Penland Resident Artist Program

Deadline: November 15, 2015 (ONLINE)


Penland Resident Artist Program
Penland School of Crafts
Penland, NC
2016 to 2019 Session



Penland's resident artists are full-time artists who spend three years living and working in Penland's school community. The program is designed for artists who are at some pivotal moment in their career—the residency is an opportunity for them to test ideas and make choices that will have a lasting effect on their work and their lives. Resident artists may use the time to develop their studio practice, to work out the practicalities of making a living, to push technical and conceptual boundaries, or to explore entirely new directions in their work.

The primary expectation of resident artists is that they engage intently with their work. They are also expected to have an open door policy, welcoming students, instructors, and the public to their studios, both informally and formally through the resident open house that is part of each Penland session. They are welcome to visit workshops, attend slide lectures, and to participate in all aspects of the life of the school.

Resident artists are selected through a competitive process that draws applications from all over the country. Selection is based on the quality of the work and on clearly articulated goals. At the end of their three years, some Penland resident artists move onto other residencies or decide to pursue teaching careers, but the great majority of them set up independent studios and continue to pursue the work they started at Penland.


Qualifications
The program welcomes self-motivated, focused individuals working in traditional and nontraditional studio crafts. The primary basis for selection is the strength and quality of the applicants' work. Residents must also have a clear objective for the time of their residency and be willing to live and work as part of a close-knit community.


Costs
The current base rental rate for Penland resident artists is $175 per month for unfurnished housing and studio space. With considerable seasonal variation, utilities costs per resident for studio and housing currently average $150-$200 per month.


Selection
Candidates are recommended to the school's director by a selection committee which includes one current and one past resident and one of Penland's craftsperson board members. The committee is looking for strong work by individuals who will enhance the program, especially those who are open to new ideas and are involved in some kind of transition in their artistic career.

All media taught at Penland are considered appropriate for the resident program. With the exception of the glass studio, resident studios are not media specific. However, the particular qualities of the available studios and the balance of media represented by the artists already in the program usually limits each year's openings to a certain range of media.


Openings
We do not anticipate any openings in the Penland School Resident Artist Program in 2015. Our next selection will be for residencies that begin September 15, 2016 and end August 15, 2019. The available studios include spaces appropriate for books, clay, drawing, glass, iron, letterpress, metals, painting, paper, photography, printmaking, textiles, or wood.


Applications are due November 15, 2015.

Visit website for complete programs details including link to online application: penland.org/resident_artists


For questions related to the Resident Artist Program, contact:


Betsy DeWitt, Programs Coordinator
programscoordinator@penland.org
828-765-5753

or

Leslie Noell, Director of Programs
leslienoell@penland.org
828-765-0476


Penland School of Crafts
Post Office Box 37
Penland NC 28765-0037
828.765.2359