Where are They Now? Perennial Residency Highlights
OSGF
The Oak Spring Garden Foundation Residency and Fellowship Program was piloted in 2018, and expanded each year until 2022, when the program reached full capacity. Now in 2023, we are delighted to continue hosting our Interdisciplinary Residencies, Fellowships, and Botanical Artists in Residence. We have also added more flexibility to the Perennial Residency, our alumni residency which allows residents to return for an average of three-weeks. This program allows us to host alumni throughout the year in an effort to intersperse their knowledge and residency expertise alongside our brand-new residents and fellows.
As we enter our 2023 sessions, and eagerly await 15+ alumni to join us, we wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the work that has been done by past residents.
Sam Sanders
Artist in Residence, Spring 2019, 6-weeks
In 2019, Sam Sanders was a member of our first official artist in residency program, following the 2018 pilot program. She has been working on many exciting new works lately, as well as preparing for a solo exhibition: Of the Earth. This exhibit was on display at the Holy Family University Art Gallery in Philadelphia, PA through February 15th, 2023. “The plight of the monarch butterfly and the advocacy for other species of plants and animals was the main concept for the exhibition,” Sam wrote on her studio blog. The pieces in the exhibit were created over the past two years, all of which showcase the use of natural inks made from black walnuts, hickory nuts, goldenrod flowers and food waste
Don't Let the Milkweed Die, 2022, black walnut ink, goldenrod flower ink, all-natural gouache and collage on paper, 18 1/2” x 17 1/2”
Sam will return to OSGF in July of 2023 as part of our Perennial Residency program for alumni residents and fellows. We eagerly await her return to Oak Spring!
Hillary Waters Fayle
Hillary working on the Portrait of Place for Grace Farms in her studio, 2022.
2022 Interdisciplinary Resident, 5-weeks
Another alumni resident who made their way back to us in 2023 is Hillary Waters Fayle. Hillary, along with 6 other alumni, joined us for the January session of the Perennial Residency. 2022 brought Hillary some exquisite new geographies for her ongoing series – Portrait of Place. In describing this series, she explains, “these pieces are a tribute to the land, and to our relationship with it- they are a visualization of not only our interactions, but also an echo of all that came before, every hand that tilled the ground, planted or chopped a tree, every mouth that grazed a plant, every bird that dropped a seed. The story of the land is in the plants that grow there, and these pieces tell that story”.
Her most recent Portrait of Place was commissioned by Grace Farms, a humanitarian and cultural center located in New Canaan, CT. Hillary visited the site to collect a vast array of botanical material which she preserved and dried so that each leaf, petal, bud, and stem could safely await arrangement.
After countless hours spent meticulously assembling most of the piece at her studio, she returned to New Canaan to make the finishing touches of the portrait for a lucky live audience.
Remnants and Echos, Hillary’s latest solo exhibition, will be held between February 3rd - June 18th at the Tephra ICA Signature Gallery in Reston, VA. This exhibit will feature a variety of Hillary’s work which includes: collages, quilting motifs, cut leaves, cyanotypes, and composition studies. Be sure to stop by if you find yourself in the Reston area!
Dinora Justice
Artist in Residence, Fall 2019, 6-weeks
Dinora Justice is another one of our esteemed alums who has been hard at work. Her work was included at the 2022 Art Miami, which happened at the end of November. Dinora also received an artist fellowship from the Mass Cultural Council, which recognizes exceptional work by Massachusetts artists. We are beyond proud of her for being awarded such an amazing grant!
Portrait 36 Olympia Orchids, oil on canvas, 58 x 62
2023 will bring two solo exhibitions in Boston, MA for Dinora. The first will open in May at Gallery NAGA, and come November, you will be able to see her work at the MFA Boston. At these exhibits, Dinora is, “…looking forward to showing the result of my research trip to France and Italy. There will be large-scale paintings and clay sculptures”.
Regan Rosburg
Artist in Residence Fall 2019, 6-weeks
2022 was a busy year for Denver based artist Regan Rosburg. When not teaching Painting and Drawing to young artists at the Rocky Mountain School of Art & Design, she was part of a group show: Human/Nature, currently on view at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. This show considers the various man-made ecological challenges of the 21st century. UChicago's writeup about this show explains how Regan’s piece, monument (pictured below), speaks to “our life-giving planet of abundance, the work of millions of years of astonishing evolutionary beauty and variety—with a balance both fragile and resilient—that has been infiltrated and altered by human-made substances and manipulated by systems of structural and conceptual engineering”.
monument by Regan Rosburg 2021. Materials include HDPE plastic ribbons and wings, virgin plastic, paint, antlers, moss, horse and deer skull, live orchids, rain smell (petrichor), and vaporizer, 48 x 48 x 96 inches. Photography by Evan Jenkins.
What has Regan been up to in 2023? On January 13th a group show that she is a part of opened at the Center for Visual Art (Denver) which opens on January 13th, and she gave an artist talk there on February 9th, and you can check out the recording https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_qlk3Nkyb3ghere. In February she also developed a fresh batch of rain scented perfumes. The smell of petrichor is a thoughtful reminder of our biological sensitivity to decay and the power of smells to invoke memory. Looking ahead to April, Regan will be working with the Human Rights Watch and Weinberg Newton Gallery at Expo Chicago. She will be featured along with Ed Burtynsky in a booth focused on plastic pollution as a human rights issue.
Rosa Chang
2022 Interdisciplinary Resident, 5-weeks
Baltimore based multi-disciplinary artist, Rosa Chang, taught a course this past fall semester in the Fiber department at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Titled: Natural Dyes from Korea and Beyond, this class focused on various dye techniques from different Asian cultures. The students collectively cared for a naturally fermented indigo vat while they practiced traditional processes of color development, and observed the beauty of microorganisms hard at work. We are so proud of Rosa for Designing and instructing this course!
In addition to teaching a full set of courses last semester, she spent many hours completing her first book. Rosa’s debut children’s picture book "My Indigo World: A True Story of the Color Blue”, will be published in May of this year to coincide with Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Both a tribute to indigo’s many shades of blue and a practical guide to growing and harvesting your own indigo, readers of all ages are sure to delight in this book. Featuring original watercolor paintings and hand-dyed textiles, “My Indigo World” is a beautiful encapsulation of Rosa’s love of the history and practice of indigo. The book preserves memories, and honors Rosa’s friends, and community who grow indigo together in the City of Baltimore. Oak Spring is looking forward to having Rosa come back to facilitate an indigo workshop for local schoolchildren with our Education and Outreach Specialist, Ginger Anderson.
Henry Obeng
2022 Interdisciplinary Resident, 5-weeks
Henry Obeng was part of a cohort that was very interested in the abundant thistles growing at Oak Spring. A photographer and papermaker currently living in Madison, WI, Henry’s main goal for the residency was to explore the environment, landscapes, and architectural structures. Recalling his time at OSGF, Henry reflects, “during my residency, I walked on the property to see plants and take photographs, mainly encountering thistle bull fluffy plants in bloom. My curiosity as a papermaker was piqued by how well this fiber would make papers. Beautiful, soft and very fragile paper was produced as a result of the experiment.” During the residency, he organized a workshop with his fellow residents, and since then, has been leading mini workshops in Madison for 8th graders and high schoolers. Henry is a knowledgeable, talented, and a patient teacher; any student will be fortunate to learn from him.
This blogpost was written by Residency and Fellowship Associate, Giulia Hines. Applications for our Fellowships and Residency Programs close May 31st, 2023.
Banner image courtesy of Darya Warner, 2022 Interdisciplinary Resident featuring their exhibition, Dendroclimatology Project.