Fall 2010 Art & Community Visual Arts Residency Program partnership between DCCA resident artist Jason Pressgrove and Project Stay Free

Wilmington, Del. - 7 October 2010 - The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts announces the Fall 2010 Art & Community Visual Arts Residency Program partnership between DCCA resident artist Jason Pressgrove and Project Stay Free - a branch of the Kingswood Community Center in Wilmington, DE.  The eight-week residency concludes with a final reception and exhibition of the group's work at the DCCA on Friday, November 5, 2010 from 4 - 6 pm. If the press would like to attend or visit the program in progress at Project Stay Free, please contact the Curator of Education, Jane Chesson at 302-656-6466 ext. 7101.

About the Residency

DCCA Artist in Residence Jason Pressgrove is partnering with Project Stay Free (PSF) from Sep­tember 15 - November 10, 2010 on a community reinvention project. He will collaborate with ten young men who face overwhelming challenges at home, in school, on the job, and in the community. Jason is working with the group to create plans, models, and architectural drawings for community design and revitalization. PSF's mission is to liberate youth from the juvenile justice system. Its goal is to "serve as the re-entry site for youth living in New Castle County who are set to return to the community from both in state detention facilities and from out of State placement facilities."  Students, along with PSF staff Mr. Bailey and Ms. Phillips, meet 8 - 10 hours per week for eight weeks to work with Jason on their collaboration.  The materials created during the project will be on view to the public in an exhibition on November 5, 2010 from 4 - 6 pm.

For over twenty years, the DCCA Art  & Community Visual Arts Residency Program has forged relationships between nationally recognized artists and the Wilmington community-- providing innovative artists with the opportunity to develop professionally and to collaborate with under-served community groups to create unique works of art that are relevant to the participants' lives. The Art & Community program has welcomed over 40 artists, collaborated with over 50 local community organizations, and brought art into the lives of hundreds of participants.  Visual Arts Residents are selected through a competitive, juried review process. Artists submit work samples, their history of community partnerships, and a proposal for art they will create with a Wilmington community group. Proposals are judged by the strength and innovation of the artist's work, the artist's experience with community work, and the impact the project will have on the Wilmington community. The DCCA Art & Community Visual Arts Residency Program is made possible, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Delaware Division of the Arts a state agency committed to promoting and supporting the arts in Delaware, and by grants from Bank of America, the Gilliam Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, and the Wilmington Flower Market.

About the Artist

David (Jason) Pressgrove, Associate AIA, is an artist, researcher, contractor, and project architect. He lives and works in Jackson, Mississippi. He received a B.Arch degree from Mississippi State University. From 2003-2005, he worked with SMALL TOWN CENTER at the College of Architecture, Art and Design at Mississippi State University. Pressgrove also served as the first project architect for the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio. Pressgrove is the recipient of the DESIGN CORPS' Design for the Underserved 98% Award at Structures for Inclusion 8, held at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University for his not-for-profit architectural service (2008) and has received honors and awards from the United States Green Building Council- Emerg­ing Green Builders, the Puffin Foundation, and the Mo­saic Foundation, and the Mississippi Arts Commission. In 2008, Pressgrove was awarded a MacDowell Fel­lowship, and, in 2006, served as a design fellow for Ar­chitecture for Humanity, where he served as the day-to-day architect for the East Biloxi Coordination and Relief Center. His work has been exhibited in West Coast Green Conference, San Francisco, CA; the Repetti Gallery, Long Island, City NY; and the Boston Society of Architects, in Boston, MA. Pressgrove's work has been published in publications including Architectural Record, Actar, and the  Institute for Advanced Architec­ture Catalonia.