Studios
Sebastian Patane Masuelli answering questions by visiting Essex County College students
Another very important part of the Gallery Aferro mandate is gathering and sharing both physical and intellectual resources.
The gallery has been awarded a 2007 Artist Workspace Consortium Mentorship grant to develop and enlarge our residency program for emerging artists. http://www.nysawc.org/
The program began in 2006 when we had the opportunity to grant two of Newark's finest (artists) a studio residence. For 12 months Jerry Gant and Sebastian Patane Masuelli had a large studio on the third floor of Gallery Aferro. They used this opportunity to create new work as well as to develop and realize community projects.
About the Residency:
Several alumni residents have commented that the chance for informal networking with peers afforded by residency in the building was one of the best aspects of their experience. Also mentioned by residents consistently as a unique and valuable aspect of the program was temporary ownership of a platform for emerging artists to interact with the public. The program runs year round. The spaces have been described by one resident artist as "very condusive to my needs: large, open, and with a do it yourself feel."
Residents will be awarded a 1200-2000 sq ft studio for 6 months, with 24 hr access, access to visiting curators and other gallery directors, and inclusion in an end-of-program catalog highlighting their work over the length of the residency. Artists will be selected on the basis of emerging status, quality of work, commitment to their field, need, and ability to interact positively with the community at large.
2008 Studio Resident Irys Schenker was interviewed in her studio. Read here.
