PORT TOWNSEND — Six developing artists will show visitors their works in progress this Saturday afternoon in Centrum’s Emerging Artists Residency studio tour, a free event at Fort Worden State Park, 200 Battery Way.
These art makers, who come from across North America, will open their work spaces in the fort’s Building 205 from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday.
This year’s Emerging Artists cohort includes:
■ Alex Boeschenstein, a print-, assemblage- and collage-maker from Seattle;
■ Thomas Gamble, a multidisciplinary artist and writer based in Portland, Ore.;
■ Katy Knowlton, another Portlander who curates Medium Rare, a charm bracelet subscription program; she’ll punctuate her residency here with a show at Short Space, a pop-up gallery in Portland.
■ Rebecca Peel, an artist, writer, and curator living between Portland and New York City and the founder of Amur Initiatives Media and Research Group;
■ Patricia Vazquez-Gomez, a community organizer and educator who creates videos, paintings, prints, installations, books and events while splitting her time between Portland and Mexico City.
■ Quinton Maldonado, an artist from Bellingham whose works address the built environment, classical portraiture and digital aesthetics.
In its second year, the Emerging Artists Residency is designed to support artists at the beginning of their career trajectory.
The month-long residency, from Oct. 19 to Nov. 16, provides each artist with housing, studio space and a stipend.
Artists who have graduated from a fine arts program within the past five years are nominated by educators across the Pacific Northwest including Alaska and Canada.
Three independent jurors — Scott Lawrimore, curator at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery at the University of Washington, visual artist C. Davida Ingram and Nina Bozicnik, curator at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle — selected this year’s artists.
“Never in my life have I had so much time and space to develop my work,” said Boeschenstein, while Vazquez-Gomez remarked on how beach walks in the morning and afternoon have meant a lot.
“My time at Centrum has made me realize the value and need of periods of reflection, particularly for socially engaged artists,” she said.
