This summer APSU’s Art + Design faculty will partner with the faculty at the Chautauqua Institution School of Art in New York City for the 2019 Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution (VACI) Residency from June 22 through Aug. 10.

Chautauqua is a highly selective summer art program. APSU faculty will select ten students to apply for the program.

The faculty of Chautauqua upon review of the applicants will choose one or two students to attend.

The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts (CECA) will pay for the expenses of the students accepted into the program. The total estimated cost of attendance is $5,000.

While at the Chautauqua Institution School of Art, according to the Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, Professor Barry Jones, “The students who attend Chautauqua will receive mentorship from the core faculty of their choice, guidance from visiting artists who implement projects throughout the summer, access to all of Chautauqua’s events and facilities, and ample studio space to create work.”

Students will have the opportunities to work with renown artists in their fields and grow exponentially in their crafts.

“The experience will be completely life-changing. The core faculty of Chautauqua’s School of Art are very well-known figures in the art world and the connections our students [make] will go a long way to beginning their career as artists,” Jones said.

The partnerships between the Chautauqua Institution and APSU’s Art + Design Department, which allowed for APSU art students to attend Chautauqua, came through the Art + Design’s Gallery Director, Michael Dickins.

“Michael had scheduled Sharon Louden, the Director of Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution, as a visiting artist this fall. While in New York City over the summer, Michael and Sharon had the opportunity to meet, and this partnership sprang from that conversation,” Jones said.

In addition to the relationship between Dickins and Louden, the reputation of the Department of Art + Design and the support of the CECA made the partnership between APSU’s Art + Design and the Chautauqua Institution stronger.