EMERGE
The EMERGE AIR program aims to elevate and support artists in the emerging phase of their creative careers by providing 24/7 access to studio space, creative community, and related department tools and equipment, thereby broadening and strengthening the greater creative community in Maine.
Application decisions will be made by a small panel of local professional artists with extensive knowledge in print or clay. The 2025 - 26 EMERGE Artist in Residence panelists include Elizabeth Jabar (print), Ian Colewell (printmaking & EMERGE AIR Alumni), and Aidan Fraser (ceramics).
Important 2025 dates:
Application opens: March 1st
Application Deadline: April 30th
Notification: late May
Announcements: early June
Info Session #1: February 25
Info Session #2: March 18th
There are two EMERGE sessions per year hosting a print and clay artist during each one.
Session 1: September 1, 2025 - January 31, 2026
Session 2: March 1, 2026 - July 31, 2026
EMERGE AIRs have access to:
24/7 private studio space for five months
Department tools & equipment
Creative community
Members-only events
$250 stipend for materials
Professional photoshoot
Spotlight in the RWS newsletter
Opportunity to access additional departments
10% membership discount upon completion of the program
Pictured: 2024-25 Session 1 Print AIR Bea Willemsen.
Photo credit: Bret Woodard
Pictured: 2024-25 Session I Print AIR Julia Arredondo.
Photo credit: Bret Woodard
2024 -25 Session 1 EMERGE Artists in Residence
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Bea Willemsen
2024-25 EMERGE AIR: Clay
Bea Willemsen (she/ they) just completed the RWS EMERGE Artist in Residence in Clay program this January.* Bea has been a member of RWS since September 2022. They were previously profiled for the February 2024 RWS newsletter.
With this residency, Bea has taken the opportunity to grow their practice through scale and theme. Having access to the EMERGE private clay studio space, they can leave their work out and come back to it without the extra time it takes to set up and clean up. This has allowed for more productive use of their time. Having space has also allowed them to work on a much grander scale, and it has sped up their process because they can work on multiple pieces at once. Having space with close proximity to a kiln has mitigated the risk of transporting their work from offsite and allowed them more flexibility while working with a delicate medium.
The large pieces that Bea has been focusing on during the residency have shifted, somewhat, thematically but still retain the playful nature of their production work. Bea works seasonally in that from spring through fall they are in production mode and create work that is life-size and functional, like vases and trinket boxes. During the winter months, Bea focuses on challenging themselves through experimentation. The larger sculptural fine art pieces they have been working on during the residency is a continuation of their prior experiments while pushing the boundaries of the hierarchy of art and what the term ‘functional’ means.
The large sculptures they are working on now they label 'pop art furniture-scale' sculptures. Bea is currently working on twin seltzer cans that are about two-and-a-half feet high. Their purpose, or functionality, is to serve as side tables. Functionality aside, the seltzer cans are stunning not only for their size but for how well-crafted they are, which is purpose enough. They are objects that push the boundaries of their technical skill with porcelain. Creating in this size brings life to these everyday objects through the absurd.
Visual language has always been a way for Bea to put a feeling into the world without having to struggle to find the right words. Other themes in the work Bea has created during their residency have a deeper connection to their identity, “For me it’s exploring both how I have come into my own queerness and have experienced that, and tying it to the history of the folks who have come before and this larger idea of queerness within culture.” The other series of sculptures Bea has been working on are vessels covered in queer signaling objects. One vessel is covered in Subaru keys, another vessel with carabiners, and a third with bandanas. Making these objects has been a way for Bea to take ideas and feelings and put them into the world in a way that they can look at them and understand them and better understand themselves as a result.
Bea’s practice is a way for them to play and a joyful expression of self that has not always been joyful or accepted. “When it comes to queerness in my work, I find the expression of queer identity is so vital. There can’t be enough of it.” One cannot separate the identity of queerness from the art because there is no interacting with their personhood without their queerness. If you are, Bea says, you are not getting them.
