Sydelle Sonkin and Herb Siegel Artistic Director of the Chautauqua Visual Arts Arts Erika b Hess hangs a work by artist-in-residence Madeline Veira during a gallery installation Monday at the Art Quad.
Chautauqua Visual Arts’ 2024 artists-in-residence will have their work on view in a group exhibition today in their studios in the Art Quad.
As an alumni of the artist-in-residence program herself, for Sydelle Sonkin and Herb Siegel Artistic Director of the Chautauqua Visual Arts Erika b Hess, it’s thrilling to bring together the work of the 24 artists studying at CVA this season — and she hopes Chautauquans will take the time to see the artists’ work.
CVA Assistant Sam Kelly and Hess install a piece by artist-in-residence Luke Osborn.
The 2023 season saw a programming pause amid a national search for an artistic director following the departure of former artistic director Sharon Louden. During this time, extensive renovations were made to the Art Quad and this summer students returned to the grounds once more to participate in the School of Art.
The exhibition’s opening reception is from 3 to 5 p.m. today, with open studios taking place beforehand at 2 p.m. at the Quad. The exhibition will be de-installed Friday, so Hess encourages Chautauquans to attend the reception and the open studios to see the artists’ works-in-progess, and the final pieces on display in the Quad’s exhibition spaces.
“Here we have 24 residents who are working in so many different areas,” Hess said. “We have textile artists, printmakers; we have installation artists who are now creating ceramics, we have installation artists who are now making prints.”
The residency, Hess said, has afforded artists the space and capacity to collaborate with and influence each other — and let their practices be altered.
“What has happened during the residency here is the best thing you can hope for, which is artists that have allowed the space here to impact their process more,” Hess said. “Through that, what I’ve noticed is there’s a conversation happening between the residents. It’s really beautiful. When you go into the resident exhibition, there’s these conversations and threads between the work that I didn’t plan
to happen.”
Hess worked with Chautauqua Visual Arts Assistant Sam Kelly and visiting faculty member Susan Lichtman to curate the show. The trio selected a work from each artist-in-residence for the exhibition. Hess said the works not only engage in conversation with the other pieces in the exhibition, but with the other works made by the artists in their individual studios, and with the installations on view in nearby spaces.
“It’s work that plays off of each other and has a conversation with the other work,” she said. “I highly encourage people that come to see the exhibition to also check out the studios. There’s a reason we love having this new gallery space adjacent to all the studios.”
“Yes, you’re seeing a singular piece of the artist in the show,” Hess added, “but then you can go see where the work was made. Again, all of this goes back to being a studio-based residency.”
