Visiting Artist
Susan Cooley-Gilliom Artist in Residence and Teaching (ART) Program
ART Program
The Susan Cooley-Gilliom Artist in Residence and Teaching (ART) Program is a lasting gift to the many artists, arts educators and students, and arts enthusiasts we are fortunate to have in our community. The program represents a significant part of Susan’s lasting legacy–as a beloved local artist and environmental advocate.
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The ART program works to develop and enhance the visual arts through short-term residencies and workshops taught by nationally-established and highly reputable artists who create in a range of media. Past visiting artists include: Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen, Michelle Ross, Richard Notkin, Katherine Ace, Laura Ross Paul, Tip Toland, Sergei Isupov, Phoebe Toland, Michelle Gregor, Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Jason Walker, Mark Abildgaard and Jennifer Rugge, Marsha Godoy-Schindler, Ruth Ellen Hoag, and Ray Gonzales.
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This program is offered in partnership with Blue Line Arts. To learn more about open Calls to Artists click here.
2025 VISITING ARTIST
Jane Ingram Allen
The Susan Cooley-Gilliom Artist in Residence and Teaching (ART) Program recipient for 2025 is paper artist Jane Ingram Allen.
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Hosted by Blue Line Arts, Jane will be offering two hands-on workshops, a lecture and open studio hours.
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To see the schedule of events during the residency, click here.
Artist Statement
My indoor and outdoor art installations start with making the paper by hand using local waste plant materials (leaves and bark) and plant fibers (from old blue jeans and sheet pulps). I also use seeds for wildflowers or to feed the birds in the pulp to produce continually evolving artworks that transform with nature as a partner. In my recent “Living Quilts” outdoor installations, the handmade paper dissolves over time becoming compost to nourish the earth, and the seeds sprout and grow to produce food and habitat for wildlife as well as aesthetic experiences for humans bringing us closer to the wonders of nature.
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The structures I create, such as the nests or the beds with a headboard and footboard on which the “living quilt” is placed, are made of wood and branches and last well for many years, until they too dissolve as compost to nourish the earth. These works comment on our vain hope for permanency in art and our desire to conquer nature rather than exist in harmony with the earth. With my latest projects focused on water and climate change, I hope to raise awareness about our dire circumstances, with too little water and too much water in different places at different times, and project optimism for a better future with seeds that depend on water like all life to sprout and grow into new life. I also focus on rivers and other waterways that connect and conduct life like the veins and arteries in our bodies. Mapping the lines of rivers and waterways with paper and threads is a way of understanding the path of water through our lives.