Bea is currently developing new thought lines with Medieval art and queerness and the intersection of Renaissance fair imagery with more modern vessels and shapes. Bea hopes to participate in more residencies in the future because they are a great way to delve deep into work and focus. They would love to see their work in more galleries and shows and fine art spaces because of the deep appreciation for art and recognition of the labor that goes into it.
Bea has a show of her work this March at 33 By Hand on High Street in Portland. Contact them via email (beawillemsens@gmail.com), on Instagram (@moltenmud), or through their website (moltenmud.com).
* EMERGE recipients are chosen by an outside panel of professional Maine-based artists.
Images provided by Bret Woodard and the artist.
Julia Arredondo
2024-25 EMERGE AIR: Print
Julia Arredondo (she/ they) completed the EMERGE Artist in Residence in Print program this January. They hold a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and MFA from Columbia College Chicago. They have multiple practices going at once including a series of star vessel prints, amuletic icons, and zines that use artifact imagery. Julia also does design work and is currently developing a visual language. Making art is a practice of devotion for Julia.
Julia has always been a ‘print person’. Their love of print started with typewriters and photocopiers in their mom’s office. The image making process is Julia’s way of drawing. Printing is an act of formalization for them, a finishing process. They can’t see what they’ve made until it’s in print format. Zines have become an integral part of their practice because they travel well and can be circulated easily.
Julia's grandparents were migrant workers who eventually settled in South Texas. Though Julia is not a farm worker, they have traveled in search of opportunity and their process is place-based. Over the past decade Julia has spent a lot of time moving from city to city and studio to studio, “I can’t ignore how that has influenced the work that I make, both in the design influences and the mediums that I produce.” Being on the road was exciting but it was also disruptive to Julia’s practice. In the past few years Julia has started to slow down. They have a rich collection of experiences to draw from and the ideas and motifs in their work are an accumulation of the memories from these travels. They can map out the connections between their travels and the different ideas in the work. While in Chicago, Julia’s work was much more product oriented and slicker. Being able to replicate an image in print and sell it knowing it will be in people's homes is a source of joy for Julia. They are responsive to the market and when they moved to Maine they felt a shift happen. “Mainers are not into this slick, super commodifiable aesthetic.” The adjustment has given their work a more organic feel because of greater accessibility to nature.
Since coming to Maine, they have had their first access to clay and have been able to experiment in ways that weren’t accessible to them in the city. Their series of star vessels started during the pandemic. Julia had wanted to work in a three-dimensional way but lacked access to studio space. They started designing dream vessels and mapping them out with stars. They spent hours drawing. The repetitious nature of the project was meditative for them. When Julia gained access to ceramic studios they started transferring the motifs to ceramic forms. For Julia the vessel represents the human body and the stars are celestial. The joining of the two is a statement of how we are celestial beings.
Julia appreciates Maine’s collaborative community and worked with a coffin maker in Waterville, which led to their exploration of pine as a medium. They started making three-dimensional objects using pine and wax in their talisman practice. These magical objects are designed to bring about desired outcomes to the individual who produced or owns them. Desired outcomes range from finding a job, to gaining wealth, to keeping the law away, to enticing a lover, and more. Talismans can be made from almost anything and usually have a natural element incorporated into them. Amulets serve a similar purpose and are slicker, more mass produced. Julia became fascinated with these objects going to a botanica store growing up. They grew up in an Evangelical family and community where conversations around the occult were taboo. These objects are an expression of Julia’s spiritual devotion outside of the context of organized religion....
Read the rest of the profile here.
View examples of Julia’s personal symbology at their upcoming solo show at SPACE Gallery, May 2 - June 21, 2025. The work in the show will be in conversation with Blissymbolics, tramp symbols, and magical motifs. Contact Julia through their website juliaarredondo.com or on Instagram (@future_juju).
Images provided by Bret Woodard and the artist.
EMERGE AIR ALUMNI
Read past interviews with & see work from EMERGE Alumni