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Department to host semester-long artists-in-residence

The Art Department has received a $90,000 grant from the Windgate Foundation to establish the “Windgate Resident Artist Program” in the Wood/Furniture Area.

The program will bring six artists to campus, for semester-long residencies over the next three years, beginning with Katie Hudnall in fall 2009.

As the only permanent faculty member in the wood area, Professor Tom Loeser wanted to significantly enhance the curriculum by exposing students to a wider variety of art-making approaches. The department has a pressing need for an additional role model and mentor in the wood-shop, he said.

Undergraduate and graduate students who participated in informal "exit interviews" all mention visiting artists, especially long-term residencies, as one of the most influential and positive parts of the program, Loeser said.

Windgate Residents will not have formal teaching responsibilities, but will instead be expected to work on a project with a public presence.  The ideal resident will be a mentor and role model for undergraduate and graduate students and will also reach a broader public beyond the Wood/Furniture area, the department and the University.

"We are looking for residents that can 'flavor' a semester and add diversity to the student experience," Loeser said.

The residencies will include demonstrations, student critiques and public lectures.

"I am really excited to be a part of this residency," Hudnall said.

Hudnall is still planning her residency but knows she wants to create new pieces that will exploit her "obsession with symbiotic relationships," she said. "I don't build furniture in the traditional bent."

Her work plays with the connections between parts of an object - parts that require each other to function.

To learn more about Hudnall and her work, please visit www.katiehudnall.com. For information about Hudnall's public lecture, please click here.

Please check out the UW Wood/Furniture website for updated information about the residency program once it begins in the fall 2009 semester.