Finding Center - Centrums Local Artist Residency at Fort Worden
[caption id align="alignnone" width="6000"]
Artist Margie McDonald makes use of Centrum’s art studio ahead of her upcoming Grover Gallery show. Photo by Hudson Gardener [/caption]
News by Hudson Gardener
Art is often an attempt to connect new or disparate ideas to something familiar and grounded. Centrum's new Local Artists Residency program at Fort Worden seeks to connect local artists with the very place they live—as well as giving them opportunities to interact with visiting artists from around the country and world.
In a well-lit common area provided for the artists, Libby Pratt, Program Manager, explained the details of the program and how it began. Pratt has been managing the Artist Projects and Residency Program since last November. And, she says, she loves her job.
"[The new local residency] helps residents who are coming from afar—they don't have the community connection here. And so when a local artist is telling all their friends to come see their studio, the [visiting] artists can also open their studio and have people come in. It's been really, really nice to see that synergy."
Opportunities for local artists are often passed over by larger residency programs, particularly those with international applicants—a missed chance for deepening and expanding experiences on both sides.
Pratt mentioned that visiting artists often go out on the town for coffee, for a walk or hike, with local artists, further building relationships and enhancing experiences.
"So now that we have the capacity to do so, it just makes us feel more connected to the community and hopefully the community more connected to the residency program."
The flexibility and assets of the program, such as having both studio spaces and cabins, allow openings for local artists when visiting artists, such as writers, don't need a separate studio. Thankfully, the recent problems with the PDA won’t affect Centrum’s residency programs.
Local artists also have an easier time applying, as the local residency isn't juried—if Centrum has an open space, you're in. But you can only attend once every 12 months, depending on availability.
Fifty-One Years Running
[caption id align="alignnone" width="3684"]
Centrum artist residency manager Libby Pratt outside her office in Fort Worden. Photo by Hudson Gardener. [/caption]
In 1973, Fort Worden became a state park—and Centrum was one of the first residents. It had its 51st year anniversary in 2024. And the residency program has been running for all those years.
The local artist offering is a new and evolving program, begun only in August 2024.
This year, the residency program expanded into a new building with three more studio spaces. This key acquisition has allowed Pratt to offer the residency to local artists.
But the program didn't come out of nowhere. Michele Hagwood, Martha Worthley, and Lisa Werner, the predecessors of Pratt, built this program slowly over the last 15-20 years.
The branches of the program that came out of those years are unique, such as collaboration with other Fort Worden standards like the Port Townsend Wood School, Corvidae Press, the Point Wilson Lighthouse, Northwind Arts, and others.
"It's not just artists who need to be supported, but curators and people working in other nonprofits who need a moment of rest and rejuvenation," Pratt said.
Recently, another residency was announced called "In The Making”. Specifically for artists from afar, it has a public-facing component that could be a workshop, a temporary installation, a performance, or another type of community engagement at some point during the residency.
Local artist Margie McDonald is one of Centrum’s current local artists in residence. Originally from a small village in Newfoundland, she is using her residency time to work on a bid for an installation at a maritime museum. A warp of lines are strung from ceiling to floor, through which she has woven the weft. At the moment, she was tying a series of overhand knots to create a cascade of repeated patterns of different lengths of rope. The installation is planned to be over a hundred feet long; this version is a testing ground for ideas.
"I could not have done this in my home studio, where the ceilings are barely over 6 feet high," McDonald said laughing. In the vast, open floor space, she had time to spread out, try things, and think.
Pratt described another local artist's work: she uprooted a shrub that had died in her backyard and created an immersive installation, working with shadow and light, and hanging pieces of paper. It was responsive to daily light changes and to people moving through the space. None of which would have been possible without access to the studio space.
The cost for local artists is just $50 or $100 a week, depending on the size of the studio. There is also a scholarship if people cannot afford the cost on top of the expenses of living here.
This year, another program, in collaboration with Point Wilson Lighthouse, is being launched specifically for indigenous artists. "They’ve offered us a one-week residency down at the lighthouse. They have two housing units: the keepers’ duplex, built in the early 1900s, and a Coast Guard building built in the 60s or 70s with four bedrooms," Pratt said.
If you want to learn more about open studios, residency opportunities and more, visit Centrum’s Artist Residency page: https://centrum.org/program/artist-residencies/. And event calendar: https://centrum.org/events-calendar/
