Artist Residency at Banff Centre for the Arts

Nancy Howard, Cheryl Tall, Ed Bamiling, Lexi Sigesmund,
Maria De Castro, Angel DiCosola, Ceil Sturdevant and Bev Sims

WHAT IS AN ARTIST'S RESIDENCY


People often ask me 'what is an artist's residency'?

It is a chance for busy artists to break away from their normal studio routine and hectic exhibition schedule to join other artists from around the world. The art residency host usually provides studio and living space for the artist, plus meals and work materials. Freed from the duties of cooking and cleaning, running errands and other chores, the artist can stay up all night painting or try new materials in different ways.

My latest residency was at beautiful Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada. We wrote a proposal for a group of six artists working in clay, Cheryl Tall, Ceil Sturdevant, Maria De Castro, Angela DiCosola, Nancy Howard and Lexi Sigesmund, and called it "From Ephemeral to Enduring". Our proposal got accepted, and we went to Banff in July 2011!

We arrived on Sunday evening and got settled into our lodgings. The next morning, we met with Ed Bamiling, head of ceramics, and got our clay and studio assignments. Our studio had a gorgeous view of the Canadian Rockies!

We jumped right into our projects and worked for the next 5 days, sometimes into the night, stopping only to eat or sleep. Banff has THREE different restaurants to choose from, all with delicious food.

The group adrenalin kicked in and we all inspired each other. We took turns playing music from our different ipods, and gossiped and gave each other art critiques when asked. By the end of day 5, we were basically finished with our clay work and set it out to dry over the weekend.
This gave us time to sight see and explore the town of Banff, Lake Louise and the surrounding area. So beautiful!

By Monday, we were applying slips and glazes for once-firing, and by Wednesday, things were in the kilns. And Thursday, we held a one day exhibition and reception for our work. Amazing, most of the work made it! Firing half-dry ceramics is always a gamble, because pieces can crack or blow up.

By Friday (day 12), we were packing up our work with boxes and peanuts and bubblewrap for shipment home. The next morning, we caught the 5 am shuttle to the airport for the long flight home!

Cheryl Tall
www.cheryltall.com
















Cheryl Tall