I'm so honored to have been accepted to OUtelliers Artist in Residence Program this upcoming May. Set in the small town of Douglas on Vancouver island, this self directed residency will provide me uninterrupted time to focus on my artistic practice. The retreat will provide a work space, and seclusion to focus fully on a new body of work without the daily stop and go schedule of being a working mother.
This opportunity requires a great deal of investment of my time and finances, leaving a need for additional childcare in my absence. Additionally it will help with the cost of materials, shipping work between Canada and Chicago, and daily living costs (IE: food and transportation)
While I have been working hard and saving to ensure my family can afford this, the financial sacrifice is significant. Any gift, no matter how small will directly impact my journey.
With gratitude,
Erin O'Neill
What is an artist residency?
An artist residency is a curated program offering artists, writers, and creatives dedicated time and space in a new environment, to focus on their work away from daily pressures. Residencies provide lodging and studio space to support creative experimentation, research, and professional development.
What do I hope to do with the gift of this time?
I will be researching connections between nature and my art practice. While I am a figurative artist at my core, I'm feeling called to develop my skills in landscape, composition, and spacial depth.
I'm deeply curious about where my mediums come from and how they are made. I would like to hone my skills in making my own pigments and papers. Learning a new skill requires a great deal of focus and experimentation. My residency will allow me the space to work out the kinks in these processes and build confidence I can create mediums and substrates up to my standards as a professional artist, while honoring the ecologies these base materials come from.
How will your gift support me?
As a working mother, I have the additional expense of ensuring my family can ballance childcare and work without interruption of income. Currently I support the bulk of childcare for our daughter to lessen the cost and so we will need to rely on outside help to fill that gap.
Transporting my supplies and paintings between Vancouver and Chicago will be a pretty hefty shipping expense, and I hope to be able to bring my tools to and from my studio here, as well as ship back the work I create.
I will also need gear to get around in an unfamiliar climate and natural setting. While I'm well equipped to navigate the public transportation and city sidewalks of chicago, I am less prepared for the hiking and trekking while lugging my art supplies and travel easel through the wilderness.
And finally your gift will help alleviate the cost of day to day necessities such as toiletries, groceries, and transportation around the island.
