The Kentucky Foundation for Women has selected residents for the 2018 Summer Residency Program, which will take place from June 10 to June 16, 2018, with the aim of connecting artists to further social change. The program is held at Hopscotch House, KFW’s retreat center, and is open to visual, media, and performing artists.
Founded in 2006, the SRP encourages women to advance their artistic development, participate in building community within a feminist setting and deepen their understanding of art and social change. By supporting individual and collective artistic development with a focus on social impact, the SRP is an important component of the growing and inclusive feminist social change movement in Kentucky.
The Summer Residency Program (SRP) offers five participants a week-long stay to work on their art, a stipend of $1000, and time to collaborate and build community with the other artists in residence. Women who are feminist social change artists who live and work in Kentucky were invited to apply.
Participants include:
Isabelle Ballard (Bardstown): Ballard will develop self-portraits that explore what it means to identify as a Latinx in Kentucky. She looks forward to engaging with other feminist artists this summer as she creates art to inspire other girls and women who do not always feel represented in art.
Stephanie Cobb (Louisville): Cobb will cultivate herself as an artist, using traditional and non-traditional media to explore home, identity, and their relationship to nature. Using glass as a substrate for paint, Cobb creates manipulated images that represent neither male nor female. She hopes to advance her studio practice, refine her skills, and build community through art.
Grace Ann Rogers (Owingsville): Rogers will create a multimedia presentation that combines her commitment to art and social justice with learning and performing the songs of female Kentucky singers and creating dancing puppets modeled after those women. Rogers welcomes the time to work in an all-female space and hopes to give names and voices to female ballad singers and union activists from Appalachia.
Pamala Wiley (Louisville): Wiley will continue working on her e-book series to further her digital media skills as a means to create and share a new language about her experiences as a woman. She looks forward to the opportunity for collaboration and networking with other feminist artists.
Whitney Withington (Big Hill): Withington will create video slideshows that feature vintage photographs of African American women and their families in Appalachia. The slideshows will form the foundation of a future documentary that will increase the visibility of African American women and families. She looks forward to the opportunity to receive both inspiration and feedback through close interaction with other feminist artists.
“The Summer Residency offers a unique opportunity for feminist artists who need time, space, and funds to create and work on their art to advance their artistic development and participate in building community. Residents will share ideas, exchange work, and make connections that will have an impact that will be felt long after the residency is over,” said Sharon LaRue, executive director of the Kentucky Foundation for Women.
The Kentucky Foundation for Women is a private foundation formed in 1985 by Louisville writer Sallie Bingham. Its mission is to promote positive social change by supporting varied feminist expression in the arts.
KFW
