Kranzberg residency program expands to include visual artists, writers and musicians

More local artists are now eligible for Kranzberg Arts Foundation’s residencies.

The arts funder began a two-year residency program for musicians in 2018, offering recipients administrative support and regular gigs at Kranzberg venues, including the Dark Room. During the coronavirus pandemic, musicians in residence have performed during the Open Air concert series.

The program is now expanding from 10 to 15 residents and is open to writers, visual artists and filmmakers in addition to musicians.

“I’ve tried to get this produced and have been denied a lot,” said UMSL professor Felia Davenport, a newly christened artist resident who will use her time as a resident to develop a multimedia exhibition. It will include clothing that represents different points in her life when she experienced bigotry as a multiracial person.

Kranzberg Arts Foundation

“To have them say yes, that they value this idea that I had, it really did mean the world to me. I felt validated, when I hadn’t felt validated in a long time,” she said.

Davenport’s exhibition will include a sound component as well, and she looks forward to collaborating on her work with other residents, including musicians. Davenport said she hopes to work with St. Louis Fashion Fund, which recently relocated its office to the Kranzberg’s mixed-use building at 3333 Washington Blvd. in Grand Center, to stage a fashion show in conjunction with her exhibition.

Other members of the 2021-22 Kranzberg Arts Foundation resident cohort are visual artists Emily Elliott, B.J. Parker, Sarah Paulsen and Vincent Stemmler; filmmakers Catherine Dudley-Roseand and Prince Lyons; writers Mario Farewell, Lizzy Petersen and Deborah Taffa; and musicians Jessica Adkins, James Hegarty, Jeffrey Hill, Eric Slaughter and Jonathan Taylor.

They will have access to studio work space, technical training, marketing support and a $1,000 cash stipend. Each artist submitted a proposal for detailing the project they plan to work on. Residencies will culminate with public performances or exhibitions.

The Kranzberg also is partnering with other St. Louis organizations, including recording studio operators, to connect its residents with other resources, said Diana Hansen, who coordinates internships and the residency programs at the Kranzberg.

“To push them to that goal line, this is gonna give them the focus and the opportunity to really get there. Get someplace that they hadn’t gotten to before,” she said. “These are people that are committed to being artists. They have invested time in their practice. They are folks that are not going to be deterred from following their path.”

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