Artists-In-Residence in the New Year

The Church in Sag Harbor has lined up a series of artists and performers to take part in its artists-in-residence program in 2024. Residents have been nominated for selection by community members and industry colleagues. Here are the first residents of the year.

From January 2 to 14, Ryan McNamara will continue development of a new performance piece “Kinetic Grace” at The Church. He will be joined by collaborators Liv Bruce, Sigrid Lauren, Rebecca Patek, and Josh Weidenmiller.

McNamara is a Brooklyn-based artist who works in performance, video, photography, drawing and sculpture. His work has been featured at MoMA PS1, The Guggenheim New York, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, ICA Boston, Perez Art Museum Miami, ICA London, The Garage Moscow, The Power Plant Toronto, the Athens Biennale and The High Line New York. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

From January 2 to 22, artist Peter Solow will be in residence to produce a unified series of two-dimensional mixed-medium works that recreate the experience of standing in a piazza or city square. The project receives its inspiration from the two Italian cities Venice and Florence, specifically their campos and piazzas.

Solow is a visual artist whose work is in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of American Art-Smithsonian Institute, The Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, the Samuel P. Harn Museum and the Newark Museum. Solow attended Boston University, graduated from Cooper Union with a BFA and Goddard College with a Master's in Education. He has had an extensive teaching career and is the former coordinator and a present trustee of The Donald Reutershan Education Trust. Solow lives in Sag Harbor.

From January 25 to 29, LayeRhythm, with Mai Lê Hô featuring Ivan “HeatRock” Cofield, Daniel Grey, Kaleb “Klassic K-Man” Hopkins, Cal Hunt, Mike Manson and Amir “RQTEK” Idris, will be in residence to focus on community engagement, presenting a variety of dance and movement-based workshops for youth on the East End.

LayeRhythm was founded in 2015 by House dancer Mai Lê Hô as a monthly interactive, improvisational street/club music and dance jam sessions at clubs in New York City It has since been presented in performances at venues and festivals that include Jacob's Pillow, the Guggenheim Museum, Bridge Street Theater, 92NY, NY Public Library for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, Gibney, Hook Arts Media, Rolling Stone, Teatro Yerbabruja, Queens County Farm Museum and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, PotaY.

LayeRhythm Productions, Inc. was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2020 and has spotlighted 300-plus local and international street/club dancers and musicians (ages 21 to 60). Artists include African American, Latinx, Asian, LGBTQ+ and immigrant communities.

Additional 2024 artists-in-residence are: Mercer Shavelson (music composition), Nile Harris(dance/performance), Tess Dworman (mixed media/playwright), Mr. Wash (painting), Meg Wolitzer (novelist), Jennie Jieun Lee (mixed media), Nolan Doran (composer/lyricist), Houston Cypress(writing/photography), Kaitlin Pomerantz (mixed media), Hadi Falapishi (mixed media), Sean Kierre Lyons (2D design/installation), Rhea Nowak (mixed media/works on paper), Arta Jekabsone (musician), David Grundy (poetry), Thymaya Payne (film direction), Quincy Flowers (writing), Olga Tomkowiak (performance/photography), Jordan Seaberry (mixed media/painting), Jenny Xie (writing, fiction), Mira Dougherty-Johnson (writing), Hugh Ryan (writing, non-fiction), Mfoniso Udofia(playwright), Gisela McDaniel (painting), Claudia Hilda Rodriguez Pozo (performance/choreography), Pip Mothersill (new media/scientific research), Victoria Roth (painting/works on paper), Robynn Smith (painting/works on paper), Wayne Gonzales (painting), Andreas Laszlo Konrath(photography/mixed media), Malcolm-x Betts (dance/choreography), Pamela Sneed (mixed media), Robert Taylor (writing), and Michelle Ross (musician).

“Our rhythmic, annual cadence features diverse makers and mediums and fosters artistic innovation and cross-disciplinary dialogues between artists of all backgrounds. We aim to keep alive the tradition of artistic ingenuity that is endemic to the history of Eastern Long Island,” said Sheri Pasquarella, executive director of The Church.

When co-founders April Gornik and Eric Fischl first built and conceived of The Church, a key component was an interdisciplinary residency program. The intent was to nurture artistic innovation and dialogue, while making artistic processes and concepts accessible to the wider community. The residency was located within The Church itself and managed by chief curator Sara Cochran. Inaugural artists residents in 2021 and 2022 included Martha Graham Dance Company, Claude Lawrence and Leslee Stradford, Jay Hardin, Mary Ellen Bartley, Jim Gingerich, Adam Gopnik, Bill Goldstein, and others.

In 2023, the residency moved to a building two blocks away, and brought 41 makers to Sag Harbor, including a “Community Residency” of six artists from the region, and a total of 66 percent BIPOC-identified artists across the whole program. In 2024, the residency will move back to the 48 Madison Street site, with residency durations of up to three weeks per resident. For more information, visit thechurchsagharbor.com.