jessica slocum

2020 Artist award recipient

Newport, RI

artist’s bio

I am a writer, a filmmaker, a creative director, an educator, a dancer, a storyteller, a compiler of information. I currently work as a producer and creative consultant at Andes Visual, a media production company, as well as a ballet instructor at the Newport Academy of Ballet in Newport.

about the project

Jessica is creating a 20-minute documentary short on Newport’s Russell Daly—an artist and metal worker who passed away in 2019. Using footage and interviews of Russell that was filmed in 2014, the film shows Russell working in his studio, at car shows with his roadsters that he designed and fabricated, hanging site-specific sculpture, sharing colorful stories of his life, discussing his art and the journeys he had along the way. The film is a montage of art, cars, metal and laughter. Paul Geremia, a close friend of Russell and a Newport blues legend, is supplying the film score.