Farewell to Toccarra A. H. Thomas
Toccarra has served as the residency center’s Director since Fall of 2019, guidi...
Announcing the 2023 Joan Mitchell Center Artists-in-Residence
We are pleased to announce the 16 artists who will participate this year in the Foundation’s artist residency program at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans. As a core element of the Foundation’s work to support visual artists, the Center offers dedicated time, space, and resources to support the creative process. The 2023 Artists-in-Residence hail from across the United States and include three New Orleans-based artists.
All of the 2023 artists were awarded residencies in previous years that were later deferred or rescheduled due to COVID-19 or other scheduling conflicts. The Center reserved space for these artists in the 2023 residency year, planning a smaller cohort than in years past so that staff can also take time to assess and plan for the future evolution of the program. The artists’ residencies range in length from one to five months and will take place in either the Spring/Summer (March 13–July 28) or Fall/Winter (October 2–December 15) seasons. The Center plans to issue an open call for 2024 applications in Spring or Summer of this year.
The following artists will have on-site residencies at the Joan Mitchell Center in 2023:
Olive Ayhens, Brooklyn, NY
Andrea Carlson, Chicago, IL
Oreen Cohen, Pittsburgh, PA
Pamela Council, New York City
M. Florine Démosthène, New York, NY; Tulsa, OK; Accra, Ghana
Lucia Honey, New Orleans, LA
Soraya Jean-Louis, New Orleans, LA
Nyeema Morgan, Chicago, IL
Ebony G. Patterson, Chicago, IL; Kingston, Jamaica
Pat Phillips, Philadelphia, PA
Katy Schimert, New York, NY
Laura Spector, Houston, TX
Hui-Ying Tsai, Brooklyn, NY
Two artists will participate in a virtual residency option, provided to deferred artists to accommodate unique circumstances created by the pandemic; these artists will receive a stipend and professional development opportunities to support the creation of their work and growth in their careers. The 2023 virtual Artists-in-Residence are:
LaToya M. Hobbs, Baltimore, MD
Ariston Jacks, Baltimore, MD
Additionally, L. Kasimu Harris, a New Orleans-based artist who began a residency in 2022, will be completing his residency in 2023, following a scheduling conflict that arose during his residency.
The Foundation and the Center also wish to acknowledge Beverly Kimble Davis, a New Orleans artist who was selected for a 2022 residency but passed away last year before attending the residency.
While much has shifted in the time since the 2023 Artists-in-Residence were originally awarded residencies, one thing that has not changed is the value of these residencies for an artist’s life and work. We look forward to welcoming the artists this year, both on campus and through virtual participation, while also taking time to reflect, assess, and plan for the future evolution of the program.”
Toccarra A.H. Thomas, Director of the Foundation’s Joan Mitchell Center
About the Joan Mitchell Center Residency
The Joan Mitchell Foundation established its Joan Mitchell Center in 2015 following nearly a decade of close work with artists and arts organizations in New Orleans. The residency program at the Center was created to provide artists at pivotal moments in their careers with essential resources: space, time, financial support, and access to the types of professional development resources that are of specific value for working artists. For participating artists, the residency often serves as a critical juncture in their career trajectories and provides opportunities to engage with peers in a city rich with artistic and cultural heritage. Since its inception, the Center has hosted more than 300 artists from across the United States, including more than 100 artists local to New Orleans.
The residency program at the Joan Mitchell Center is an important part of the Foundation’s overall mission of providing opportunities to today's visual artists. Residencies at the Center operate in tandem with the Joan Mitchell Fellowship and our Creating a Living Legacy (CALL) initiative, which together provide time, space, funding, and professional resources to artists as they advance their work and careers.”
Christa Blatchford, Executive Director of the Joan Mitchell Foundation
Residencies at the Joan Mitchell Center range in length from one to five months. Artists participating in on-site residencies are provided with private studio space on the Center’s campus, support from onsite studio assistants, a $600 monthly stipend, and prepared meals. Campus lodging and financial support to transport materials and artworks are provided to those artists traveling from other parts of the country.
Professional development and cohort building are key components of the residency program. Artists-in-Residence are connected with consultants, who can advise them on everything from finances to writing a compelling artist statement, as well as with curators and other arts professionals to expand their networks. The Center regularly invites the public in for exchange with the resident artists through monthly events like Community Coffee and Evening Open Studios.
The Joan Mitchell Center residency hosts visual artists working in any media at all points in their careers. Each year, New Orleans-based artists can apply through a free open call application, and former Joan Mitchell Foundation grant recipients, who have not previously participated in the residency, are invited via email to apply. Applications from both pools are then reviewed by a group of national and New Orleans-based arts professionals who are invited by Center staff to serve as jurors. This independent panel, which changes from year to year, selects the final group of artists who have demonstrated that the residency program would support a pivotal moment in their career.
At the onset of the pandemic, I was one of the resident artists sent home with the promise that we could return when it was safer to do so. Three years have passed and I am excited to finally be returning to the Center. My project has changed, my life has changed, and I'm moving towards introspection in my work. For this residency, I plan to focus on large works that bundle intimate, nearly hidden images upon overt landscapes. I am so happy to return to New Orleans and dream of land on the other end of the Mississippi River.”
Andrea Carlson, Chicago-based artist
