Monhegan Artist Residency

2-week Summer Residency for art teachers

This is a great opportunity for teachers and artists to practice your art in a beautiful location. This opportunity is saved for Maine K-12 art teachers and for Maine artists. The Maine Artist Residency was established in 1989 for artists only by a couple who imagined the opportunity for Maine artists. Six years later the arrangement turned into a non-profit called Monhegan Artists Residency Corporation (MARC) and donors came forward to help support the idea. In 2013 a second residency was established just for Maine art teachers.

March 19 Deadline for Monhegan Artist Residency

This year, MARC is offering two residencies: 

2-week summer residency from Saturday, July 2 through Friday July 16, 2021 – designated for Maine K-12 art teachers

5-week fall residency from Monday, September 6 through Monday October 11, 2021. 

Both residencies are located at Elva’s Old PO, in the center of the village overlooking the meadow. The building offers both studio and living space, along with a private deck that overlooks the meadow filled with migratory birds in the fall. There is a stipend of $150 per week to support living expenses while you are on the island.

Applications, including images of your work and a narrative, are made through the Submittable website at THIS LINK and are open through March 19. Applicants will be notified by April 19.

Artwork by Jody Dube

Last year Lewiston High School art teacher Jody Dube was selected for the residency and he said the following:

“My time on Monhegan was as much a spiritual retreat as an artist residency. It afforded me time… time away from all the cares, pressures, and distractions that tend to clutter the mind and make it difficult to gather ones thoughts properly in the cause of making art. I had a rare opportunity to step aside from time itself and experience genuine immersion into a creative mindset. I’d been moving with clear intention toward two-dimensional work since springtime and the isolation of COVID-19, preparing for the residency by establishing a drawing practice. The physical beauty of Monhegan’s rocky shores and the majesty of Cathedral Woods profoundly inspired me. The freedom of my island life allowed me to delve deeper and explore ideas more than I ever could amidst the distractions of my routines back at home. The Monhegan Artist Residency board thoughtfully addressed challenges brought on by the pandemic and I was provided with excellent accommodations and careful planning for my physical safety, for which I am deeply appreciative. I began several pieces on the island that will be completed over the next several months. The experience will remain with me for a lifetime.”

Monhegan Artist Residents’ Present

PechaKucha-Style Event

Katherine Cargile (2019 Resident) – Lewiston Middle School art teacher,The Mariner’s House, 2018, acrylic on panel, 16” x 16″

Join us for a PechaKucha-style event on Saturday, October 26, 5 p.m. at 162 Russell Avenue in Rockport (the former CMCA building). A group of Monhegan Artists’ Residents, including residents from the last two summers, will present slideshows of their work.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear directly from the artists about their time creating work on island and how the experience has informed their current studio practice. Presenting artists include: Kate Cargile (2019), Jennifer Calivas (2019), Sarah Haskell (2018), Raegan Russell (2018), Carol Sloane (2002), and Jude Valentine(2018).

Kate is a Lewiston Middle School art teacher, Raegan teaches art Berwick Academy and Jude is a teaching artist and has done a lot of work with Visual Thinking Strategies.

Watch for the Monhegan Artist Residency opportunity for next summer and consider applying.

Tickets are $5 at the door. Reception to follow. We hope to see you there!

Monhegan Artists’ and Educator Residency

Applications for Program Now Open 

Raegan Russsel View Across Manana, oil on canvas, 2018, Oil on panel, 12 x 16 inches

MONHEGAN—The Monhegan Artists’ Residency is pleased to announce its 2019 residency programs. Residencies are available to Maine-based visual artists during the weeks of May 25 to June 28, and September 4 to October 8. To accommodate the summer schedule of Maine K-12 teachers, there is also a two-week residency from June 29 to July 12 open exclusively to art teachers. Applications are now being accepted ONLINE through March 17.

Raegan Russell is the Visual Art Department Chair at the Berwick Academy in South Berwick, and was the 2018 Monhegan Art Teacher Resident. Asked about her time at the residency, she said, “My the time on Monhegan led me to address many questions in my work about painting and the role of observational painting. I came back to painting representationally, and thought about how to express not only the subject matter of the island, but also my internal landscape while painting”.

