18th Annual Critics' Residency Program: Six Plus Two
March 23 - April 17, 2004
‹ Clouds, Brandon Morse
Seldom are artists and writers provided essential guidance of how individuals and communities can transform the challenges artists face when living in regions outside major national and international contemporary art markets. Yet, during recent months, as part of the longstanding and innovative Critics’ Residency Program at Maryland Art Place, a group of writers and artists have focused on creating dynamic new works and then spreading the word about it via a published catalogue. Since September 2003, Amei Wallach, a prominent New York art critic has been working behind the scenes to mentor and further the careers of two Maryland-area writers and six area artists. Last summer, Wallach, the 18th Annual Critic in Residence at Maryland Art Place, selected writers Blake De Pastino (Takoma Park, MD) and Cathryn Keller (Washington, DC) to write critical essays on diverse new works byartists selected by Wallach from a large field of applicants. These six Maryland artists (from Baltimore: Seth Adelsberger, Laura Amussen, Anthony Cervino, Nora Sturges and Rebecca Weber; and from Takoma Park, Brandon Morse) represent the best of a strong field of applicants showing (in Wallach’s words) that our area “is fecund soil for the maturation of art and artists.”
Each year, the program culminates with an exhibition of selected artists, on view this year from March 23 to April 17. An essential element of this program is the Public Forum, which includes Critics’ Residency participants, and will take place on March 27, from 2-4pm, followed by a reception from 4-6:00pm. This event is free and encourages the public to join program participants in a discussion about issues relevant to contemporary art. In addition, the exhibition was documented by the publication of an exhibition catalogue designed to make the exhibition more accessible to local and national audiences.
