Silvermine Arts Center has established a new Fulbright residency program, initiated and funded by artist and philanthropist Janet Hennessey Dilenschneider and Robert Dilenschneider, and managed by the International Institute of Education (IIE).
— an announcement from Silvermine Arts Center
The IIE supports flagship exchange programs, including Fulbright, “to make the world a more interconnected place.”
Silvermine is delighted to announce the inaugural artist in residence, Ivana Radovanovich, from Centinje, Montenegro. She earned a PhD at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Serbia, and is pursuing post-doctoral research at St. John’s University in New York as a Fulbright scholar. In 2017, she represented Montenegro at the Venice Biennale.
Radovanovich is an innovative sculptor and teacher who explores, in her words, “inner freedom, transience, the qualities of emptiness, and the human body.”
She amplifies her themes through evocative literary references. She transforms “discarded materials that have lost their function”—jute bags, burlap, fishing nets, wool, hay—into monumental and often site-specific sculptures. Radovanovich will spend the first two weeks of June on the Silvermine campus.
Photo from Silvermine Arts Center
“The Quiet Affinity for Fleetness,” large-scale sculptures by Ivana Radovanovich, 2.7 to 3 meters, burlap, straw, rope, wool, fishing net and soil, 2011-2018
The residency was created to foster creative, intellectual and professional growth for emerging or established visual artists who will have access to Silvermine faculty as well as a private workspace and generous studio time. The artist in residence will focus on a single discipline or an interdisciplinary project.
Artist Jan Dilenschneider, whose support made the residency possible, has exhibited her paintings in the U.S. and in Paris. She was educated at Ohio State University, The National Academy of Design in New York, the North Shore Art League in Illinois, and the Silvermine Arts Center.
Philanthropic work is an essential part of her life. She serves on the board of several non-profit organizations, including the Connecticut Arts Council, Connecticut Art Foundation, and Family Centers, Inc. in Greenwich. She has been honored with many awards for her charitable work and her art.
Through the International Institute of Education, Ms. Dilenschneider also sponsors the “Scholar Rescue Award in the Arts,” and with that support, IIE placed scholars from Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh in leading U.S. universities.
“Silvermine is honored to welcome Ivana Radovanovich, and we look forward to hosting IIE scholars on our campus to further their artistic excellence and foster cultural exchange. Being part of the Fulbright Program is consistent with Silvermine’s vision to champion art as the vehicle to create cultural bridges of understanding throughout the world,” said Rose-Marie Fox, board chair of Silvermine Arts Center.
“Our facilities allow the Fulbright Scholar to work in mediums ranging from metal working and foundry, woodworking, and digital graphics to more traditional painting, printmaking, sculpture and photography, and we are grateful to Jan Dilenschneider for providing the scholarship.”
The Silvermine Fulbright residency will run for two weeks in January and June and is open to current foreign Fulbright grantees and Fulbright visiting scholars. Artists will have the opportunity to work with a Silvermine faculty member as a mentor.
In addition, Gallery Director Roger Mudre and Director of Strategy Robin Jaffee Frank will be available for conversations about the artist’s project.
Gallery opportunities at Silvermine may include an artist talk about the current project during the residency and future participation in a group or solo exhibition in the Silvermine Galleries.
Deadlines for the residency application will fall on April 15 and October 15 of each year. For more information, visit this Web page on the Silvermine Arts Center website.