2012 Artist Residency fellows announced
Artsmith is pleased to announce the selected fellows for the 2012 Artsmith Garden Party Artist Residency. With applicants from Australia, the U.K., southeast Asia, and across the United States, this was our most competitive year ever. The Peer Review Panel was impressed with the quality of applications, and selected the following fellows to spend a week-long residency in the creation of new work.
 Lana Hechtman Ayers, originally from New York, made her way to the Pacific Northwest via New Hampshire where she obtained an MFA and a Masters in Counseling. Lana’s most recent poetry collection is A New Red, which tells the story of a grown–up Red Riding Hood and her associates. |
 Visual artist Nancy Canyon holds the MFA in creative writing from PLU and a Visual Communication degree from NW College of Art. She's published in Able Muse, Water~Stone Review, Fourth Genre, Floating Bridge Review, Small Knots, Anti, and more. Her new series of paintings includes reflections from streams, lakes, and sea. |
.jpeg) Shirley Sachiko Kishiyama lives in Portland, Oregon. She is retired from medical research at Oregon Health and Science University, and now focuses on Chinese calligraphy. She is skilled in the five styles of script and is a serious student of the historical, political and spiritual context of calligraphy and painting. Like the Chinese and Japanese calligraphers, she is also a poet and hopes to combine both in addressing issues of today. |
 Lin McJunkin's interest in glass grew out of early experiments with ceramics. Many of her glass pieces begin as clay forms pressed into sand, plaster or metal molds. ln her studio north of Seattle, she utilizes the heat of kilns and torches to transform recycled glass and metal into sculptural elements for private and public commissions. Lin's work has been exhibited on both coasts, and is held in numerous private and public collections, including homes, businesses, churches and hospitals in the US, Canada, Europe, South Africa and China. |
 Katherine Ryan Roth was raised in New York and San Francisco. She studied painting at the San Francisco Art Institute and The Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, Ireland. She received her Masters in Painting at The New York Studio School for Painting, Drawing and Sculpture. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn. |
"To disconnect from my mind's chatter and have to engage with my body and the earth is essential. Ideas and thoughts float to the top of my mind in a way that other activity does not allow. I also enjoyed being engaged with other creative folks in this way." 2009 Artist Residency Fellow
Each year Artsmith grants up to five Artist Residency Fellowships for a one-week residency for artists, scholars, and writers to have focused time to create new works. Beginning in 2009 we introduced the Garden Party residency during which residents spend eight hours over the course of a week helping out in the garden. The Garden Party gives artists a hands-on connection with nature to invigorate their work.
The 2012 residency will take place March 18-25 at the Kangaroo House Bed & Breakfast on Orcas Island in Washington State's San Juan Islands. As guests of Artsmith and Kangaroo House, Fellows receive private rooms and baths, continental breakfast, and access to the inn's amenities, including wireless internet connectivity and garden hot tub. Due to health department restrictions, Fellows do not have access to the kitchen; however, a small refrigerator, microwave, electric kettle, dishes, glasses, and flatware are provided. Fellows provide their own travel, other meals, and incidentals. Significant others are welcome to accompany artists, and agree to honor the creative time and atmosphere of their partner and other artists.
To Apply
The application period for 2012 has closed. The 2013 application period will take place in fall 2012. Please check back at that time.
Applications include:
1. One-page artist statement of intent
2. Digital work samples: Visual Artists submit 3-5 digital images; Writers 3-5 pages of writing; Musicians/Composers 2-3 audio files
3. Names and contact information for three references
4. Artist name, address, phone, and email
5. Whether you will be bringing your significant other
6. Whether this is a joint application with other artists
7. Commitment that you can spend the entire week in residency
8. $25 application fee
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From Artsmith Alumni
"It offered me time to think about different ideas (pre-writing, if you will). I enjoyed doing something so physical at a time when most of my energy was focused on more intellectual tasks."
"I felt a sense of accomplishment to help (even a little) with different garden projects. Being from a big city, I don’t get a chance to work in gardens often. I loved the residency!"
"Forms in nature inspire my visual ways of thinking, and give new texture to my art. A simple root system or fern or snail become wonderfully complex when I take the time for close observation."
"It is so rare to get large blocks of time to write that it is a real treat to succumb to the obsession."
"At the end of the week both my manuscript and my body were in better shape!"
For more photos, please go to our Gallery page.
