Miami’s YoungArts Welcomes Three New Artists To Residency In Visual Arts

The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) announces New York-based sculptor Emma Fee, Los Angeles-based multimedia artist Sarah Rara, and Miami-based painter Michael Vasquez as the next participants in the YoungArts Residency in Visual Arts program. The program was established last year with the generous support of The Related Group, offering emerging and mid- career artists time, space and resources and helps them forge key relationships, and gives them the chance to work in Miami and engage with the community. Previous participants in the residency program include Suzanne McClelland, the program’s inaugural artist in residence, and James Weingrod, who participated in the program in December 2014.

Michael Vasquez 2015 YoungArts Residency in Visual Arts

“YoungArts is dedicated to supporting artists at critical junctures in their careers, and that includes providing invaluable resources for emerging and mid-career artists to develop new work within a residency setting,” stated Esther Park-Clemetson, Director of Campus Programming, National YoungArts Foundation. “Through this program, and the generous support of Jorge Pérez and The Related Group, we are bringing new art, culture and ideas to the Miami community and filling an important need for residency support in the country.” 

Suzanne McClelland, 2014 YoungArts Residency in Visual Arts

Inspired by drawings in Henrick Drescher’s book Turbulence, Emma Fee plans to use her residency to explore the Miami area to source local materials to create a large scale sculpture. The work will focus on the nature and origin of fire. Fee is particularly excited about the opportunity to work alongside other artists. “Having this opportunity through YoungArts has challenged me as an artist,” she said. “I am working in a new environment, with different materials, and I couldn’t be more excited to see how my work and relationships progress through this challenge.”

Emma Fee, 2015 YoungArts Residency in Visual Arts

Sarah Rara is also looking forward to spending time in Miami and working in a new environment. “Traveling east from Los Angeles, I’ll shift from the Pacific to the Atlantic,” she stated. “I’m interested to see what changes will occur given new resources, new landscape, new materials, new community…I want to see where Miami takes me, to look for inspiration for new work when I arrive there. It’s an exciting leap into the unknown, and I am looking forward to a productive adventure.”

Sarah Rara, 2015 YoungArts Residency in Visual Arts

Michael Vasquez noted, “I am both honored and thrilled over this opportunity. The YoungArts Residency will provide me with the space and resources to create my work and realize my vision without limitations. I look forward to interacting with the other studio residents and taking advantage of all the enriching programming that happens on the YoungArts campus.” During his residency, Vasquez will focus on the completion of eight large new paintings for his “Neighborhood Reclamation,” exhibition, which opens May 29, 2015 at the MDC Museum of Art and Design.

New to the program this spring, local Miami arts leaders will serve as ambassadors for the artists in residence. These ambassadors will be paired with the artists and help guide them as they navigate the Miami art scene and interact with some of its key players. The YoungArts Residency in Visual Arts provides artists with an honorarium of up to $10,000; a stipend to cover travel, projects and other related expenses; 3 to 12 weeks of housing provided by The Related Group and studio workspace on the YoungArts Campus; and the opportunity to meet and work with some of the international art community’s most noteworthy master artists, collectors, gallerists and curators. While in residence, the artists will create an original work that will be exhibited at the end of their residency or with the work of other resident artists at a future date. During the residency, each artist will also offer at least three public engagement sessions.

 

James Weingrod, 2014 YoungArts Residency in Visual Arts

 

“This program is yet another important step in solidifying our legacy of bringing art into the community, building better cities, and supporting the growth of emerging artists,” says The Related Group’s Chairman and CEO Jorge Pérez, who is himself a prominent art collector and namesake to the Pérez Art Museum Miami. “Collaborating with YoungArts will give us a wider reach in supporting artists around the country, and it will enrich the local cultural landscape by creating a platform conducive to dialogue.” The YoungArts Residency in Visual Arts is the first of several residency programs in the visual, literary, design and performing arts that YoungArts is developing as it  expands its support of the next generation of artists in the United States and strengthens its place as a creative-catalyst for Miami’s growing cultural landscape.