ARTSblog

I recently created a survey through Survey Monkey and sent it to my Facebook friends who are not involved in the arts and do not live in my town.  The purpose was to get a sense of how connected people who don’t work in the arts are with the arts in their communities. 

One question that I struggle with is how do artists who don’t teach but aren’t at a professional stage of their career – make it in the real world?  Residencies are a fantastic place for them to go to focus on their work but what happens when the residency is over? Read the rest of this entry »

Do community based residencies serve the academic artist?

How can community based residencies enable the critical conversations that serious artists need to challenge their work and keep them up to speed on contemporary issues in the arts? Can we provide both a forum where the serious contemporary artist can transform while making their art or their services accessible to the general public? Are these two practices worlds apart or do they coexist? Does this apply to location too? Is an artist at a disadvantage if they arent living somewhere that has direct access to a contemporary art scene; or does technology provide enough access to the information they need?

What do you think?

Last night I attended a forum that was organized by Citizen Spartanburg, a grassroots movement that aims to “inspire citizens to pick up the banner of Spartanburg’s future and march forward”.  The group believes hard-working citizens not only have the power to transform their community but are responsible for getting involved and defining what they want the community to be.  The forum was held in HUB-BUB’s gallery space.  It was a one hour meeting with 5 City Council members and the Mayor – all speaking briefly about why they ran for office and what their passions in the community are.  At the end of the meeting, the moderator asked each one to answer the question: “what do you want to see everyone here do to make Spartanburg a better place?”  The answer: “get involved, on any level.  Show up.  Treat your neighbors with respect.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Residency Green Paper states that: The first artists’ residencies were developed in the late 1800′s…(and were) not about retreat from the industry and fierceness of the city, but rather about advancing a different way of life.  Residencies have nurtured the creative development of artists like Marcel Duchamp, Alice Walker, and Leonard Bernstein… Surely no one would argue against the benefit of that time to those artists (and many more) and that their work has added tremendous value to our society as a whole.  It is a great community service that they provide.

Fast forward to 2010 when there are over 400 residencies in the US alone.  Like the towns, cities, and woods that they exist in and the people who run their programs and sit on their boards – they are all different. Many residencies do not offer retreat but instead require some type of a more public community outreach or work exchange. Looking out – community outreach can have a great impact on the locals who are involved and can also attract funding. Looking in – meaningful community service can have a tremendous impact on the direction of one’s work, on the direction one takes in their art career, and in the actions one takes in the communities that they settle in. The goal then is to make sure that community service and work requirements enhance the residency experience and that the AiRs take ownership of the good work that they do outside of their studio space. In other words – the goal is to provide experiences that are specific and meaningful to that individual.   Read the rest of this entry »

I’m crawling out from a mountain of artists-in-residence applications to post my very first Green Paper blog entry and further introduce myself and HUB-BUB.  If you’ve read my bio, you know that I’ve spent the last 3 blissful years running the AiR Program at HUB-BUB.  Blissful because each year I really get to know 4 of the most interesting and talented emerging artists/writers in the country who are in residence at HUB-BUB.  During their time here, it’s my job to accommodate their needs, get them connected in our community, learn from them, be their friend, and help them make the most of this awesome experience.  Blissful because my colleagues in the HUB-BUB office are not only the most passionate and talented people I’ve ever known, but they are good friends who are open to ideas and make working 50-60 hour work weeks fun.  Our volunteers and board members are a huge part of the happy HUB-BUB family that makes my world go round.  Blissful because Spartanburg is a town that encourages citizen involvement – it is possible to have a tremendous impact here.  And blissful because the field of artists-in-residence programs is full of good, capable, passionate people who make a difference everyday in the lives of the artists who they work with and the communities that they work in.  The residency field is fortunate to have the Alliance of Artists Communities and their dedicated staff and board who help connect us, educate us, and keep us happy.  Is what I am trying to say is – life is good. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the Green Paper discussion on Artists’ Residency Programs. We encourage you to read the full Green Paper and make general comments at this time. Be sure to keep your comments brief—Alix Refshauge, the Ambassador for this Green Paper will soon begin deeper, threaded conversations around specific paragraphs, sections or themes that appear in this Green Paper. Follow this conversation thoroughly by adding the Artists’ Residency Programs feed to your RSS reader!