Salina Art Center Artist in Residence Program

Salina Art Center Artist in Residence
& Smoky Hill River Festival Artist
Matthew Burke: The Massasauga Project
June/July 2008
Smoky Hill River Festival Dates: June 12-15, 2008

Lawrence artist Matthew Burke will be a featured artist at the Salina Smoky Hill River Festival June 12-15, 2008. Burke will construct large woven wood forms which when finished will represent the Massasauga snake, a species found in Salina. Sections of the snake's form will be completed on-site at the Festival, culminating Saturday evening into a 30 to 40 foot sculptural installation. The artist will use native hardwoods pre-cut into thin strips to weave the body of the snake. Festival attendees are invited to participate in weaving this installation and need no prior art experience.

Matthew Burke is Assistant Professor of Sculpture at the University of Kansas Art Department. Burke received his B.A. from Colby College in Maine and his M.F.A. in Sculpture from Queens College, C.U.N.Y. His work is found in major museums and collections, including the Museum of Modern Art Library, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and the Cleveland Institute of Art Library. Burke has been selected as the Salina Art Center's Summer 2008 Artist in Residence.

Construction on the Warehouse continues with the renovation expected to be completed by mid-June, 2008.

Now accepting applications for Spring through Fall 2010! The deadline for submissions is September 15, 2008, with notification in mid-November 2008.

Click here for an Application Form

The Salina Art Center invites you to apply for the Artist Initiative Residency Program, a new, long-term residency program in conjunction with the Art Center’s newly renovated Warehouse. The Artist Initiative aims to increase opportunities for in-depth community interaction with artists and enrich Salina’s role as a vital and viable site for the creation of substantive work by local, regional, national, and international artists. The program strives for a mix of emerging and established artists with well developed ideas, and welcomes those with the ability and interest to interact with our community as part of their residency. The residency is intended for independent artists working in painting, drawing, installation, digital imaging, community and sound art, and sculpture with limited facilities for photography, printmaking, and ceramics.

Each residency will include weekly open studio sessions, education outreach, community activities/interaction, as well as time and facilities for the artists to create personal work that meets their creative goals. Artists also have potential for exhibition opportunities at the Salina Art Center’s gallery and screenings at the Salina Art Center Cinema. During their stay in Salina, artists will reside at the Warehouse in a furnished apartment complete with a private bath, kitchenette, laundry facilities, and computer access.

During the May/June residency, artists will have an opportunity to complete a temporary public art project in June in conjunction with the Smoky Hill River Festival. The Smoky Hill River Festival, set in Salina’s Oakdale Park, is an annual Salina event reaching over 80,000 visitors. Each year the Salina Art Center, in partnership with Salina Arts and Humanities Commission, coordinates an artist-in-residence to complete a community art project, art installation, or artist workshop at the Festival. Past River Festival visiting artists have included Patrick Dougherty, Mel Watkins, and Mr. Imagination.

FOUNDED: 2007 

LOCATION
A contemporary live-work space awaits at the crossroads of Denver, Wichita, Kansas City, and Lincoln, on the edge of an Art Deco downtown. The renovated 1920s warehouse rests in the shadow of a working grain elevator, where a river converges with railroad tracks in an old warehouse district, with a health food co-op and recycling center across the street, and the Salina Art Center and Cinema a few of blocks west of the site in historic downtown Salina. Currently under renovation, the Warehouse is scheduled to open by mid-June 2008.  

ELIGIBILITY
The program strives for a mix of emerging and established artists with well developed ideas, and welcomes those with the ability and interest to interact with our community as part of the residency. The residency program is open to visual, new genre/new media and interdisciplinary artists and intended for independent artists working in one or more of the following media: painting, digital imaging, drawing, installation, community and sound art, and sculpture with limited facilities for photography, printmaking, and ceramics.  

JUROR
The program will be juried and coordinated by the Artist Initiative Residency Committee comprised of Salina community members, artists, and the Art Center executive director and curator.

SLIDES/IMAGES
Artwork will be juried by images. Applicants will submit between 10 to 15 images on a CD as jpeg files (no more than 72 dpi) or slides with their application. Slides must be labeled and all images must be accompanied by an image list with title, date, dimensions, media, and where applicable, conceptual intent. Up to 3 minutes of video is acceptable. Selected accepted works will be reproduced, so please remember: the quality of your slides is extremely important. The jurors will make their selections based upon the slides submitted. CDs and slides of accepted entries become property of the Salina Art Center. CDs and slides of entries not accepted for residencies will be returned to the artist.

STUDIOS/SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

On-site - Phase 1

Workshop/studio space (1,590 sq. ft.) a large flexible artist’s workspace for painting, sculpture, installation, video, and other media.  General-purpose woodshop. Some media (video, photography, ceramics, and printmaking) may involve final completion offsite at one of our community partners’ locations. Also includes a basic woodshop and fabrication facilities. Potential for exhibition opportunities at the Salina Art Center gallery or screenings at the Cinema.

ORGANIZATION PROVIDES
Local Residents: Housing, studio workspace, and program administration. National/International residents: travel and/or stipend – varies according to sponsorship. For 2008, the Art Center will be able to offer artists an honorarium and partial travel reimbursement. The honorarium ranges from $500 to $1,000, depending on the length of the residency.

Artists will be responsible for food, partial travel expenses, local transportation, materials, and $100 refundable deposit.

HOUSING/MEALS/OTHER FACILITIES & SERVICES
Housing: One bedroom 520 square foot apartment with private bath, kitchenette, and laundry facilities. Furnishings, linens, phone, computer, and internet access provided in apartment. This is a non-smoking facility and no pets are allowed.

Meals: Residents purchase own food and prepare own meals in a private kitchenette. A welcoming dinner for residents and a farewell dinner with staff are served. All other meals are the responsibility of residents.

Other facilities & services: Common room or meeting space for residents’ use; laundry facilities on-site.

Transportation: Residents are encouraged to bring a car, and a bicycle is available.

ACCESSIBILITY
All public areas are accessible.

RESIDENCY STATISTICS 
Resident Season: March through October 
Length of residencies:  6 – 12 weeks
Number of artists in 2008 (and total application pool):  3 residencies
Average number of artists present at one time:  1

Past and Future Residency Participants:

Application Deadline: 
September 15, 2008 (postmark) for the spring 2010 through fall 2010 residencies. Applicants will be notified in mid-November 2008.

Fee: Application Fee is $30.00. Please make checks payable to the Salina Art Center.

PROGRAMMATIC EXPECTATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES
Artists-in-residence are expected to provide one public lecture/demonstration and one workshop/class visitation for students and community members, and be available for weekly scheduled open studio hours. There are numerous ways that artists can engage with the community including public schools, colleges, and universities, business, industry, and education programs. In some cases resident artists may be offered the opportunity to teach a workshop or seminar, or participate in a program, in exchange for an additional stipend. These expectations will be negotiated as part of the acceptance process. Artists-in-residence during May/June will have the opportunity to work as the Smoky Hill River Festival Artist in residence and complete a temporary community art project, installation, or artist workshops in conjunction with the Festival. Artists are encouraged to suggest additional ways they might want to connect with the community.

Artwork: Visiting artists are asked to donate a completed work to the Salina Art Center’s annual auction, which in turn helps fund the residency program.

Open door policy: An important part of the residency program is allowing artists, patrons, students, or interested community members a time to visit the artist while they work. Utmost respect will be given to the artist and private time they need, but artists are expected to be available for a minimum of a few hours per week, scheduled TBD. These visits do not require any more than engaging visitors in informal dialog about your work or process.

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