BLM names artist in residence for King Range

Madeleine Grace Kelly, a painter and art instructor, has been selected for the spring session of the Bureau of Land Management Artist in Residence Program at the King Range National Conservation Area.

During her four-week residency, she will lead two community art workshops and plein air painting outings and offer a gallery showing of the art she creates while staying on the Lost Coast.

The residency begins April 24 and ends May 18 with a gallery showing at the Shelter Cove Arts and Recreation Foundation Gallery. Dates for the public workshops and outings will be available as details are finalized.

“We are looking forward to hosting Madeleine with the Artist in Residence Program,” said Paul Sever, manager of the King Range NCA. “Her artistic approach should be well received at the community workshops.”

Kelly described a unique aspect of her residency in her AIR proposal.

“I collect water everywhere I go. … I mix that water with paint to imbue my objects with the essence of time and place and the memory that the water carries,” she said. “I paint the spirit of the land to reflect our interdependence and kinship.”

Some of Kelly's work can be viewed on her website, www.madgkelly.com.

Kelly has a bachelor's de-* gree from the University of San Francisco and will complete a Master of Fine Arts degree in May at the University of New Orleans, where she's been an art instructor since 2021.

She will be the eighth artist to participate in the King Range AIR program, in which artists draw inspiration from the beauty of the Lost Coast. The program is a partnership between the BLM and the Shelter Cove Arts and Recreation Foundation.