Residency:

701 Center for Contemporary Art

701 Whaley St., 2nd Floor, Columbia, SC 29201

For more information, Contact:

Allison Cicero Moore, Executive Director

(803) 319-9949 | info@701cca.org

www.701cca.org

Tennessee sculptor April Wright is 701 Center for Contemporary Art’s second Covid-19 resident. The Columbia, S.C., center offers the residencies specifically to help artists affected by the coronavirus pandemic. During the paid residencies of four to six weeks, artists will shelter in place at CCA’s live-work loft apartment and create art.

Wright will begin her residency on May 27 and will work at CCA through July 8, 2020. She will host a takeover of CCA social media accounts from June 12 to June 18. Wright will demonstrate how she creates her sculptures so that CCA followers can gain an understanding of her process. She also will ask for public input for a site-specific, installed artwork on the theme of “home” that Wright plans to install somewhere in the 701 Whaley building (where CCA is located). The public can follow 701 CCA on Instagram, Facebook, and/or Twitter to view this takeover and contribute to her project.

In Wright’s pieces, she says, “there remains ever present, a cyclical act of accumulating, repurposing, and building.” Her works consist of “precarious and redolent” sculptures and installations “with gestures of longing for stability within the home.” Wright’s choice of materials is informed by her wish to capture the emotions — both good and bad – within the home.

Wright says she uses “humble everyday materials to simulate fragile moments that live in between abandonment and renewal, connecting emotional and physical landscapes of home.” By transforming such regular, often overlooked materials into works of art, Wright hopes to capture the complex nature of the concept of home. Wright specifically pulls “from emotional support systems that inhabit domestic spaces and empathy of loss from catastrophic events” to create her sculptures.

“As an organization, we have been looking for ways in which we could directly help artists — at least a few artists,” CCA Executive Director Allison Cicero Moore said. “Because we already had to cancel our summer youth workshops due to the coronavirus pandemic, our artist-in-residence space became available for the summer months. We decided to invite artists and provide them with resources including a workspace and a stipend.”

Wright hails from Germantown, Tenn., and she completed her BA in Sculpture and Ceramics at Union University in 2006. Last month, Wright completed her MFA in studio art at the University of Kentucky with a focus in ceramics and fibers. Her most recent solo exhibition was Gentle Cycle at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. In addition to expanding her studies through workshops at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (Gatlinburg, TN), Wright also has taught two and three-dimensional design at the University of Kentucky.

“We are excited to welcome Wright as our second resident in this particular program,” Moore said. “Wright, as a new MFA graduate, is an artist emerging during an uncertain time. Graduation is always a time of transition, but with so many suspended and cancelled arts programs, this is an especially difficult time to establish a career as a professional artist.

“The applicant pool for this residency was competitive, and Wright’s application was especially strong. Wright lost a series of opportunities critical to her income and professional development due to the pandemic, and we intend for this residency to help her regain her professional footing. We also hope her artistic investigations of the idea of ‘home’, especially while many of us remain at home, resonate with the community.

701 CCA’s mission is to promote understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of contemporary art. With a gallery and live-work space for an Artist-in-Residence program, the Center provides artists with resources to develop, create and exhibit visual arts in conjunction with performing, literary and media arts. 701 CCA also offers year-round cultural programming, including contemporary art exhibitions and events that are free and open to the public.

For further inquiries or high-resolution images, contact Allison Cicero Moore, Executive Director, at info@701cca.org or (803) 319-9949.

701 CCA is located at 701 Whaley Street, 2nd Floor, Columbia, SC 29201. While our gallery is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, please visit us online at www.701cca.org and follow us @701cca via social media.