2017 General Residency Program | I-Park Foundation, Inc.

http://www.i-park.org/general-residency-program

2017 General Residency Program

SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR VISUAL ARTISTS LIVING IN MIDDLESEX COUNTY

The annual call for submissions for our 2017 General Residency Program is now closed, with all notifications to be sent by the end of March. However, thanks to a generous grant from the Community Foundation of Middlesex County, we are reserving one 2017 residency slot for a visual artist currently residing in Middlesex County. If you are interested in applying for this residency, please read the materials below. Although written specifically for the late 2016 call for submissions, it will give you a general flavor for what is provided and how the program works. You can also click on the link to the right for the program FAQ (same caveat). To view the application instructions and connect to the application portal, CLICK HERE. Application deadline is April 17, 2017.

Key Elements of the Program

• This program is offered free of charge to accepted/invited artists, though there is a $30.00 application fee that helps defray the cost of the selection panels. The only major artists' expenses are for personal art supplies/materials and transportation to and from the area. A complimentary pickup at a Connecticut airport or bus/train station at the beginning of the session, and a drop-off at the end, is offered.
• The format is self-directed, non-judgmental: you decide what you're going to work on and when.
• Residents are provided with a private bedroom, a private studio, a meal program as well as shared amenities: artists' kitchen, Common Area, library, wireless internet.
• I-Park annually convenes 6 independent, discipline-specific selection panels, the composition of which substantially changes each year.
• Application materials are processed through a convenient online submission system.
• I-Park supports mixed-discipline residencies made up of individuals from among the following creative fields:

• Visual Arts, including sculpture, environmental art, installation, photography
• Music Composition/Sound Art
• Architecture
• Creative Writing
• Landscape/Garden/Ecological Design
• Moving Image, including video and film art, new media, documentary, animation, virtual reality

• The typical residency session has a 4-week duration. The 6-7 artists who populate each session arrive together as a group, share the time and space together and, at the end, leave as a group. The 2017 General Residency Program season run from June 12 through November 20
• Application materials are currently available online – with a submission deadline of Monday, February 6, 2017.
  
  

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Special Features

• an enthusiastic, resourceful staff devoted to providing each artist with a fulfilling, productive and comfortable residency experience
• a quiet, retreat-type environment conducive to the creative process: I-Park is set in a rich, expansive nature preserve with ponds, fields, teaming wetlands, miles of stone walls and a pristine river running through it
• onsite vegetable and spice gardens to enhance the meal program
• support and encouragement to undertake ambitious installations on the grounds – including material, equipment and labor resources for approved projects
• a special focus on ephemeral, site-responsive art representing all 6 of the creative disciplines supported by I-Park – this culminates every other year in a major exhibition of this work, the Site-Responsive Art Biennale
• an OPEN Studios event at the end of each residency session to highlight the individual creative processes of the artists
• international component: approximately a third of the artists come from outside the U.S.
• you'll gain an inside perspective on I-Park's special cross-disciplinary and collaborative programs
• a shared workshop space and an abundance of tools, materials and equipment, including an electric kiln
• the Junk Trail: a free/shared resource for recycling the remains of onsite ephemeral installations
• in the Music Studio: an acoustic piano, several digital keyboards and peripheral devices and software for recording, sequencing and sound manipulation – and a collection of percussion and obscure instruments
• chef-prepared dinners, 4 nights per week, that foster artistic, cultural and inter-personal exchanges
• bonfires by the pond, an outdoor shower (in addition to the real ones), an aerial drone and a floating living room

~A.

How to Change Your Life in One Second Flat | Thrive Global

Ok, Jen.....
https://www.thriveglobal.com/stories/16020-4-questions-we-unconsciously-ask-near-constantly

How to Change Your Life in One Second Flat

The 4 critical questions we're all unconsciously asking each other near constantly

November 7, 2017

by
• Katherine Schafler, NYC-based psychotherapist, writer and speaker.

Christian Battaglia via unsplash.com

Maya Angelou suggests there are four questions that we're all unconsciously asking each other all the time.  

We ask the people we love, we ask the people who matter to us professionally, and on a broader level, we ask the people we encounter as we go about our everyday lives: the cashier who takes your coffee order, the jogging neighbor you wave to from the car on the way to work, the elderly woman sitting across from you on the train.

