about the program
The Artist-in-Residence Program brings an artist or art collective to the University of Rochester to conduct research, produce a body of work, and teach a selection of studio art courses. Students are directly involved with the artist(s) through a flexible course program specially designed by the artist(s): two courses in the fall and one course in the spring.
The resident artist(s) is given the opportunity to pursue their research and/or realize a specific project, drawing on the University of Rochester's resources including: its labs and facilities; faculty and student body; practice and performance space; archives, libraries, research centers, and special collections. During the course of their residencies, the artist(s) will create a project that engages with the campus and greater community and will give one public presentation along with a cumulative exhibition, performance, screening or public installation.
Candidates for the program include those who have recently graduated with their MFA or PhD, or are already established artists who demonstrate the ability to collaborate across disciplinary fields. Candidates whose work spans into the natural or social sciences, and those who work with digital and film media, environmental humanities, design, or architectural studies, are given preference. The artist(s) are selected by the faculty and staff of the Department of Art and Art History.
current resident
We are thrilled to welcome Ash Arder as our first artist-in-residence to pilot the program. Arder is a transdisciplinary artist who creates idea- and object-based systems for interpreting and re-imagining interspecies relations
(i.e., the relations between humans and plants). Her research-based approach examines these relationships primarily through pop culture and historic (both personal and shared) lenses.
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A Study: Collision Detection
Collision refers to the intersection of two or more objects—virtual or real. Detection speaks to capturing that moment of intersection, specifically with regard to time and force of impact.
In a series of new visual meditations, Ash Arder examines computer science techniques aimed at simulating the effects of natural phenomena like wind and rain on vegetation. Mathematical equations and computational systems are loosely translated into real life scenarios… or is it the other way around?