So, you’ve got your art degree, now what?
For many art majors, that’s a big question and the immediate time post-graduation is awash with emotions and a lot of question marks. Art ends up getting set aside as the demands of the “real world” come at you fast and furious.
In 2023, seeing an opportunity to engage more youth and student artists, Spokane Public Library created a partnership with Eastern Washington University (EWU) to pair recent arts graduations with residencies at The Hive.
The EWU Emerging Artists program awards a residency at The Hive to two graduates for six months starting in September following their graduation. The artists have monthly meetings with a faculty mentor, 24/7 access to an art studio, and the built-in art community that happens naturally at The Hive. Spokane Public Library’s Arts Education Specialist works closely with these artists to help them stay on track and develop programs they can offer to the public as part of their residency requirements.
The EWU Emerging Artists program builds upon Spokane Public Library’s innovative Artst-In-Residence Program that has hosted more than 50 artists at The Hive – a unique facility that combines free public meeting space, artist studios, and Spokane Public Schools facilities – since its creation in 2021.
The program welcomed its first recent graduate participants in September 2023 with Noelle Bowden and Luu Melon. Both artists work with words and stories but in very different ways. Melon is working on a long-form graphic novel; images would fill in when words weren’t present. Bowden is a poet whose large, gestural paintings are mirrors to her poems but written in the language of pigment. “This residency has given me the space and time to expand myself as an emerging artist but also to fearlessly think, explore, and do,” said Bowden. “The environment, other artists, and the community at The Hive create a wonderful learning and creative atmosphere.”
Both Bowden and Melon put in a lot of time in the studio. The residency program culminated with an art show at Central Library in September following the completion of their residency at The Hive.
The Hive recently welcomed the second cohort of EWU Emerging Artists in September 2024. Lily Henderson and Carly Ellis have now taken over Studio B at The Hive and are diving into their projects.
Ellis’s 3D work involves weaving within her paintings to create various textures while Henderson creates dioramas that are like scenes from a story. We can’t wait to see more of their work and where it takes them!
You can see Lily and Carly’s work every Wednesday at Open Studio @ The Hive from 4-7pm! Drop in and say hi, check out the studios, meet the artists, and tour The Hive.
