The Art and Shadows program will provide unique studio and performance space for two artists-in-residence-one visual artist and one musician-at the Shadows-on-the-Teche, a National Historic Landmark and Historic Site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in New Iberia, Louisiana. Art and Shadows will demonstrate how innovative arts programming at a historic site can foster community interaction, showcasing how artists can stretch the role of historic sites as community assets beyond their traditional audiences and interpretative boundaries to create increased cultural impacts on their neighborhoods and regions.
To do this, Art and Shadows will create and pilot one musician and one visual artist residency at the Shadows-on-the-Teche - commissioning two artists to create new works that are inspired by the site and region's history and working with the artists to engage the community in active participatory experiences around the new works. Art and Shadows seeks to amplify the work of regional artistic communities, so the artists selected for the residencies will demonstrate a strong connection to the traditions of the Lousiana Bayou. The musical and visual artists working in residence will have full access to the site's extraordinary buildings, landscapes, and collections that document life in southern Louisiana over the 19th and 20th centuries. The artists in residence will also have access to inspiring, non-traditional spaces at the Shadows-on-the-Teche for composition, rehearsal, and performances. These will include: a balcony tucked under the deep eaves of the Shadows and overlooking the Bayou Teche; an attic filled with the books, artwork, clothing, and furnishings accumulated by the Weeks family over almost 200 years; and the intimate painting studio of Weeks Hall, where he entertained renowned actors, writers, and musicians in the early 20th century.
About the Shadows:
The Shadows-on-the-Teche, known as "the Shadows", was built between 1831 and 1834 as the home of sugar planter David Weeks and his wife Mary on the Bayou Teche in southwestern Louisiana. The property was owned by the Weeks family for almost 150 years and was also home to both free and enslaved African Americans. Its last private owner, Weeks Hall, drew visionary artists to the property-including Henry Miller, Walt Disney, and Elia Kazan-and legendary Creole jazz musician Bunk Johnson worked in the gardens in the early 20th century. Today, the Shadows is home to a collection of fine arts, decorative arts, clothing, books, photographs, and furnishings that hold a rich diversity of stories, and its lushly landscaped two-acre site serves as an anchor for New Iberia's historic commercial district. In 2008, two Cultural Districts were created within the City of New Iberia with the primary goal to revitalize the district by creating locally driven hubs of cultural activity, and encouraging opportunities to create or rebuild cultural destinations, by providing state historic tax credits and original art sales tax exemption.
Application Deadline and Residency Timeline:
Applications will be due March 20, 2014 for residencies from May/June 2014-May/June 2015. Completed applications must be postmarked or submitted digitally by this deadline to be considered for the residencies. Notification of results will be sent approximately 4 weeks following the deadline.
During the period of their residency, artists will be expected to work on-site at the Shadows on a regular basis for the first 6 months. (Housing will not be provided but full access to the grounds and a variety of studio spaces will be provided during regular hours of operation.) In the second 6 months, the artists-in-residence will work with the site's Executive Director to schedule, promote, and lead associated public programming that could include workshops, lectures, and master classes at the site. In May or June 2015, the Shadows will host a festival that will focus on the exhibition of the new works of visual art and the performance of the new musical works created during the residencies. The concurrent residencies, public programming, and the festival will not only promote the connection between a cultural resource and local artistic communities, but they will also allow the different interpretations of the site developed by the artists in residence to be in dialogue with each other.
Application Information:
The Shadows-on-the-Teche and the National Trust for Historic Preservation encourage visual artists and musicians of all backgrounds to apply for these residencies. The National Trust does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, or sexual orientation. Since the residencies seek to amplify regional artistic communities, applicants should have a demonstrated relationship to the artistic traditions of the Louisiana Bayou.
Email application materials to: [email protected] Please include "application materials" in the subject line. For file sizes larger than 25MB, please email [email protected] to request a dropbox link.
Mail application materials to:
Pat Kahle, Executive Director
Shadows-on-the-Teche
317 East Main Street
New Iberia, LA 70560
Financial Support:
Each of the two artists-in-residence will receive a stipend of $15,000, to be paid in three installments of $5,000 each at the beginning, mid-point, and conclusion of the residency. Artists are responsible for their own personal living expenses, supplies and any other expenses related to the cost of producing work that may be incurred during the residency. Travel and shipping expenses to and from the Shadows-on-the-Teche are also the responsibility of the artist. This project is supported, in part, by a grant from the Our Town initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Selection:
The selection of the artists-in-residence is made by a jury composed of representatives of the the local arts community, staff members from the National Trust and the Shadows-on-the-Teche, and independent experts in the integration of the arts and historic sites. Selections will be made on the basis of the quality of the artist's work; the originality and feasibility of the proposed public programs; and connections to regional artistic traditions. The program seeks applicants with diverse artistic points of view, from traditional to experimental, and places a strong emphasis on quality and consistency of the artist's work and capacity for public engagement. Applicants may apply in any visual art medium. Collaboration with another visual artist, musician, or writer is permitted, but the submission should include information about all proposed participants.
Selected artists will receive an award letter outlining the terms and conditions of the Art and Shadows artist-in-residence program and will enter into an agreement with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
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