Artist Residencies

Residencies are awesome – I apply for them as a sort of weird side hobby that costs money, and sometimes even get selected and get to go on them! I’ve been to a residency with the Kolaj Institute (one in person one and a few online), at the Lakeside Inn in Lakeside, Michigan, and at the Grand Marais Artist Colony in Grand Marais, Minnesota.

I’ve written in groups about my journey – that time I applied for 18 residencies in one year – spending $250.00 (or more) in application fees. I haven’t posted that one here on the blog.

I have written here about the value of virtual residencies – those done at home in your own studio, but with some level of community and support online. Those can be excellent. The one part that’s missing is this – you know when you go on a road trip, and as you get further and further from home, you let go more and more of the toil of daily life?

That’s the one thing that an at-your-home-studio can’t provide. That and the change of environment. I do love a change in environment, particularly getting to someplace that’s different from home. Illinois is the second flattest state, after only Florida. Hills and mountains are terribly exciting.

I can’t get away this summer, for assorted reasons – I’m teaching a lot, I didn’t apply for any residencies for this summer – oh wait! Yes I did, but I didn’t get it.

I’ve been thinking a lot about, “what if I could be an artist in residence at a creative reuse store?” If you know me, you know I love creative reuse stores. Any time I’m traveling, I check to see if I’ll be anywhere near a CRS. I’ve been to 16 CRSs in 9 states.

There are official artist in residency programs at some creative reuse stores, landfills, recycling centers. In Chicago, The Waste Shed has a Youth Artist in Residence. But that’s it, near me.

But what if… I just decided, to do it myself? To be an artist in residence at “reuse” in general, and “creative reuse stores” specifically. Not one store, but like, all of them, the concept, for the summer?

What makes a residency?

A residency can be defined by a time and place, and it’s also defined by preparation, intention, and goals. When I’ve done the Thrive Together Network Virtual Residency, one of the things we did was set goals to increase our studio hours for that set period. My goal was usually 24 hours a week.

As I pondered what makes a residency – I thought of these factors:

• it’s time-limited
• there are creative constraints of some kind (because of the space, or what you brought with you)
• you have a specific idea to explore, or a plan of work you submitted
• you plan to make new work (often)
• there’s often a reporting out – a blog post, social media, a talk, a workshop.

I also looked at some of the existing artist in residence programs at landfills, recycling centers and CRSs. They often offer:

• free materials (woot!)
• access and studio space, or maybe at least storage space.
• one requires that the artist works on-site for at least 20 hours a week.
• some pay the artist (woot!)
• many provide opportunities for talks, workshops, etc. I assume these are paid.
• some offer an open studio event, or studio visits and interviews.
• a final exhibition or permanent installation of the work made during the residency.
• one offered assistance with professional documentation (nice!).

My Artist-in-Residence at All Creative Reuse Stores, Summer 2025

I already use a lot of upcycled materials in my work. Because, as my friend who went to art school told me, I’m a materials artist. Often, the stuff that I find is the starting point, the inspiration for the piece. WHAT the piece is made out of is often important, if not essential, to the meaning of the piece.

I don’t work exclusively with upcycled materials, but most of my fabric is “warehouse new,” it’s from somebody else’s stash, they never used it and they donated it, or it’s their scrappy bits or leftover quilt blocks.  I do love a gallon Ziplock bag of scraps.

So, how could I make a formal project out of a thing I kind of do already? What’s the advantage? What’s the creative constraint? What do I want to get out of it?

I love the idea of assistance with professional documentation. So, starting with the end, at the end of the summer, I will hire a professional photographer to document my work and/or, depending on the kind of work, I will go to my friendly, local not for profit darkroom and use the overhead scanner.

For my Summer Residency in Creative Reuse, I will:

• increase my studio time to 24 hours a week. That’s just three 8-hour days. Since I often teach 5 classes a week, for me that will probably be one 8 hour day and 4 work sessions of 4 hours each.

• shop at/visit creative reuse stores, as usual, and document those visits online. Share with folks the existing lists of CRSs.

• talk more about what I’m using and why. I have written about this, but if someone is new to my work, they might not know why I use vintage linens, why that’s important.

• talk about the crisis of fast fashion and overproduction, and how I don’t want to contribute to that. Share interesting podcasts, articles and books about the subject.

• at the end, share the work that I’ve made, look for more ways to share it, and to talk about the experience of doing a DIY residency in reuse.

• explore new materials, play, try things out.

• print at least one new print a week, on an upcycled substrate, using Solar Fast or cyanotype.

• documentation, as described above.

Wait, what about food and inspiration?

As a mom, one of the best things about going on a residency is the pause on the mental load.  It is AMAZING to only have to take care of yourself.  And some residencies include meals prepared for you.  I have yet to go on a residency like that, but I look forward to it.

One of my ideas for a DIY residency is to order catering trays from my favorite restaurant.  – for the whole family, not just me.  I’m gluten free, among other restrictions, so cooking for me is more of a challenge than for most people.  Easy options don’t apply to me, but that’s one that could work, and it’s not that expensive!  Well, it’s probably more than last time I looked, because of inflation, but still, probably do-able.

Some residency programs offer artist talks in the evenings, or include a gallery, or other forms of inspiration.  I’ll have to create that myself, so I’ll visit galleries and museums this summer.  As a family, we already try to “be a tourist in your own town,” and take advantage of all the amazing things Chicago has to offer.  I’ll keep doing that, on my own, and with friends and family.

What’s the time limit?

Time constraints are important.  For now, I’m keeping this one broad and calling it “summer.”  I have a solo show in August, at Art Reach of Mid-Michigan, and the art for that is already made, other than sewing on some hanging sleeves on to the backs of quilts.

