March 20, 2019

Widening Circles: Katrina Andry

To celebrate the Joan Mitchell Foundation's 25th anniversary, we invited 25 artists to reflect on the impact of receiving support from the Foundation over the years, and to share how they activated the resources provided by the Foundation. We collected their stories, along with studio portraits of the artists by photographer Reginald Eldridge, Jr., into an exhibition and book entitled Widening Circles: Portraits from the Joan Mitchell Foundation Artist Community at 25 Years. Here is the 15th story in our series, from Katrina Andry:

In 2012–13, I was a part of the year-long pilot Artist-in-Residence program at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans. During the residency, there were several opportunities for studio visits, informal talks with writers and curators, and informal dinners to build a stronger community amongst the artists. Five years later, I’m still friends with some of the artists I met there and I’m still feeling the effects of the residency.

All and all, being a resident at the Joan Mitchell Center changed my life in that I went from being unknown outside of New Orleans, to people seeking me out because of the opportunities I’ve had to show my work in other cities. It also increased visibility of my work in New Orleans. I had gallery representation for a stint because of a friend of a gallerist who passed through my studio on an open studios night. The curators from the Hammonds House Museum came through on an open studios night and invited me to have a show in Atlanta at the museum two years later. I was curated into the Atlanta Biennial, which led to an upcoming show at the Halsey Institute in Charleston in 2019. Closer to home, I was honored to be included in the 2018 exhibition Changing Course: Reflecting on New Orleans Histories at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

I’m still struggling a bit with creative development, finding meaningful ways to support my practice, and finding ways to reach “my audience,” but showing in institutions outside of New Orleans is the biggest impact I’ve seen from the residency so far.

Katrina Andry is a New Orleans native whose printmaking work explores the negative effects of stereotypes on the lives of Black people.