Firehouse Center Artist-in-Residence
About the program
The FCVA Artist-in-Residence program was created in 2004 to invigorate the
dialogue between artists and the viewing public in downtown Burlington.
After four successful residencies, we temporarily closed the fourth floor
due to necessary renovations. However, in spring of 2007, we re-launched
the residency program. Artists are invited to submit a proposal for the
available residency periods, which range from one to three months in duration.
During this time, artists can use the beautiful fourth floor studio at the
Firehouse as well as Burlington City Arts' clay, photography, and printmaking
studios. The resident works with Burlington City Arts staff to offer a workshop,
lecture, or special project that engages the public in his/her creative
process. The ideal applicant should be a local artist with a history of
formally or conceptually rigorous work, excellent communication skills and
enthusiasm for interacting with the public.
Current FCVA Resident
Adam DeVarney
Burlington City Arts is pleased to announce its newest Artist-in-Residence, Adam DeVarney, who will be in residence on the fourth floor
of the Firehouse Center for the Visual Arts on Church Street in Burlington from now until
April 18, 2010. DeVarney, who received his Bachelors of Fine Art from the Pratt Institute of
Brooklyn, creates graphic and illustrative works through the use of painting, drawing, and
collage, often pulling from an eclectic and assorted subject matter with a contemporary
urban aesthetic. DeVarney describes his work as being in “a world of [its] own… a place
where there are no rules and an abundance of freedom in its most absolute form.”
OPEN STUDIO DATES
DeVarney welcomes visitors to the fourth floor of the Firehouse Center for the Visual Arts on Church Street on Saturdays from 12-5pm, with the exception of Saturday, March 6. Additionally, he will also welcome visitors during the gallery exhibition openings on February 19 and April 9.
The studio is open to the public on selected Saturdays 12-5pm and during First Friday Art Walk.
Previous FCVA Residents
Tara Jensen
During the Firehouse residency, Jensen will create an installation comprised
of hand-made dolls and inflatable creatures contextualized in a landscape
of painting and light. Using craft methodology and the everyday object in
a field that is typically dominated by video, sound and metals, the installation
of intimate, humble objects is an answer to the question: How does the feminine
take up space? Jensen envisions a colorful and organic landscape in which
there are various dolls of different scale. Small and alone, groups clustered
together in mountains and stalactites, and others inflated up to twenty
feet tall, the doll becomes the ultimate vehicle to discuss femininity and
power.
Joseph Campanella Cleary
During Cleary's residency, he will be creating the genome for a geometrically
integrated five piece modern mandolin family, from cello to piccolo range,
based on his “Due” model mandolin and inspired by the drawings
and patterns left by Antonio Stradivari in Cremona, Italy. The objective
of this project is design: using traditional graphic media in large format
drawings and pattern making: using Vermont maple wood for forms and counter
forms, and aluminum sheet stock and heavyweight paper for patterns. Concept
drawings will also be produced which explore aesthetic possibilities on
paper before committing to them on the plan or patterns. Joseph is a graduate
of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, with a Bachelor
of Arts in Anthropology and a Minor in Music and Geology. He is the owner
of Campanella
Strings in Burlington, and was the recipient of a Creation Project grant
from the Vermont Arts Council in 2005.
David Kearns
Kearns’ goal for the residency project was to do a visual survey of
the city of Burlington. The work consists of a series of large-scale acrylic
on paper paintings and a body of sketchbook drawings documenting the source
material for the paintings, providing a thorough visual investigation of
lesser-seen details of the city. David currently teaches Advanced Drawing
at Johnson State College, VT and will be an MFA candidate at Johnson State
for May of next year. Kearns has a B.A. in Studio Art from Yale University,
and has shown his work throughout the state of Vermont, as well as in Boston,
MA and New Haven, CT.
Jennifer Koch
Vermont artist Jennifer Koch, the 2007 Barbara Smail Award recipient, was
a FCVA resident September-December 2007. The residency contributed
to her exhibition at the Firehouse Gallery, Specimen and Marriages of
Reason, December 14, 2007 to January 26, 2008. This exhibition
featured multi-media works and box constructions, successfully integrating
objects, oddities, and images in pleasing and humorous compositions and
adopting the language of display found in natural history museums.
In addition, Koch collaborated with her husband, Gregg Blasdell, to create
dynamic and graphic woodcut prints also on view. Jennifer Koch is
a custom picture framer by trade and operates Frames for You and Mona
Lisa Too in Burlington, VT.
Lucinda Mason
Lucinda Mason, a Johnson, VT-native, received a Bachelor of Arts from Bennington
College, VT and a Masters of Fine Arts from Concordia University, Montreal.
She worked in our fourth floor studio during January with support from the
Vermont Arts Council to create new works for the exhibition "Big Beautiful
Paintings" at the Firehouse Gallery February 2–March 3, 2007. In her
large-scale oil paintings, Mason explores the micro and macro elements of
the world.
Oxygen, 2006, 4'x4', oil paint on canvas
Catherine Hall
Catherine Hall, our 2005 Barbara Smail Award Recipient, was in residence
November–December, 2006. She created work for her solo exhibition
in the Firehouse Gallery, including a series of encaustic panels inspired
by Pompeii frescoes and sculptural pieces for her installation based on
the Temple of Hera at Samos. Hall's exhibition, "Pasts and Presences," ran
December 31, 2006–January 27, 2007.
Untitled, 2006, monotype using flattened packaging
Clark Russell
Clark Russell, a Burlington artist, in residence April – June, 2005,
applied oil-based paints in a variety of experimental fashions to metal
panels, glass, wood, old topological maps, and other assorted paper. From
some of these foundational paintings, the artist pulled monoprints, thereby
add layering and texture to the original surface. The experimental abstract
paintings and prints created during the residency compliment his more well-known,
rigid metal wall sculptures.
Untitled, 2005, monoprint using mixed inks and metal plates
Tove Ohlander
Tove Ohlander, a glass artist from Sweden, in residence January –
March, 2005, expanded her work through the introduction of images of people,
engraved through various color surfaces in the glass before the piece is
blown. In the fourth floor studio, she sketched, engraved, and prepared
the glass parts and then blew the pieces into their final form at the Church
& Maple Glass Studio.
Out of the Blue, glass, 2004, 8.6" x 3.5" x 3.5"
Randy Gaetano
Randy Gaetano, a Burlington native, completed a large-scale, commissioned
painting during his residency, November, 2004 – January, 2005. Gaetano's
work explores the way human kind controls and reshapes nature. He was also
featured in "Trickle Down" as both artist and curator.
Joe's Garden, 2005, oil on canvas, 5' 2" x 6' 2", wenge frame by
artist
Leslie Fry
Leslie Fry, a Vermont-based sculptor, created a new series of cast paper,
relief sculptures during her residency from June – October, 2004.
This body of work served as the basis for her solo exhibition “Cast-offs:
Girls, Riddles, Fate.” Her art melds images from the natural and human
worlds, allowing reality and fantasy to coincide in singular, resonant forms.
Desire of the Rascal (detail), 2004, ink on cast paper, epoxy,
aluminum, 17" x 2"6 x 4"