Photo by Justin Richel

She added, “the community of artists and the history of the people of Monhegan resonates with me still. After my residency I came back twice this summer to share Monhegan with my family and to just return- I missed it so much after I left! I know that I will come back to Monhegan again and again- as a painter and as a part of the community.” More or her work can be seen at https://www.raeganrussell.com/

Not just for landscape painters, the Monhegan Artists’ Residency is open to artists working in new media, photography, sculpture, drawing, painting, and multi-media.  This year’s jurors include photographer Margo Halverson, chair of the graphic design program of the Maine College of Art; the Portland painter and art instructor John Knight; and Rockland-based artist and arts administrator, Leith MacDonald of the Farnsworth’s Wyeth Study Center.

Founded in 1989, the Monhegan Artists’ Residency program is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by donors, art galleries, corporate sponsors, and foundation grants.      

New Experiences – Raegan’s Story

“Winging It” by Raegan Russell

Raegan Russell is a visual art educator at Berwick Academy who was on sabbatical last year. I hope her story inspires you (and perhaps your students) to think about challenging yourself in a new and different way. This is her story…  

This post was written by Raegan Russell for the Berwick Today Magazine, Summer 2018 issue

“View from my window this morning. I’m off to my service site and have butterflies in my stomach. In addition to teaching the young women some printmaking, I’ll be learning their crafts, taking care of babies, pigs, and frogs, gardening, repairing buildings, and whatever else they ask…”

So began the first days of my sabbatical, for which I traveled in Southeast Asia for service, exploration, and art-making. Early on, I joked to my students and colleagues that I was taking a gap year, a semester abroad, or some version of the Eat, Pray, Love journey. For two months, I lived out of a backpack, stayed in hostels or homestays, and sought out local restaurants, cheap digs, and real communities. I traveled to Thailand, where I worked with women and children in crisis outside of Chiang Mai, then on to the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and later explored the bustling cities and stunning beauty of both the landscape and the people of Vietnam. The trip was an adventure for me, and even though I consider myself a well-seasoned traveler, I knew that it would throw me out of my comfort zone and challenge me.

“Highlights from this weekend’s trek to Ba Panden village in the hills north of Chiang Mai. Eva and I hiked 9km up to the village of the Lahu people. I swam in a cool waterfall, rode a raft down river, hiked through bamboo forests and rubber trees, and was kept up all night by a pack of crowing roosters…”

Throughout my trip, I had my sketchbook by my side. I drew the ancient Bodhi trees in Chiang Mai, the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and the motorbikes of Hanoi. As I was drawing Ta Prohm, a beautiful temple nearly overtaken by lush trees and moss, a tourist questioned me about why I didn’t just take a picture of it. I answered truthfully that “this is how I notice and experience things. I will remember the heat, the smells, the beauty, and even the discomfort of sitting here on this hard rock when I look back at this drawing.” The sketchbook drawings from my trip became the springboard for the work that I have taken on since I have been home and in my studio in South Berwick. As an educator who has always balanced teaching with studio practice, this sabbatical has given me the rare gift of time to develop new work. The subject matter of my new paintings has pulled closer to home, and the vibe of the work is exploratory and a truthful expression of how I experience the world.

“Yesterday, I made my way to Wat U Mong, where I found the oldest (?) Bodhi tree in Chiang Mai. It took some getting to, but I was able to paint for several hours directly from the tree. This was an experience I will not forget.”

Nearly two days after I took off from JFK on a cold evening in January that made me rethink my choice to travel light (with only a light down jacket that could roll up into the size of a softball), I landed in Thailand. I had specifically sought out a service opportunity that focused on women’s empowerment, and found the perfect project in the northern hills near Chiang Mai.

After a three-day orientation on Thai language and culture, I began my service project at the Wildflower Home, a shelter for single women and their children directed by two intrepid and compassionate women, sisters Anurak and Siripon. My mornings were spent minding the children in the daycare and teaching the mothers printmaking and artists’ books in the afternoons. The artists’ books were a hit, as many of the mothers transformed them into baby books and journals, quickly discovering that they could sell them with the many other handcrafts and goods they make.

