Two Artists Selected for 2016 Mill Hill Visiting Social Practice Artist Program

mill hill logoMacon Arts Alliance is pleased to announce that two artists were selected for the first round of the Mill Hill Visiting Social Practice Artist Residency Program. Samantha Hill and Ed Woodham will be the first Mill Hill Visiting Artists living and working in East Macon’s Fort Hawkins neighborhood from July to October 2016.

The Mill Hill Visiting Artist Program is part of a two-year project that places artists and residents, as collaborators, at the center of a neighborhood cultural planning process. Selected artists are provided with a stipend and housing allowance to live in a renovated mill cottage within the Mill Hill: East Macon Arts Village, a once thriving “mill village” in east Macon. While in Macon, they will work with local residents, local artists, and key stakeholders to develop programming that engages residents, families, and youth living in the area. Residencies culminate in the public presentation of one or more arts-based, community building projects.

“Ed and Samantha were selected for the inaugural year of the visiting artist program because of their experience creating socially engaged art on a neighborhood scale in communities throughout the U.S. and the world,” said Jonathan Harwell-Dye, director of creative placemaking at Macon Arts Alliance.

“One of my goals as an artist is to develop engaging projects with communities about regional histories and culture,” explained Hill. “The Mill Hill Visiting Artist Program will allow me the opportunity to collaborate with Macon artists and residents to develop projects which reflect the cultural aspirations for the Fort Hawkins neighborhood.”

“I’m thrilled and excited to return to my Georgia homeland for an extended stay,” said Woodham. “I look forward to getting to know the residents of Fort Hawkins and the Macon arts community.”

NEA Chairman Jane Chu said, “The arts are part of our everyday lives – no matter who you are or where you live – they have the power to transform individuals, spark economic vibrancy in communities, and transcend the boundaries across diverse sectors of society. Supporting projects like the one from Macon Arts Alliance offers more opportunities to engage in the arts every day.”

“Through the program, these new artists will help to bring a new perspective to community-building in Macon, allowing residents to play a bigger part in transforming their neighborhood and investing in its future,” said Beverly Blake, program director for Macon at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which supports the Mill Hill Visiting Artist Program.
“The Community Foundation is excited to see Mill Hill come to life,” said Kathryn Dennis, president of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia. “The current residents and the visiting artists will increase the vibrancy as they live, work and play together.”

Samantha Hill - Photo by Michael Conti; Image courtesy of the Rasmuson Foundation.
Samantha Hill – Photo by Michael Conti; Image courtesy of the Rasmuson Foundation.
About Samantha Hill

Samantha Hill is a transdisciplinary artist from Chicago, IL with an emphasis on archives, oral story collecting, social projects & art facilitations. Hill creates multi-media installations and performance interventions within historic landmarks and public locations. The purpose of these interventions is to create an ephemeral memorial to a historic moment, which reflects significant components of a region’s culture through community engagement.

Hill participated in residences, exhibitions and public projects for several venues including the Anchorage Museum, Hyde Park Art Center and McColl Center for Art & Innovation. Her work is documented in several publications including the Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquire and WBEZ 90.1 Chicago Public Radio. Hill’s work is also featured in the book Problematizing Public Pedagogy, published by Routledge Press. She received several honors including International Sculpture Center Award in 2006 & 2008 and Philadelphia Sculptors Award.

Ed Woodham - Photo by Rodrigo Viñas
Ed Woodham – Photo by Rodrigo Viñas
About Ed Woodham
For more than 25 years, Ed Woodham has been active in community art, education, and civic interventions, across a variety of media and cultural contexts. A visual and performance artist, puppeteer, and curator, Woodham employs humor, irony, subtle detournement, and a striking visual style in order to encourage greater consideration of – and provoke deeper critical engagement with – the urban environment.Woodham created Art in Odd Places to present visual and performance art to reclaim public spaces in New York City and beyond (2005 to present). Woodham teaches workshops in socially engaged public performances at NYU Hemispheric Institute for EMERGENYC and at School of Visual Arts in NYC for City as Site: Public Art as Social Intervention. In 2015, he was selected as an advisor for Expo 2020 in Dubai, UAE.

 

About Mill Hill: East Macon Arts Village
Mill Hill: East Macon Arts Village is a creative placemaking initiative of the Macon Arts Alliance in partnership with the Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority, the residents of East Macon’s Fort Hawkins Neighborhood, and many local partners including Macon-Bibb County, Coliseum Health System, Regency Hospital, Marriott Macon City Center, Macon Housing Authority, Historic Macon Foundation, New Fellowship Baptist Church, Macon Roving Listeners, Phillips Children’s Performing Arts Studio, the Otis Redding Foundation, The Listening Post, Mercer University’s Research that Reaches Out, Middle Georgia State University’s Center for Applied Research and Education. Mill Hill is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works; the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; the Community Foundation of Central Georgia; the Watson-Brown Foundation; Macon-Bibb County; a number of individual donors; and a generous anonymous donor.

 

nea-lockup-A
knight-logo-300
cfcgalogo