Courtesy of Kranzberg Arts Foundation
Felia Davenport, Prince Lyons, Sarah Paulsen, Mario Farwell, Emily Elliot, and Vincent Stemmler are among the 15 artists chosen as 2021-2022 Kranzberg Resident Artists.
A new group of residents are all moved into their workspaces and starting their projects as part of the newly expanded Kranzberg Arts Residencies for Individual Artists.
Originally open only to musicians, the program expanded this year to encompass projects related to the visual arts, writing, and film, in addition to music. The 15 artists chosen as residents this month will be provided with appropriate workspaces, state-of-the-art spaces to perform and show their work, promotional support, tools and training needed for their projects, and a $1000 cash stipend.
"Over the past three years, we've been hosting a music artist in residency program, and we've always desired to make that much more far-reaching," says Chris Hansen, executive director of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation. "After two rounds, we gleaned a lot of good information, learned what we needed to focus on, and formulated what we think is a much more robust and equitable approach to doing this."
Residents submitted their work via a new universal application with a weighted rubric that allowed artists of all disciplines to submit work under one transparent process. That process has yielded an exciting and diverse array of artists, including visual artists Felia Davenport, Emily Elliot, B.J. Parker, Sarah Paulsen, and Vincent Stemmler; writers Mario Farwell, Lizzy Petersen, and Deborah Taffa; filmmakers Catherine Dudley-Rose and Prince Lyons; and musicians Jessica Adkins, James Hegarty, Jeffrey Hill, Eric Slaughter, and Jonathan Taylor.
"It's really exciting to have these artists land," says Hansen. "As of October 15th, they've taken possession of the workspaces, and some of them are already actively engaged in their project."
To prepare for the expanded scope of residents' projects, KAF created new infrastructure to support their artists, including expanded studios, a literary center, expanded scene shops, and spaces for music rehearsal and a soundstage. Over the next 16 months, the KAF residents will use those spaces to work on their proposed projects, hopefully connecting with both the community and each other along the way.
"It's awesome to have them here. It's a really dynamic group of interdisciplinary, multi-disciplinary, brilliant artists that all are just so excited to collaborate and be able to focus on their work... the inspiration of all this other creative energy around them, it really is catalyzing projects, and who knows what's to come? These 15 artists are all going to bring a new artwork or body of work to the market. And that process could have sweeping benefits for our region."
Between now and the end of the residencies, the community will have plenty of chances to engage directly with artists and view the works in progress. KAF will be documenting the artists and their projects on social media, and artist talks and mixers over the coming months will give artists and patrons the chance to meet and interact. Some of the residents also have plans to show early versions of their work in order to get community feedback.
"We're really excited to see the public come around for their final presentations," says Hansen. "Show up, buy the tickets, go to the shows, meet the artists, and just keep contributing...the more you expose yourself to art and culture, the more fruitful life gets."
