Shenandoah National Park announces 2022 artists in residence

Shenandoah National Park on Monday announced the selection of ve artists for its annual Artist-in-Residence program.

The program, which is supported by a donation from the Shenandoah National Park Trust, gives artists of all disciplines an opportunity to creatively explore Shenandoah’s natural and cultural resources. Each artist will spend three weeks in the park and will create an original piece reflecting on the experience to donate to the park. Artists also present public programs about their art and their residencies.

Rappahannock County residents, including the Washington artist Kevin Adams, in the past have been selected for the program. The following artists have been selected for Shenandoah’s 2022 Artist-in-Residence program:

Jillian Sico - Sico is a printer, papermaker, and bookbinder pursuing an MFA in Book Arts at the University of Alabama. Her work is inspired by the slow, quiet reality that she encounters in wild places and natural processes. Making paper by hand, growing bers and dye plants, and carving wood all require a quiet, meditative patience. Slowing down, engaging fully with the materials, and spending time outdoors allows Jillian to think deeply about how we, as humans, connect with nature. Sico was selected as the May artist and will be in the park from May 9-30.

Sandy Kessler Kaminski - Kessler Kaminski believes in the power of art to transform individuals and communities. She is influenced by the world around us. A classically trained artist, she has integrated contemporary materials and processes into her work. As a result, she is able to make thoughtful, interesting, and exciting works including long-lasting exterior paintings, pastels and sculpture. Over the past decade she has used an approach to public art that is both reflective of the people involved in its creation and inclusive of the viewer. Kessler Kaminski was selected as the July artist and will be in the park from July 15 to Aug. 5.

Ken Heyman – Heyman relishes the pleasure of painting. He prefers plein air painting, the act of painting outdoors, for the simple purity of the experience. Working directly on-site in nature to capture the essence of the landscape forces spontaneity into the process; including the changing sun, wind and weather. Heyman layers the color on thickly with a palette knife or big brush, focusing his attention to the elements of color theory and composition. He likes to work fast, and transfer the physical energy to the canvas with visible brush strokes and motion. Heyman was selected as the August artist and will be in the park from Aug. 15 to Sept. 6.

Jaime Barks - Barks grew up roaming the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. Those countless hours she spent wandering the woods as a child are evident in her work which is based on places she has been. Jaime uses a combination of reference images and sketches done on location to capture the feeling of a place. Barks was selected as the September artist and will be in the park from Sept. 7-29.

Carl Johnson – Johnson is an award-winning nature photographer who resides in the hillside area of Anchorage, Alaska. He creates his art in order to better understand the world around him and gain a deeper connection to it. That connection fuels a passion, which in turn further drives his desire to gain a full understanding of place. Through his art, he notices the world, sees details and light in a way he has not seen before. Texture, color lines, shadow; they all come together to tell a story to isolate discrete elements from what is otherwise the chaos of the natural world. Whether tundra or boreal forest, the land is full of complexities. Johnson was selected as the October artist and will be in the park from Oct. 17 to Nov. 7.