So, I have the time, I have the studio space, I have so much stuff already on hand that was thrifted…

When does the residency start?  I could say now, but actually, preparation is an important step.  I’ll start June 1st.  With studio cleaning and museum visits starting right away.

Any Other Creative Constraints?

I don’t really *need* any more *stuff,* I could do this entire summer using only materials I already own.  That would be one way to do a creative constraint, but that would take away a lot of fun and inspiration, so let’s not do that.

For the purposes of this Summer Residency, let’s say I can visit and shop at thrift stores, creative reuse stores, building-parts reuse stores, and church rummage sales and garage sales.  Let’s also say that a goal for this summer is to increase the quantity of upcycled stuff in each art work.  For example, I sometimes mount my linens on canvas.  Maybe instead of new canvases, I’ll only use canvases from creative reuse stores.  I will definitely use stuff I already own, buying more only in a targeted way, like, “I really need a wood baluster for this piece,” or “Oh My God, I didn’t know I need that, but now that I see it, I do!”

One more goal for the summer is to visit at least one new-to-me creative reuse store, ideally in a new state, as in, a state where I haven’t yet been to a CRS.

 

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Related Read:

My Manifesto on the Use of Recycled Materials in Art by Children

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Update in September, How Did it Go?

September 21, 2025

The first weekend in July, I went on a Residency Road Trip, which you can read about.  On one of my trips to Mt. Pleasant for my solo show, I did an extra stop on the way home in Ann Arbor.  While there, I visited their creative reuse store, SCRAP A2, and two outdoor micro galleries.  I managed to visit four creative reuse stores this summer.  The Residency Road Trip was restorative, restful and fun.  I’m really glad I did that.

Our family took a big trip last year to a major city and we walked about 8 miles a day and worked really hard at being tourists.  After that trip, I thought, well, I live in/near an amazing city, I could do an even better job of making sure I get out to our museums and galleries.  And that includes the whole region, really.  I recently drove to Madison, Wisconsin (which is only two hours) to hear a quilt artist give a talk at their show.  I also got to meet some online friends in person, it was great, totally worth it.

Was the summer residency in reuse successful as a residency?  Not super successful, and I’ll share why.  When I’ve done “at home” residencies before, it was with the Artist Mother online community (which later became Thrive Together, before closing).  During those, we met live weekly, had the online group all the time, had weeks of preparation and built in accountability measures.  And, when I did those at-home plus online residencies, I wasn’t teaching 3-5 classes per week while also preparing for a solo show and a public art installation.

My goal was to spend more time in the studio and hit a weekly number of hours.  I don’t think I did that.  I didn’t really count the hours, but I am in the studio a lot, and I am consistently making work.

I’m not here to beat myself up, but if I write a blog post proposing an idea, I feel like I should follow up and let you know how it went.

Here’s one more challenge for me with this whole thing – I already have too much stuff!  I love thrifting and also, my studio is too full and it’s hard to organize and I don’t need anything else.  That’s the problem with a hobby that involves treasure hunting for the fun of it.  Sure, I don’t need anything/much, but I might find *just* the thing!  It might be small, inexpensive, vintage, and exactly the thing I need for my art!  But, overall, I do need to buy less.

Have I made any art this summer, specifically using things I bought this summer?  I think that was kind of an idea in my head, even if I didn’t say it.  That would be neat and tidy and make for a good blog post!  But that’s not necessarily how I work.  I might buy a thing and hang on to it for years before having a use for it.  Conversely, I might shop for a specific thing that I need for an art work right now, and use it immediately.  That’s happened.  That happened with The Healing Quilts, when I needed one more vintage quilt.  We were out of state (for some reason, I can’t remember, this year has been a lot of short, regional road trips in the Midwest and they all blur together) and stopped at an antique mall just for fun, and I found the last quilt I needed to finish The Healing Quilts.  And let me tell you, I can’t believe I paid that much for such a raggedy, worn out, threadbare quilt.  And also, it was just right.  It had personality, it had lived a life, it added new colors…

Last month, just before Labor Day, we were doing a college visit, and on the way home, I said, let’s stop in the Quad Cities, because there’s an antique store there, The Skeleton Key, that has a creative reuse room.  Everything is $2.00 a pound and the money goes to charity!  Awesome!  Great store, go if you’re in the area.  I didn’t get much in the creative reuse room, but from the rest of the store, I bought a quilt top (I know, I know, I’m a sucker for those, mostly if it’s vintage) and two aprons.  One apron is transparent and one is a souvenir apron from a city in Canada, which I don’t think I’ve seen before.  Souvenir tea towels and scarves, yes.  The quilt top I have an idea for, that may happen soon.

Did I have fun?  Yes.  Was it restful and helpful as an artist?  Yes.  Did I produce new work that I can specifically tie to things I bought at creative reuse stores?  No.  I think my process is usually slower than that.  Maybe fun and restful was enough.

How Could I Make a DIY Residency More Effective?

Community.  If you’re at home, and you’re trying to transform your home studio into “a time apart” like a residency is, you have to do more to transform your life, to make it different.  Maybe an artist friend doing the same thing, and we meet up once a week?  Do studio visits, go to museums together?  Or meet up with a friend online, who lives far away, for weekly check-ins?

The biggest things is probably to clear the decks – residencies say they give artists time and space.  I have space, and stuff, I wasn’t able to give myself a ton of extra time in the studio, because I was not only teaching a lot, but also preparing for a solo show, and then after that, a public art installation with small solo show at the Orland Park Public Library.  That installation went up September 3, and the solo show in Michigan came down on August 27.  Not a lot of down time.  This could have been foreseen!  But at the beginning of summer, the world felt full of possibilities, as it always does,

That’s my story, sharing it in case it can be helpful to the artists-readers out there.