URBANA – The Urbana Free Library is looking for local artists to share their work and knowledge for the Artist-in-Residence Program. Three artists will have each have one month to share their work and guide the public through creating visual artwork, which can be anything from painting to collages to yarn work. Morning Edition host Kimberly Schofield spoke with Elaine Bearden, a programming librarian at TUFL and one of the creators of the grant backing the program, and Lauren Chambers, the library’s programming & outreach manager, about what applying artists and the community can expect.
Kimberly Schofield: Thank you both for joining me, Elaine, we’ll start with you. Where did this idea come from and how long has it been around?
Elaine Bearden: You know, the library has partnered with Urbana Arts & Culture for a number of years to present Young Artist’s Studio to the public. And I was had been thinking that it would be a pretty neat idea to have just an artist in residence who could do some of that. Then we started talking among staff members. There was someone who was wanting to start doing programming for seniors, and this past spring, the library partnered with the CU Fab Lab and others in town for a makerspace artist in residence. So this is kind of once that idea started, then it snowballed, really, because we started getting more people involved.
Lauren Chambers: When Elaine brought this idea forward, it just made so much sense because we’re hoping to get a diverse range of artists and different types, and then this will let us bring these different art forms to all ages in a way that will let the different ages really focus on their own skills and have art projects that are appropriate for their age, as opposed to trying doing something that would fit all ages. So it was just a really exciting idea.
KS: How are the artists going to be featured in the library?
EB: The idea is that during the course of the month we would connect the artist with some of the regular program that already happens at the library, so they would create a project that could be completed within an hour and would be appropriate for the age group which it was designed for.
LC: Each artist would do one workshop, one for each different age. But we’re also very interested in…we have a small exhibit space…also having the artist exhibit their own work in the library, as well, so we can also showcase some of the local talent.
KS: Is there a specific type of art form that would or would not work well for this?
EB: It’s focused on visual arts…projects that can be completed in one setting, like in an hour.
KS: For the artists who do get chosen for What’s Your Story? Are they expected to have a sort of teaching or educational role?
EB: Yes. So the idea is that the artists themselves would lead the workshops. There will be a library staff person there with the artists to help pass out materials or to help individuals figure out the project. We are asking the artists to share their passion and also their skills and encouraging people who maybe haven’t had the chance to do that before.
LC: We found that it makes a program and a project more powerful if we’re able to connect people directly with an artist who has a wealth of expertise and knowledge and can really help them bring something to life in a way that perhaps, you know, it’s not my skill set or Elaine’s. Like, don’t ask me to draw. I won’t be able to do that well. But if we can connect them with someone who does that and who is also kind of almost a professional, it makes the work even more powerful and more impactful for those community members who are coming to it as well.
KS: The title of the project wants artists to explore the question, “What’s your story?” Where did the title come from and what do you hope to get from that specific question?
LC: That was all Elaine.
EB: Yeah, I think the idea was helping people connect with their own experiences and in the library, you know, using library resources and the skills and passion of an artist to help people tell their own stories. I think we’re at a time where it’s really Interesting to hear individual stories. And it’s a very grounding process as well, in a time where there’s a lot of anxiety about the future…you know, being grounded in telling your own story and learning new physical processes for creating art is a really fantastic way to do that.
Artists chosen for the residency will receive an $800 stipend and supply budget. The deadline to apply is Friday, August 15th. Email artistinresidence@urbanafree.org with questions.