Shenandoah National Park recently announced five Artists-in-Residence for the annual immersive experience in the great outdoors, including a UVA alumna.
The program, supported by the Shenandoah National Park Trust, gives artists an opportunity to creatively explore rich natural and cultural resources while pursuing their art. Participants will spend three weeks — one each from May to October — living in Shenandoah and create an original piece reflecting their experience, to donate to the park.
Artists will also present public programs during the residency, according to a park release.
Artist-in-Residence programs exist at various National Park Service sites to inspire artists to create and share art that motivates and encourages millions of people to visit and explore, and helps build awareness and develop stewardship of the beautiful public lands, the release stated.
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Participating in Shenandoah’s 2024 Artist-in-Residence program will be:
- Lia Pikus, a cellist, composer and multidisciplinary artist whose practice centers around art’s ability to cultivate experiences of connection, both within community and in dialogue with the natural world. The Thomas J. Watson fellow has researched this connective power on a global scale, exploring the role of art in fostering community. Her current explorations of live looping as a form of meditative ritual is the central focus of songs on Ritual, released in February. Pikus will be in the park from May 1-22.
Ohio artist and educator Megan Evans uses her art to investigate nature, specifically the way in which mathematical concepts are represented according to the park release. She has always been interested in the recurring shapes seen within the natural environment. Through repetition of shape and natural elements, her paintings reflect elements of the world in a nontraditional way. A teacher with Columbus City Schools for 25 years, Evans exhibits throughout Ohio. She will be in Shenandoah from July 8-29.
Her upcoming album, Malybanchia, is inspired from her journey along the Mississippi River and residency at the childhood home of American author, Carson McCullers. Bobruk is launching an online global songwriting club for teens, called Tuneagers, and created the 2018 documentary, “Borderlanders,” where she rode the Texas/Mexico border on a motorcycle and interviewed locals about life in the region. During her residency, she will be writing songs inspired by nature and the stories she encounters from park visitors. Bobruk will be in the Shenandoah from Oct. 3-24.
