The purpose of my artist residency here is to make 3 woodcut portraits for 2 upcoming exhibitions. My current project, Portraits of Black Women Artist Educators of DC, was inspired by the portrait I did of Alma Thomas in 2021 after doing a teacher workshop in Norfolk at the Chrysler Museum in conjunction with the exhibition, Everything is Beautiful. This made me think of all the wonderful Black women artist-educators I knew from DC who did not receive national/international exposure for their art. I'm starting this portrait series with Delilah Pierce. It was easy to find a good photo of her to work from. I'm also including portraits of Dr. Margaret Burroughs--Chicago-based artist, poet, educator and co-founder of the DuSable Museum. That portrait as well as the one of Alma Thomas and perhaps the one of Obama will be included in the group exhibition my artist collective (Dandelion Black Women Artists) has at the Southside Community Art Center in Chicago. The first portrait I completed here, during week one, was of my Aunt Nellie, a Christian Scientist, who to me was a living saint---and had a deep faith in God. This portrait was completed for a possible exhibition on art and spirituality some of my MICA colleagues in the MFA in Community Arts invited me to participate in.
Overall, my time at the Dragon Dance Theatre Studio was very well spent. The studio had a 30 x 60 etching press---which was great so I could print my 18 x24 wood blocks. It was very spacious and I had access to the entire house and extensive garden. The home/studio is located on the main street that runs directly into the downtown area which has lovely views of the St. Lawrence River, great restaurants, cultural and historic sites. Residencies are for a minimum of one month and are reasonably priced. I drove up from Maryland (about 11 hours) and it was great to have the car to do some exploring and shopping.
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