Bloedel Reserve’s Artist and Scholar Residency Program announced its second residency candidate.
Artist Hilda Shen has been awarded a residency at Bloedel Reserve for the summer of 2015.
Shen’s mixed media work has hung in galleries throughout New York, and her residency background includes attending Yosemite National Park Artist-in-Residence & Platte Clove Residency. Shen is also an assistant professor at Parsons The New School for Design in New York.
Shen is the second resident to participate in the Bloedel Residency Program. Former Washington State Poet Laureate Kathleen Flenniken held the position during the month of April.
Begun earlier this year, the reserve’s residency program has quickly become a place where selected artists stay and enjoy unlimited access to the 150-acre public garden. The program is open to both professional and emerging artists as well as composers, writers, botanists, landscape architects, researchers and others looking to explore the themes of nature and the human connection with the natural world.
“The residency program at Bloedel nicely aligns with our founder’s vision to provide refreshment and tranquility in nature,” said Ed Moydell, Bloedel Reserve’s executive director. “Research shows a direct correlation between time spent outdoors and individuals’ creativity levels. We are thrilled to provide a place of inspiration and to be part of the creative process.”
The multi-week retreats allow participants long stretches of uninterrupted time and a place to escape everyday demands. In return for their stay, participants are asked to give something back to the community at large. This can be in the form of a class, lecture, reading or performance.
For her community outreach, Shen will lecture on the subject of “Nature as Inspiration” at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16.
She will discuss how nature has shaped her life and her thinking. Accompanied by visuals, Shen will explore how the influential complexities of nature has inspired her art.
The cost to attend is $5 for reserve members, $10 for nonmembers, and includes the opportunity to walk the grounds afterwards.
For more information, visit www.bloedelreserve.org.
