Whitaker
Artists-in-Residence
Program
For over 15 years, the Craft Alliance Artists-In-Residence program has supported emerging and mid-career craft artists looking to expand their artistic horizons and develop their practice in a collaborative, community-based art center.
Craft Alliance is proud to offer this 11-month program to up to two artists each year, starting in September and ending in July. Artists share a private studio and have access to our six main studio areas outside of class. In addition, they receive a monthly materials stipend, a professional development reimbursement fund, tuition waivers for workshops per session, and various teaching and professional development opportunities. The residency culminates in a group exhibition at the Craft Alliance Staenberg Gallery.
2024 Important Dates
February 15 | Application Portal opens
March 15, 5:30 PM | Program Q&A
April 14, 4:00 PM | Application Review Session (sign up here)
April 21, 2:00 PM cst | Program Review Session (virtual)
May 19, 2:00 PM | Application Review Session (sign up here)
May 26 | Application Review portal closes at midnight
June 19 | Semi-Finalist interviews
July 7 | Cohort announced
Proudly sponsored by the Whitaker Foundation
2023-24 Artists Cohort
Dani Collette
Dani Collette is a glass artist currently creating out of St. Louis, Missouri. She has been working with glass since graduating with a BFA in Sculpture and Glass from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale in 2013. Dani works mainly in stained glass, but also creates using blown and kiln formed methods. "My first interactions with glass were at my grandparent’s house, which I believed was full of magic. My grandpa did stained glass and had a really vibrant color palette; they had prisms hanging in their windows, art on every shelf and hanging on every wall. Around every corner were visual treasures. My art practice is built around an effort to recreate those feelings of whimsy and discovery, and to share that magic with a larger audience.”
Artist Statement
Glass is a medium with a language of fragility and strength, transparency and opacity, stillness and movement; playing with those dichotomies is the fulcrum of my work. I look to create magic moments between the viewer and the properties of light as it passes through colored and textured glass. Creating with the intention of challenging the expectations of what glass is and what it can be is the most important ingredient, along with a healthy dose of play as a practice of fulfillment for the audience as well as the maker.
Allora McCullough
Allora McCullough is a ceramic artist and multi-media sculptor. She received an MFA from SUNY New Paltz and a BBA from McKendree University. Her narrative installations include animals, plants, and the human figure. Allora has work in private collections and has exhibited in national museums and galleries. She has been teaching ceramics for the past ten years and is eager to pursue a full time studio practice.
Artist Statement
My art process is a mixture of curiosity, material exploration, and diligent research. I make figurative ceramic sculptures of people, plants, and animals then integrate them with mixed media to create narrative installations. I use my artwork as an attempt to make intangible ideas tangible. Many of my works engage with themes of social issues, painful circumstances, and introspective experiences. I seek to foster conversations around personal and societal growth. I research human psychology, social justice, and world religions to make these concepts relatable and specific. Regardless of the subject matter, the goal is to strengthen connections between people. With compassion and hope for others, I transform spaces into catalysts for conversations necessary to bring about social change.
Craft Alliance is about learning. Having an adventurous view is key. You want to be open. Be crazy because here you can be. You can't afford to be crazy somewhere else, but here you can. So come with that open mind, and come prepared to take challenges upon yourself. And then feel free to drop back when you feel like okay, that's too much. That’s my limit. I can't handle it, but that's fine. You tried it all. This place offers you so much.
