Rocky Neck Art Colony Artist in Residence

Summer 2005, Program Implementation

The goals of the summer 2005 Artist in Residence program are (1) to encourage artists from outside the Rocky Neck Art Colony (RNAC) to come to Rocky Neck to interact in a collegial and mutually beneficial way with the artists and other interested residents of Rocky Neck and Cape Ann, and (2) to extend the range and reputation of the plein air, marine, and landscape traditions of the RNAC and Cape Ann through interaction with artists of other traditions and media.

A grant was procured through the efforts of the RNAC, seARTS, and Artspace from the Massachusetts Cultural Council; additional funds have been raised by the Rocky Neck Art Colony. Studio space will be provided to the artists at no cost, as well as a grant of $1000 to each artist toward living and other professional expenses.

Studio space was provided through a partnership between the RNAC and the Gloucester Marine Railways located on Rocky Neck. The Gloucester Marine Railways is the oldest continually operating institution of its kind in the United States. It repairs, services, and fuels large commercial vessels and provides space for much of Gloucester’s fishing fleet. Discussions between these partners concerning studio space for the visiting artists have expanded to other possible areas of mutual benefit including a year-round center for the RNAC.

The program was originally intended for two artists each in residence for a six-week term, roughly June 15 through July 31 and August 1 through September 15. At the end of his or her term, each artist will give a presentation concerning his or her work to the RNAC and others. The artists’ studios will be open to the public for a certain amount of time each week and the artists will engage in the events of the RNAC as well as other events of the Cape Ann art community.

As a consequence of the excitement generated within the Rocky Neck community by the prospect of the Artist in Residence Program, the RNAC received a benefactor level donation for the specific purpose of extending the program from two to four artists. Additional studio space was arranged with the Gloucester Marine Railways.

The program’s availability was advertised through over 150 email correspondences to art associations, college and university fine art departments, galleries, and individual artists. Over 60 serious inquiries were received by the program director, artist Gordon Goetemann. A committee of four artists was approved by the RNAC and led by Gordon Goetemann to select the Resident Artists. They developed the criteria of (1) quality of artistic work, (2) potential to increase the range of traditional RNAC artistic work, (3) seriousness and specificity of purpose for the residency and (4) other potential contributions to the RNAC and to the Cape Ann art community. A numerical evaluation system was developed and employed.

The committee reviewed the \ applications and unanimously selected four of the sixteen applicants and one alternate. All four selected applicants accepted the offer of residency. The Rocky Neck Art Colony Artists in Residence for summer 2005 will be:

Term I

Marilyn Ranker is a sculptor working often in wood with pieces inspired by the natural beauty of rivers, bridges, coastlines, and the sea. Ms. Ranker has been a faculty member at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.

Cleaving, 2004. Wood, oil, jute. 17” x 6” x 8”.

Marguerite White spent most of the 1990s documenting waterfronts on the East Coast and in Europe working mainly in oil painting. Since that time she has moved into drawing installations, shadow theatres and wall murals. Ms. White is presently working with a grant from the University of Rhode Island’s Sea Grant program. She has MFA degrees in both painting and textile design.

Limbo Story, 12'x24'x36', chalk, roofing paper, 2003.

"Limbo Story " was installed at The Vault Project Room, Newton, MA. This carnivalesque comic strip is a reflection on the nature of waiting; an absurdist look at the in between spaces one inhabits after events of large impact, like dancing or death.

Term II

Elli Crocker is a professional artist and associate professor of art at Clark University in Worcester, MA. Her most recent drawings explore the human relationships to the natural world with reference to myth, folklore, religious texts and the bestiary books of fantastic creatures. She has recently returned from an intensive teaching experience in Luxembourg.

Poultice, 1997. 28” x 39”.

Ariya Martin is an artist who has drawn inspirations from Robert Rauschenberg in his efforts to “close the gap between art and life.” She has recently been working with words as images and the challenge of “writing pictures.” Her work has ranged from video, audio and words, and photography, exploring whether a life can be put into a format where it can be viewed from outside of itself.

Untitled. 10’ x 4’ detail of a 30’ wall covered with text, paint, ink, and other media. From "In Search of Delicious,” SPAS Gallery, Rochester Institute of Technology, March 7 – March 20, 2005.

The Artist in Residence Program will be evaluated using its goals as the standard through objective and quantitative outcomes.

Funding for the Rocky Neck Art Colony Residency Program is in part from the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts made possible by The Massachusetts Cultural Council John and Abigail Adams Arts Program.

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