[Blanchard Dam in Royalton, MN, roughly one hour from Art In Motion on bicycle via the Soo Line Trail.]
For the past 5 years, the MCAD MFA program has partnered with other arts organizations to co-sponsor funded MFA Launch programs, providing opportunities for MFA students and alumni to create new work. This past summer, as part of the Launch program at Art in Motion, Holdingford MN, Nick Chatfield-Taylor , MFA ‘23, and Ali Yager, MFA ’23, participated in a two-week artist residency. They share their reflections on the experience in a conversational interview.
Nick We had very different approaches to this residency. You had a strict schedule to create numerous pieces for your show with Isaiah Okongo at the Art In Motion gallery, and worked pretty much all day for the first week or so we were there. You made wall hanging work for the show, made site-specific installations, dots and screens and color everywhere. In comparison, I just sort of…
Ali You whittled. So many spoons. Seriously though, you were really able to engage with the surrounding community and the Lake Wobegon Trail. I think we were both able to get what we needed to make work at this residency, although we each needed very different things. I live in a community with similar amenities to Holdingford and what this residency provided me was uninterrupted time to work without the daily distractions of parenting and homemaking. Whereas your life in Minneapolis has different distractions and you were able to generate ideas through quieter experiences afforded by this rural community. We both ate very well though! I still think about that Broccoli Salad. So, if any, can you share any generative experiences while you were biking the trail?
Nick Okay, yes, so many spoons. I was still decompressing from grad school, as I still am today, and my energy was a bit all over the place. The residency allowed me to carve a spoon for an hour, bike to the damn dam, and begin planning the classes I was teaching this past fall, in any order on any given day. I was in the drift, sort of adjacent to Guy Debord’s ‘dérive’ that Ellen Mueller teaches about in her Walking As An Artistic Practice classes. As she quotes, “The participants of a Dérive must ‘let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there.’”
Allowing myself to not have a schedule, to not be bound, was key to reminding myself about parts of my practice that had been shelved during the rigors of school. Like you explained to me, if you set out to see the northern lights, they won’t appear. You just have to go out and be present and one night they’ll be there for you. Biking the trail, there were no northern lights, but there were eagles, a different sky every day, pockets of shade and expanses of sun, and even a Scarlet Tanager. And based on your family’s reaction when I mentioned it, that’s a rare sight that I happened to catch in the drift.
[Two works in progress by Ali Yager, created while in residency at Art In Motion.]
Ali Scarlet Tanagers are special! Although I was grateful for the time and space away from my family, two weeks was entirely too long to stay away. My family, including my parents, came to Art in Motion, and my daughter stayed over one night. She had a blast. It is important that I include her in my process of making work, because if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to make it. She is so much of me.
I am really fortunate to have shared this residency with you, in particular, because you had already invested in building relationships with my family over our time at MCAD. A very valuable aspect of this residency for me is the building of our friendship. You keep me tethered to my network and give me good reason to show up to events in the city.
I also really enjoyed engaging with the community members that frequent Art in Motion. Lily B, the arts coordinator at the time, was generous enough to schedule an overlap of a dual show I was accepted to at AIM and our residency. It was such a gift to be staying there while my work was up in the Gallery. I was able to hear people that had no other connection to me discuss my work. One man sat in front of one of my drawings for at least 20 minutes. There’s not a lot more I could hope for when someone encounters my work.
[View of the Zoom In, Stay A While gallery show at Art In Motion featuring Ali Yager and Isaiah Okongo.]
Nick Time together. Time apart. Time with. Time against. Being granted time might be the fundamental aspect of any residency, and I think we both found ways to make use of it. With the support of Lily, Greg, Cindy, and everyone in the cafe who nourished us. I think it was the soup and sandwich combo that did it for me. Sustenance for long bike rides and hours at the drawing board.
Speaking of time, aren’t you about to start teaching at Saint Cloud State? Have you got The Shining audiobook all queued up?
Ali I sure am! Also at Saint Cloud Technical and Community College. I hope my students agree to getting through the audiobook of The Shining together during studio time. I think it’s a good way to build community within the classroom. I guess I’m about to find out. Any tips for me now that you are a seasoned professor? Audiobook recommendations? What was your favorite sandwich?
Agree with you 100% on the gift of time, nourishment and shelter. Everybody at Art in Motion was so great. Their commitment to the arts and creating access in Holdingford is pretty unique. Special shout out to Melissa who shared her space with us and your pup Laika and my kid.
Nick Suggestions from this oldtimer? I think if I look at our residency at Art In Motion, and our separate uses of the space and time there, I would say to create an adjacent space for your students.
Learning art, studying art, becoming an artist, it’s a hike, not a race. There is no finish line. Every student starts from a unique place, and they all end their time with you in a unique location. You can make the hike as interesting or boring as you’d like. Maybe it’s both. Boredom is a powerful tool. Let the students be daunted at times. Nourish them with metaphorical broccoli salads. Listen to them. Scare them a little. Let them make mistakes. In fact, get them to make mistakes. You can’t create the accident that will shift their perspective, but you can create the environment that will allow the accident to happen.
[Ali and her daughter Sonja walking down the hill towards Art In Motion; Nick’s spoons that were whittled and wiggled while in residency; the sunset over Art In Motion and the BoHo Cafe.]
