New UMS Artists in “Residence” Program
UMS has something to inspire everyone, from classical music, jazz, global, and indie music, to dance and theater. From left to right, artists on our 2014-2015 season: Jazz and soul singer Gregory Porter, pianist Yuja Wang, DIY-inspired film, theater, and dance work Kiss & Cry, dance company Abraham.In.Motion, and Brazilian music legend Gilberto Gil. Photos courtesy of the artists.
UMS is pleased to announce a new artists in “residence” program. Why “residence” in quotes? Because instead of a traditional artist residence, during which artists quite literally live at the place where the artist residency is located, we’re asking area artists to take residence at our performances.
Announcing our first residents!
We are very excited to introduce our first cohort of residents! Come back next week for profiles of each of our newly-selected residents.
Carolyn Reed Barritt exhibits her work in group shows throughout the nation, including the recent Works on Paper exhibition at the Jeffery Leder Gallery in New York. She also gives private drawing lessons and is an art mentor. She lives and works in Ann Arbor.
Nicholas Gable was born and raised in Ann Arbor. In 2011, he graduated from the University of Michigan Honors Program with a degree in Ancient History. He received a full-ride scholarship to the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, from which he graduated this year after having spent a semester of his final year as an exchange student at the Université Panthéon-Assas in Paris. Aside from his interest in music and the piano, Gable has continued to pursue his interest in ancient languages, especially Greek and Latin, and he enjoys participating in amateur boxing. Gable has been studying the piano with Waleed Howrani for six years and will be playing Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto with the Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra on October 26, 2014.
Our conversation with Nicholas Gable
Leslie Rogers is an interdisciplinary artist working in sculpture, performance, and video beginning a three year appointment as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Michigan Society of Fellows. She holds an MFA in Sculpture & Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a BFA in Fine Art from the Maryland institute College of Art. Over four years in Philadelphia, she organized and curated gallery shows and touring performances as a member of Little Berlin Art Gallery and Puppet Uprising, and founded PuppeTyranny, a touring DIY theater troupe. She has exhibited at the Institute for Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, Vox Populi, Extra Extra, Bodega, International House, and Little Berlin. In New York, she has been exhibited at Monkeytown, Secret Project Robot, and St. Anne’s Warehouse as part of Great Small Works’ bi-annual Temporary Toy Theater Museum, in Baltimore at Current Gallery and the Trans Modern performance art festival, and at Black Iris in Richmond, VA.
Emilio Rodriguez is a playwright, actor, director, and teaching artist living in Detroit. His plays Awake! and Fairy Tale Family Vacation have been fully produced in Southeast Michigan and he has also had several readings of his other plays. He seeks to create roles for actors of color to showcase their underrepresented voices in a non-stereotypical manner with the goal of ultimately bridging the gap between what is defined as “Urban Theatre” and what is defined as simply “Good Theatre.”
Robert James Russell is a Pushcart Prize-nominated author and founding editor of the literary journals Midwestern Gothic and CHEAP POP. He is the author of Sea of Trees (Winter Goose Publishing, 2012). His work has appeared in a range of journals, both print and online. He currently teaches at the University of Michigan. Find him online at robertjamesrussell.com.
2014-2015 Application Information
Please note: Applications for 2014-2015 are now closed. Watch for information about the program throughout the year and in Spring 2015.
Who should apply?
We’re looking for four residents to participate in this pilot program. We welcome artists from across disciplines including visual arts, literary arts, and performing arts. Applicants should be at least 18 years of age and should be based locally to be able to attend performances.
Residents will receive:
- Complimentary UMS performance tickets to four or five UMS performances of their choosing from October 2014 through April 2015. Performances should support an artistic journey. More on that in the application guidelines section below. Some ticket restrictions may apply.
- Opportunities for special behind the scenes access to UMS and artists, provided artist availability and interest.
- Access to two gatherings with other residents throughout the course of the season to share thoughts, experiences, and process.
- $250 stipend
UMS will:
- Interview artists prior to the program’s start and at the end of the program to document residents’ journeys. Interviews and other documentation of the residency experience will appear here on our blog, umslobby.org.
- Engage residents in limited education and community engagement activities with university and community.
- Share artistic work produced as a result of the residency at our season announcement party in late April 2015. Rights to the work remain wholly with the residents, UMS simply requests permission to share work in a manner agreed-upon with the residents.
How can I apply?
Submit the following materials using the form below by Friday, September 12:
- Statement of intent. In 250 words, tell us about 4-5 UMS performances you would like to attend (from October 2014 through April 2015) and explain how experiencing these performances might support your creative work. What do you hope to produce as a result of the residency?
- CV. 1-2 page CV highlighting your artistic work.
- Portfolio. Samples of your work. If your portfolio is available online, please send a link (or links) to your portfolio. Writers should submit 5-10 pages of work. Visual artists should submit 3-4 photo representations of different works. Performing artists should submit 2-3 visual representations of different works (in the case of musicians, submit 3-4 musical selections). Interdisciplinary work welcome. If your portfolio is not accessible online, send your portfolio to us via email attachment or link to Dropbox to ums-lobby@umich.edu. Please use subject line “Community AiR Application: [Your Name].
Please note: Applications for 2014-2015 are now closed. Watch for information about the program throughout the year and in Spring 2015.
Questions? Ask them in the comments below or email ums-lobby@umich.edu. This program is new to us! We welcome your feedback.
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