All of this work was accomplished without a shared language between us; I learned a little Thai and they learned a little English. We became friends and laughed together while working. They welcomed me into their lives in ways that I never expected. Dao, a mother who headed the kitchen duties, taught me how to make Khao Soi, the region’s sublime dish of coconut milk, chili, and curry noodles over the wood fire stove in the home’s kitchen. The older children knew me as the art-auntie and would join in on our printmaking projects. As I left work every day, Fa, a young mother who has a beautiful daughter SaiSai, would shout to me: “Good-bye! See you tomorrow!” as I rode from the home on the back of Dao’s motorbike to catch the bus back to Chiang Mai.

“Sketchbook Sunday: a collection of sketchbook pages from over the last few months. My sketchbook has been a place for reflection, taking time to understand the world around me, and for gathering resources for work ahead. My sketchbook has always been by my side. It’s feeling kind of precious these days.”

I am lucky to have been able to maintain an art practice beside my work as a teacher. It has taken effort on my part, but it has been made possible with Berwick’s support and professional development opportunities; 20 years of conferences, workshops, and studio sessions have not only recharged me, they have broadened my perspective and provided me with a rich community of artists and art educators as friends and supporters.

My sabbatical has given me the opportunity to push pause in an extended fashion and appreciate the things that are important. I am grateful for this gift, and the adventure is far from over. I am excited to be planning a trip to Thailand over March Break 2019, where I will take students to engage in service projects like mine in Chiang Mai.

Closer to home, I was awarded a fellowship to paint on Monhegan Island in July. I dusted off the red backpack and packed up my paints to head to another place I had never been, where I let new experiences wash over me like the waves that wash over the dark grey rocks at the water’s edge.

Watch for a future blog post describing Raegan’s fellowship opportunity on Monhegan Island. 

www.raeganrussell.com/

Monhegan Artists’ Residency

Artists selected

Congratulations to the three artists recently selected to participate in the 2018 summer residency program on Monhegan: weaver Sarah Haskell from York, printmaker Jude Valentine from East Machias, and educator and painter Raegan Russell from South Berwick. I’m especially excited for all three artists since my paths have crossed with each of them at different times in the past. My warm wishes for wonderful experiences on Monhegan this summer!

Last years educator recipient Cory Bucknam from Brunswick Junior High School presented at a pecha-kucha style event which includes her experience on Monhegan last summer. You can view it at the recorded Vimeo below.

Information on each of this years recipients is below.

Raegan Russell 
Uprooted Heart, gouache on canvas, 12”x12″, 2016.

Raegan Russell is the Visual Art Department Chair at the Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine and will be participating in the 2-week K-12 art teachers’ residency. She looks forward to being inspired by the beauty of Monhegan and sees her paintings as a way to “hold on to the ephemeral and to explore the changing landscape and its forms.” Russell received a BFA and MFA in painting from Boston University, and is currently on sabbatical in South East Asia.

Jude Valentine 
Woods and Water, cliché verre, mixed media monotype, 22”x30”, 2018.

Jude Valentine creates landscape monoprints in a process through which she draws and paints directly on polymer plates while outside in the landscape. She sees her prints as revealing “elements of landscape,” while being “densely layered with an energetic animism of line and limited color.” Valentine holds a BFA from the Maine College of Art and MFA from the Vermont College of Art, and is an Assistant Professor at the University of Maine, Machias. She was a 2017 Artist in Residence at the Joseph A. Fiore Art Center.

Darah Haskell is a textile artist who works with thread in many forms. Prior to her residency time on Monhegan, she intends to weave and “weather” ground cloths, which she will then embellish on island. She will “use the time to stitch, hem, knot, and embroider” and will also “expose additional pieces of hand woven cloth to site specific environmental

Sarah Haskell 
Secrets of the Infinite, indigo dyed, woven linen, cotton embroidery thread, 15″x28”, 2017.

elements,” while observing “the forces of nature at work, not only on my handwoven/stitched cloth but … ultimately on me.” Haskell is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and was recently awarded residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and the Hewnoaks Artists’ Colony.

