Our third iteration of the Pedantic Arts Residency came to a close in early July 2023. As we get ready for the fourth installment of our program, we’d like to share some highlights from the Summer 2023 group.
We bookend each residency period with an opening event and a closing event to celebrate the cohort and their time in Pittsburgh. This time for the closing event, we reached out to each of the residents and asked them a couple of questions about their time in the city.
1) Did you enjoy your time in Pittsburgh and its arts community?
2) Do you think this residency period helped spur ideas for your creative practice?
Take a second to read their answers and get to know about our third cohort’s experience.
Akea Brionne:
1) I had an incredible time in Pittsburgh and enjoyed being able to learn more about how special it is as a community. The arts community is unique and is full of incredibly talented individuals who have a lot to say. I look forward to following the work of artists I’ve met while here; there are many gems who call Pittsburgh home.
2) This residency definitely helped to spur a lot of creative ideas and I am looking forward to being able to build on those ideas. More than bringing me new ideas, being here brought me closer to specific themes that have always been on my mind and re-centered those conversations in my practice. My time here has clarified a lot of important discussions for my own work.
Chenoa Baker:
My answer is yes, absolutely! My goals for this residency were modeling work/life balance and thinking about my next steps in the city that directed me to work in the arts. It has been an invaluable experience to reconnect with the arts ecosystem in different ways and learning from the resident cohort.
Chad Bilyeu:
1) I loved my time at Pedantic. Being able to learn so much about the Pittsburgh arts community in such a short time was truly wonderful. Even the mediums that weren’t of particular interest to me, were still inspirational, as the commitment to the creation in an autotelic fashion was palpable in all of the venues we frequented and within the people we met. The people I met were talented and affable, and extremely welcoming. I’ve never experienced anything as such, so it was an honor to be a part of program.
I would say so. I got the opportunity to be productive during the residency, and was able to finish up an issue of my comic series. It was nice to consider my own productivity and practice in relation to the artists and creators that I met. It has been nice to speak with so many artistic professionals. These folks definitely broadened my understanding of what it takes to be full-time artist.
Photos by Cam Brown