The University of Chicago’s Arts and Public Life initiative, in partnership with the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture, has selected three artists for its 2013–14 artist-in-residence program. The new artists-in-residence are musician and composer David Boykin; poet and visual artist Krista Franklin; and artist, designer and educator Andres Hernandez.
The program is open to Chicago-based artists and collaboratives whose work explores issues of race, politics and culture. It aims to advance the ambitions of and opportunities available to artists who are underrepresented in the Chicago and national arts scenes.
“The arts are a key part of the intellectual life of the University of Chicago, and we believe they can play an equally important role in communities,” said Deputy Provost for the Arts Larry Zbikowski. “David Boykin, Krista Franklin and Andres Hernandez are remarkably accomplished artists who embody our highest hopes for this program, and we are eager to watch their practice grow in the months to come.”
A distinguished jury of academics, community members, artists and arts professionals chose Boykin, Franklin and Hernandez from among the 160 applicants to the program this year.
During the 10-month residency, the artists will have access to UChicago’s world-class academic and research resources, as well as studio space, a woodshop and program and exhibition space at the University’s Arts Incubator in Washington Park. The residents also can utilize the performance and practice spaces at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts. Each artist receives a stipend of $10,000 and additional funds for materials and programming support.
“David, Krista and Andres are artists who have made the city of Chicago a truly integral part of their practice. Their work will both shape and be shaped by the Arts Incubator, the wider University and the communities that surround them,” said Theaster Gates, director of Arts and Public Life.
Derek Douglas, Vice President for Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago, said the artist-in-residence program supported the University’s commitment to South Side communities.
“The Arts Incubator and artist-in-residence program bring energy and vitality to Garfield Boulevard. In addition to supporting emerging artists, these programs allow the University to connect and collaborate with our neighbors through art,” Douglas said.
The residency was established in 2011 as a partnership between Arts and Public Life and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture (CSRPC). The program also receives support from 3Arts, a nonprofit organization that advocates for Chicago’s women artists, artists of color and artists with disabilities who work in the performing, teaching and visual arts.
“Boykin, Franklin and Hernandez are outstanding additions to our community,” said Michael C. Dawson, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Political Science and the College and Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture. “The arts have had a central place at CSRPC since its founding, and these artists will continue to challenge and enrich us. They will be an important part of our continuing efforts to break down barriers and bring the different segments of our community into conversation."
Boykin, Franklin and Hernandez succeed 2012–13 residents LeRoy Bach, Cecil McDonald Jr., Tomeka Reid, Cauleen Smith and avery r. young, who recently collaborated on a culminating exhibition, “The Distance Between.” young’s “groun(d)” runs through November 10 at the Arts Incubator.
“I’m grateful the residency is here for creative people to take part in, especially on the South Side, where we need more opportunities like that,” Reid said of the residency.
About the 2013–14 Arts and Public Life/Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture artists-in-residence:
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David Boykin: David Boykin is one of the most original and dynamic artists in the Chicago music scene. He is a composer, bandleader and multi-reed instrumentalist performing on the tenor and soprano saxophones, the soprano and bass clarinets, and the drum set. He has received many grants and awards for his talents as a composer. He is the leader of the David Boykin Expanse, founder of Sonic Healing Ministries and an occasional collaborator with a few other artists. Boykin began studying music on the clarinet at the age of 21 in 1991 and first performed professionally in 1997. Since 1997 he has released 10 album-length recordings as a leader, contributed as a featured soloist to other musicians’ recordings and performed at major international jazz festivals and smaller jazz venues locally and abroad.
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Krista Franklin: Krista Franklin is a poet, visual artist and performer who lives and works in Chicago. Much of Franklin’s creative output concerns itself with the intersection of the literary and the visual, and often explores the conceptual concerns of Afrofuturism and Afro-Surrealism. Her collages have been featured as the cover art of award-winning poetry collections and exhibited nationally. Franklin is the recipient of the Chicago’s Community Arts Assistance Program Grant, the Albert P. Weisman Award and Columbia College Chicago’s Aiko Fellowship, and has held residencies at Cave Canem and A Studio in the Woods. A co-founder of 2nd Sun Salon, a community meeting space for writers, visual and performance artists, musicians and scholars, Franklin holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts.
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Andres Hernandez: Andres L. Hernandez is an artist-designer-educator who works to re-imagine the physical, social and cultural environments we inhabit. Over the last 16 years, he has worked within a variety of institutions to develop innovative art and design curricula; to assist with research, installation and educational activities for museum exhibitions; and to organize collaborative, community-based art projects throughout the city of Chicago. Hernandez received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University and a Master of Arts in Art Education degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art Education since 2006. He is also a Lead Artist with the Teens Re-Imagining Art, Community & Environment (TRACE) program of the Chicago Park District, and is co-founder of Revival Arts Collective.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
