Houston and San Antonio Artists Among Bemis Center’s 2020 Artists in Residence

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska has announced 34 artists and one curator selected for its 2020 international Residency Program, including Texas artists Jesus Benavente (San Antonio), Devin Kenny, and Sarah Welch + James Beard, of Houston. Benavente will participate in the spring, Kenny in the summer, and Welch and Beard will be a part of the fall cohort of Bemis residents.

The participating artists (with the exception of Juanjosé Rivas, Zarouhie Abdalian + Joseph Rosenzweig and Maya Dunietz, who were invited to be the Sound Art + Experimental Music Program artists-in-residence), were selected from an international pool of 1,042 applicants.

The Bemis Curator-in-Residence for 2020 is Sylvie Fortin, who was selected from an international pool of 38 applicants. As Curator-in-Residence, Fortin will also serve as a professional resource for Bemis artists residents and the Greater Omaha arts community, and organize exhibitions through January 31, 2021. Fortin’s work is concerned with the contemporary currencies of hospitality.

Spring and summer finalists were selected by a six-person panel including Dean Daderko, Curator of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. (For a complete list of panelists for those terms, please go here.)

The fall applications finalists were selected by a seven-person panel including Ashley DeHoyos, Curator at DiverseWorks, Houston; Chris Duncan, Oakland, CA-based artist and curator and publisher of LAND AND SEA (and past Bemis exhibiting artist); Francesca Fuchs, artist and 2D Department Chair at the Glassell School of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and others who are listed on the Bemis website.

All artists-in-residence will have access to a private live/work studio as well as 24-hour access to Bemis’ expansive 110,000 square foot main facility installation and production spaces. Also included in the residency is the use of the Okada Sculpture & Ceramics Facility, a 9,000 square-foot sculpture fabrication space. With the facilities, and financial support, technical guidance, and access to interns and an established network of resources, Bemis is a comprehensive residency opportunity. Sound artists will have access to dedicated facilities for rehearsing, recording and performing new works as part of the Center’s Sound Art + Experimental Music Program.

The complete list of Bemis Residents is as follows:

SPRING: JANUARY 22–APRIL 17, 2020
Paolo Arao, Brooklyn, NY
Kim Beck, Pittsburgh, PA
Jesus Benavente, San Antonio, TX / Brooklyn, NY
William Burton Binnie, Williamstown, MA / Brooklyn, NY
Lilli Carré, Chicago, IL
Kunlin He, San Francisco, CA
Jibade-Khalil Huffman, Los Angeles, CA
Glyneisha Johnson, Kansas City, MO
Christopher Paul Jordan, Tacoma, WA
Juanjosé Rivas, Mexico City, Mexico
Cristina Victor, Brooklyn, NY

SUMMER: MAY 20–AUGUST 14, 2020
Zarouhie Abdalian + Joseph Rosenzweig, New Orleans, LA
Ashlee Arder, Detroit, MI
Patty Gone, Brooklyn, NY
Sara Jimenez, Brooklyn, NY
Devin Kenny, Houston, TX
Nolan Lem, Stanford, CA
Tamara Rosenblum, New York, NY
Misael Soto, Miami Beach, FL
Julia Rose Sutherland, Buffalo, NY / Calgary, AB
Siru Wen, Los Angeles, CA

FALL: SEPTEMBER 16–NOVEMBER 13, 2020
Alexandra Branch, Brooklyn, NY
Joe Cantrell, San Diego, CA
Nicolaus Chaffin, San Francisco, CA
Sedrick Chisom, Brooklyn, NY
Shane Darwent, Tulsa, OK
Dance Doyle, Oakland, CA / Brooklyn, NY
Maya Dunietz, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
Georgia Hill, Bolwarra Heights, New South Wales, Australia
Kameron Neal, Brooklyn, NY
Marcela Torres, Salt Lake City, UT / Chicago, IL
Sarah Welch + James Beard, Houston, TX

For more on the Bemis Center for Contemporary arts, please visit its website here.