Weir Farm National Historic Park to welcome six 'talented and diverse' artists-in-residence in 2023

RIDGEFIELD/WILTON — Six artists have been selected for the 2023 Artist-in-Residence Program at Weir Farm National Historical Park, where they will create new works of art inspired by the surrounding landscape. "We are thrilled to offer residencies to such a talented and diverse group of artists this year,” Superintendent Linda Cook said in a statement. “Their work marks the beginning of prioritizing new and thought-provoking approaches to contemporary visual art practices in keeping with Weir’s role in developing the cutting-edge work of his time.” Each artist will be in residence for a month, working out of a studio on the park's grounds in Ridgefield and Wilton. The artists, and the dates and times that they will hold a public open studio program, are: • In May: Amanda Parry Oglesbee, who paints trees and flowers that become portraits of beings compelled to grow and survive, from 10:30 a.m. to noon May 20; • In June: Diego Juarez, who writes poetry and creates abstract images as visual metaphors of his work, from 10:30 a.m. to noon June 17; • In July: Todd Bartel, who works in painting, drawing and sculpture in a collage and assemblage format to investigate the interconnected histories of collage and landscape and the roles of nature and natural resources in Western culture, from 10:30 a.m. to noon July 22; • In August: Andree Brown, a contemporary artist who produces bronze sculptures from wax, from 10:30 a.m. to noon Aug. 19; • In September: Erin Treacy, who works in a variety of medium to depict the time through layers of growth and decay in the environment, from 10:30 a.m. to noon Sept. 23; and • In October: Victoria van der Laan, a textile artists who strives for a zero-waste practice in her quilt-making, from 10:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 28. Nationwide, more than 50 National Park Service sites host artist residency programs. Weir Farm has inspired thousands of artists for more than 140 years, including over 250 artists-in-residence over the years. This program is supported by the generosity of park partners. The Weir Farm Art Alliance coordinates the artist applications, assists with the jury process, promotes artists during their residency, and manages the alumni program, and the Friends of Weir Farm will host public open studio programs and help the park to welcome each artist in 2023. The call for applications to participate in the Artist-in-Residence program in 2024 will be open from Nov. 1 to Jan. 31. This year the program received 161 applications in varied visual art mediums, of which six artists were selected by a panel of three jurors. This year's jurors were Nina Buxenbaum, a full professor at York College, CUNY, in Jamaica, N.Y., who maintains an active studio practice in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Bethel; Christopher Shore, the staff master printer at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk; and Pamela Hovland, who received an MFA from Yale University, where she is a senior critic in graphic design, and is a founding member of Class Action Collective, which uses design to effect social change. Weir Farm National Historical Park has been inspiring artists since 1882, when American Impressionist Julian Alden Weir made this his summer home. For more information on the park, visit www.nps.gov/wefa.

Recommended