New Artist in Residence Program

Great job Lori and staff at Wyatt Heritage and P.E.I. Council of the Arts. The staff at Wyatt Heritage do a great job in creating innovative cultural programming; all on a shoe string budget I might add.


Summerside creates artist-in-residence program
CBC News
Posted: Mar 29, 2011 8:03 AM AT
Last Updated: Mar 29, 2011 8:03 AM AT
The City of Summerside, P.E.I. is hoping to attract artists from across the country to a new artist-in-residence program.
The city has bought a house for the program on Notre Dame Street, just north of the downtown.
"I think it's exciting," Lori Ellis, manager of cultural and heritage properties for Summerside, told CBC News Monday.
"What we're doing is providing opportunities that didn't exist before."
The city is partnering with the P.E.I. Council of the Arts for the program. Artists will be invited to live and work in the house for several weeks at a time. In addition to a place to live, they'll get $400 a week to cover expenses.
In return, the artist will invite the public in to watch them work. Artists will also be expected to go out and do things in the community, such as give workshops.
"I am almost unspeakably excited about this," said council executive director Darrin White.
"The sharing of information, that's really important to understand the role that artists have in our society and our culture."
The arts council used to run a program in the basement of The Guild in Charlottetown, that provided artists with space to work and then a venue to show it. It will throw its resources behind the Summerside program now.
White hopes to create an exchange program that would see artists travelling and living across the country. He is currently in discussions with people in northern Canada about setting up such an exchange.