency, Kaes focused on creating a supportive learning environment where vulnerability and curiosity were prioritized over perfection. Golberg, who arrived with a strong interdisciplinary background, used the residency to expand her material vocabulary and explore how neon can carry conceptual and emotional meaning. The residency affirmed neon as a craft lineage that grows strongest through mutual support, access, and the dismantling of hierarchy.
This work was exhibited in Neon as Soulcraft at the Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco (2024).

Opie Project (space)

An arts & culture firm working with companies, institutions and philanthropists to develop artist-centric programs, collections and special events.

https://www.opieps.com
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Neon as Soulcraft — Philadelphia Teaching Residency