Minnesota Center for Book Arts Announces Summer 2018 Artist-in-Residence
Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) is pleased to announce the next participant in our Artist-in-Residence program: Kelly Taylor Mitchell.
Project summary and artist bio:
Kelly Taylor Mitchell will research Minnesota’s “Pilgrims,” a group of formerly enslaved Civil War soldiers and their families who fled the south for Minnesota. Mitchell will create a limited varied edition suite of three artist books as well as an in-response open edition of zines and poetry chapbooks which will work to historicize the present by sharing oral histories and decentering narratives of colonization. Mitchell's project will explore how the stories of the Minnesota “Pilgrims” contextualize place-making in Minnesota for new and diverse populations, and inform a collective history of community building, confronting obstacles, and reciprocity in the state.
Kelly Taylor Mitchell is an installation, book, and print artist currently based in Rhode Island. Mitchell's work recontextualizes oral histories in order to navigate the intertwined decolonial landscape of "Black" trauma and "Black" joy. Concepts of land tenure, territorial claims, community autonomy, inherited identity, and maronage act as an anchor in a cobbling of identity. Mitchell holds a BFA in printmaking from Tufts University, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and in May will receive an MFA in printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design.
The Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program is designed to support selected artists by providing financial and community resources, space, and equipment to assist in the creation and promotion of their work. Residencies may be from two weeks to three months in duration. Studios and equipment are available to facilitate work in papermaking, printing and bookbinding. Artists-in-Residence also receive a stipend of $2000 to be used at the artist’s discretion for supplies, travel and/or living expenses. Participation in the program is based on the artistic merit of proposed projects as well as the degree to which artists further MCBA's artistic mission: to lead the advancement of the book as an evolving art form.
As the largest and most comprehensive center of its kind in the nation, Minnesota Center for Book Arts celebrates the book as a vibrant contemporary art form that takes many shapes. From the traditional crafts of papermaking, letterpress printing and hand bookbinding to experimental artmaking and self-publishing techniques, MCBA supports the limitless creative evolution of book arts through all-ages educational and artistic programming. MCBA is located in the Open Book building in downtown Minneapolis, alongside partner organizations The Loft Literary Center and Milkweed Editions. To learn more, visit www.mnbookarts.org.
Image credit: Of John: A Story in 13 Pockets by Kelly Taylor Mitchell.
