January 2009
The national grant-making and artists’ advocacy organization United States Artists (USA) has announced the names of six artists who will travel to Alaska to participate in the second season of its Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program.
Launched in 2007 by USA and the Rasmuson Foundation, Alaska AIR is an unprecedented statewide residency program that gives new opportunities to artists from across the country who have received USA Fellowships for artistic excellence. Building on the success of Alaska AIR’s inaugural season, USA has partnered with six cultural institutions to host USA Fellows in dance, theater, crafts and visual arts throughout 2009.
This year’s resident artists will develop programming, workshops, and performances at The Island Institute in Sitka, The Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, The International Gallery and The Alaska Dance Theatre in Anchorage, The Native Arts Center at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and the Pratt Museum in Homer.
The first group of USA Fellows participating in the 2009 Alaska AIR program are: playwright and director Anthony Garcia (USA Rockefeller Fellow, Denver, CO), photographer Zoe Strauss (USA Gund Fellow, Philadelphia, PA), dance duo Eiko & Koma (USA Prudential Fellows, New York, NY), and textile artist Gwendolyn Magee (USA Ford Fellow, Jackson, MS).
Projects will begin in January and extend into the spring. A second group of USA Fellows will participate in Alaska AIR over the summer. Visual artist Alan Sekula (USA Broad Fellow, Los Angeles, CA) will begin his residency at the Pratt Museum in June, and a seventh residency is currently in development.
Made possible by a grant from the Anchorage-based Rasmuson Foundation -one of USA’s founding supporters - Alaska AIR provides opportunities for short- and long-term residencies at each of the host organizations.
The broad range of creative experiences available through these partnerships reflects the breadth of artistic disciplines represented by the USA Fellows program, which provides direct support for artists by annually awarding 50 unrestricted grants of US $50,000. The third annual USA Fellowships were awarded in November 2008, bringing the total monies awarded to artists nationwide to US $7.5 million.
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