The 2017 artists selected for Centrum’s Emerging Artist Residency are FSU Art BA ’13 Aruni Dharmakirthi, Benjamin Gale-Schreck, Mario Lemafa, Anna Mlasowsky, Minh Nguyen, and Melanie Stevens.
Centrum’s Emerging Artist Residency is an initiative to support artists at the beginning of their career trajectory. Centrum invites a cohort of six visual artists from the Northwest region to be in residence during the month of October each year. The artists are provided with housing, studio space and a stipend, while they spend the month creating new work or refining existing work. This program is supported with grants from The Maurer Family Foundation, Sally Warren and Jeff Jackson, and Lucy and Charlie Hanson.
“We are so proud to announce our EAR artists for 2017. This program has been growing exponentially since we initiated it in 2014,” said Martha Worthley, Emerging Artist Program Manager. “We’ve had top notch advisers and jurors from all parts of the Pacific Northwest. Our EAR program makes a significant difference in the developing careers of emerging visual artists.”
Aruni Dharmakirthi is a Sri Lankan born artist and educator based in the US. They received a BA in Studio Art and Art History from Florida State University and an MFA in Visual Studies at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Their work is described as new media and fiber and has been shown nationally and internationally in galleries including Disjecta in Portland, OR and Sonam Studios in Mumbai, India. In addition to their artistic practice, Aruni co-curates Soft Space, a video + new media curatorial project that exists as a digital archive and pop-up shows.