"Because of this residency I was able to find my voice." That is what made Rachel Vera Steinberg's experience of the SHIFT Residency so indelible. Roddy Schrock tells us that SHIFT is "focused towards arts administrators who are also artists, but in a bigger perspective it is saying... you can be a creative artist and you can be another thing; they can both have equal value."
When I decided to create a residency for artists who work in the arts, I never expected it to develop as rapidly or profoundly as it has. In four years, I witnessed artists make tremendous leaps as they were provided an opportunity to recharge their artistic practice and realign it with their work at arts organizations. Each year, seven artists/arts-workers are invited, via a nomination process, to be SHIFT residents. Artists who work for MoMA, Flux Factory, Eyebeam, the Bronx Museum, and twenty other organizations have participated in SHIFT, building a dynamic and expanding community of alumni.
We are grateful to the foundations and individuals who have been instrumental in supporting the earliest phase of the residency. The potential for what it can become within the next five, ten, fifteen years and beyond is boundless. To continue this essential project that honors and nurtures artists who work to support the arts community, we must ask the arts community for support.
Become an early patron of SHIFT Residency! To give you a sense of where your money will go: $25 helps fund basic maintenance, $50 to $100 goes toward materials, $500 goes toward artists stipends, $1,000 goes toward exhibitions and publications, $2,500 goes toward retreats, and $5,000 goes toward professional consultants and administration of the program. Please donate to EFA Project Space and include in the "Donations Specifications" section that your donation is for SHIFT Residency.
Thank you for your efforts to secure funds for the future of SHIFT. With your help, the residency is able to thrive through challenging and changing times.
Warm wishes,
Michelle Levy
Director, EFA Project Space
Warm wishes,
Michelle Levy
Director, EFA Project Space
EFA Project Space, a program of The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. All donations are tax deductible to the full extent provided by law.
Image credit: Opening reception for A Necessary SHIFT, featuring artists from SHIFT residency. Foreground: Carolyn Sickles, Golden Ridge, 2013.