Critical Mass 2015: Artist Residency Award

Open Studio at the Robert Rauschenberg Estate – Photo by Laurie Lambrecht

Each year, we are pleased to offer some very notable awards as part of our Critical Mass program. This year, awards include a Monograph Award, Solo Exhibition Award, a group exhibition curated by Alison Nordstöm, and an Artist’s Residency Award. We’re thrilled to partner with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation for a second year to offer this prestigious residency to one Critical Mass artist.

The artist selected for the Residency Award will spend four weeks at the Foundation’s estate on Captiva Island (FL). The estate was home to the renowned artist Robert Rauschenberg. Resident artists work in Rauschenberg’s former studios, convene with other resident artists, and enjoy the beautiful light and surf off the west coast of Florida. It’s an unprecedented opportunity to spend dedicated, focused time pursuing creative projects.

“We have created the Robert Rauschenberg Residency in the spirit of Black Mountain College, as a place for people working in a wide variety of media to interact and inspire each other. So far, we have brought together academics, acrobats, cartoonists, ceramicists, composers, craftspeople, dancers, installation artists, musicians, painters, papermakers, performance artists, photographers, poets, printmakers, puppeteers, sculptors and more – from nine countries.

“The site extends from the white sand Gulf of Mexico beach to the mangrove-lined bay and is an oasis of wildlife and art-making. We have a staff of six there to support the residencies, six studios to work in (not counting the writer’s shack), a magical fish house on stilts over the bay for contemplation, and a house for communal eating and hanging out.

“There are up to 10 artists at a time in residence – twenty-somethings to eighty-somethings, outsider artists to well-known – who have been chosen by a diverse group of anonymous selectors. The residency is a chance to put everything else aside and concentrate on your art for a month, surrounded by a bunch of other lively artists of all kinds who are doing the same.”

-Chris Rauschenberg

Resident Artist Catherine Chalmers – Photo by Sage Sohier

> > A reminder: Critical Mass is currently open for entries! Learn more about the 200+ jurors, the awards, and the entry details here. < <