The four questions rarely get asked with words, just as they're rarely answered with words. 

They're almost always silent questions, because they're almost always unconscious.

When the silent answer to each of the four silent questions is a definitive YES, the love (or basic sense of humanity, in the broader examples) in the relationship becomes more palpable and is in turn immediately felt. 

In a romantic context, when the questions go unanswered, the person unconsciously asking them typically becomes increasingly distant, grows restless in the relationship, and often starts seeking drama and distraction to get attention and feel more alive.  

In the broader context, people who don't get an answer to these questions (or worse, who receive a 'no') feel increasingly disconnected from any sense of community.

Here are the 4 critical questions:

1. Do you see me?
2. Do you care that I'm here?
3. Am I enough for you, or do you need me to be better in some way?
4. Can I tell that I'm special to you by the way that you look at me?

Whether it's your kids, your colleagues, your partner, or really anyone in your community, when someone feels genuinely appreciated by you, it's because you treat them in such a way that affirmatively answers each question pretty consistently.  It's because when you look at them, you actually take the time to see them.  

One reason why some people love dogs so much? 

 Dogs answer the four questions with a big, "Yes!" near constantly. Those furry little spiritual masters are always in the present moment, so their quality of connection is always heightened (subsequently, so is the level of palpable connection they emit).

Unlike our K-9 counterparts, we regularly slip out of the present moment and go somewhere else. 

It at least makes more sense when we evade the present moment during ostensibly mundane activities, like an unnecessary meeting, doing laundry, our commute, etc. But invariably, the habit of not being present spills over into the moments we really mean to be present for:

• The love of your life walks into the room before bed and you barely look up from your phone.
• You meet your best friend for brunch and go through the motions of the hug, the 'you look so cute' and the 'it took forever to get here!' without actually feeling much.
• You're tying your daughter's shoe and when you're done, you get up to reach for her packed lunch and hand it to her while you're simultaneously grabbing your bag and keys, all without ever looking at her.

We all do this. We blaze through darling moments every single day. 

Sometimes we don't really remember much about our week because we just weren't fully there.

But how do we answer these questions constantly? 

I'm not encouraging intense stare downs with every single human you encounter, but what I do hear so often in my work is this:

She's looking at me, but it's like she's looking past me.

I know he cares and I objectively know he loves me more than anything, but he's so checked out.

I just want to shake him sometimes like, wake up!

If you see someone, let them know you see them.  

Slow down, and though it feels strange to write because it's so simple: take a second to actually look at another person.  

Just one extra second.  Literally.

And on the topic of literally, certainly if you love someone, show some love! Literally. Let the love you feel show on your face, in your eyes and in your quality of presence.  

Slowing down and taking the one extra second is how you connect.  

It's this incredibly simple part of the human experience that's getting lost in the modern rush.  Taking the one extra second is the kind of quality that shapes your mood for the better after a bad news day (or bad news week, or bad news year), it's the secret to the people we find so charming, it's what the best leaders do -- helping people feel seen and valued will totally shift your life.  

We can all get by without connection, at least for a little while, but if we really want to thrive, we have to connect to each other.

Connection is not based on how much time we spend with someone or what we do with them, connection is always based on quality of presence. 

This is why we fall in love with people who make us feel alive, because on some level, we're all desperate to be more present.

Being present doesn't require meditation, deep breaths, or anything like that. It's just a one second decision, "Ok, I'm gonna be present now." 

It's not a decision you make in the morning and then never have to think about again, it's a decision you make over and over and over again throughout the day. Ooops, wandered away from the present moment? No probs. The return flight is one second long.

The four questions are impossible for you to answer unless you're present.

If you're at all interested in experimenting with the idea that people are always asking the four questions, for one week, use an image of the number "4" as the wallpaper on your phone. Let the number be a cue to help you remember to answer the questions, not out loud, but on your face, in your touch, in your eyes, with the quality of your presence.

Taking the one extra second doesn't have to be constant to be successful (i.e. to have an impact on your quality of connection to yourself and others). Just do it as you remember to, do it as you please, and that will be enough. 

Katherine Schafler is an NYC-based psychotherapist, writer and speaker.  For more of her work, join her newsletter community, read her blog, or follow her on Instagram.

~A.