Special thanks to our 2018 jurors: 

The jurors this year included Kathryn Jovanelli, museum administrator at the University of Maine Museum of Art in Bangor; Henry Wolyniec, Portland artist and former studio manager at Space Gallery; and painter Nathaniel Meyer, a Monhegan residency recipient in 2015 and art teacher in the Lewiston High School.  All three were impressed with the varying concerns for the natural world apparent in this year’s applications and their inventive modes of expression.

The jury viewed a wide range of visual arts and selected work in three particularly experimental media: fiber arts, cliché verre monotypes, and works on paper that combine printmaking and painting techniques. Portland artist and MARC board member, John Knight, who organized this year’s jury process noted:  “Jurors had a challenge selecting three artists from many strong candidates, but they found work that resonated with all of them after multiple viewings and lively discussion.”

And, thank you also to the many folks who work to bring this opportunity to Maine artists and educators!

The Monhegan Artists’ Residency supports the creative growth of dedicated Maine artists by providing them time and space in which to work free of interruption and constraint in the inspiring environment of Monhegan Island.

Monhegan Island

Call for applications

The Monhegan Artists’ Residency invites applications from Maine-based artists and teachers for its 2018 season. Two 5-week residences are available: May 26-June 29 and September 11-October 16. There is also a 2-week residency available for a Maine art teacher (K-12) from June 30-July 11. The residencies are open to artists working in any medium and include private housing, studio space, and a weekly stipend. More information about the organization, its history, and the residency is available here. This year’s jurors will be Kathryn Jovanelli, Assistant Director, University of Maine Museum of Art in Bangor; Henry Wolyniec, artist and building manager, Space Gallery, Portland; and Nathaniel Meyer, artist and teacher, Lewiston High School, Lewiston.

Application Deadline: March 17, 2018

APPLY NOW

Congratulations Krisanne Baker

Artists selected for 2016 Monhegan Residency

Press release

Krisanne Baker

The Monhegan Artists’ Residency has announced three artists selected for its residencies during the summer of 2016: Barbara Sullivan of Solon, Krisanne Baker of Waldoboro, and Michelle Hauser of Rockland. Sullivan creates fresco reliefs of everyday objects and will take part in the residency for five weeks in late May through early June. Baker is a multimedia ecological artist creating works concerning water quality, availability, and rights. As a high school art teacher at Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro, Baker will be enjoying the two-week residency for Maine K–12 art teachers in July. Hauser creates photographic hybrids and paints on paper, and will take part in the five-week residency in late August through early October.

Krisanne Baker

The jurors for the 2016 residencies were Sissy Buck, a printmaker and book artist, and recent MARC (Monhegan Artists’ Residency Corporation) board member; Duncan Hewitt, an artist whose work is currently on view in a retrospective exhibition at the Portland Art Museum and professor of art at the University of Southern Maine; and Polly Saltonstall, editor of Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors magazine and contemporary Maine art collector. Saltonstall remarked, “It was so hard to narrow down the selection to choose this year’s winners. That said I can’t wait to see how these already amazing artists incorporate Monhegan into their work and how the island shapes their vision.” Fellow juror Sissy Buck echoed these remarks: “It was difficult to choose! Lots of thoughtful review and discussion went on. Each of the chosen artists displayed a deep connection to sense of place in their work. I am excited for these artists to experience and immerse themselves in the slower rhythm, timeless beauty, and community of Monhegan.”

Krisanne Baker

The Monhegan Artists’ Residency is open to artists at all career levels and strives to support the creative growth of dedicated Maine artists by providing time and space to work free of interruption and constraint in the inspiring environment of Monhegan Island. Since its founding in 1989, the organization has sponsored more than 50 artists, providing them with living quarters, studio space, and a small stipend. The Monhegan Artists’ Residency Corporation is a non-profit organization supported by individual donations and foundation grants. For more information visit on Facebook or go to monheganartistsresidency.org.