Story and photo by Susan Meeker
COLUSA, CA (MPG) – The Colusa County Arts Council on Saturday hosted a reception to celebrate the artists who were provided the time and space to practice their craft and grow from their experience in a rural community.
The work of Vanessa Lin, Gabriel Garza, Kyrna Berman-Gestring, Heather Hardison, Iris De La Torre, and Jamie Servais was on display at the well-attended gathering. The artists took part in the Social Studies Residency program during the spring and summer of 2023, with several returning for Saturday’s gallery event.
“The residency was great,” said Berman-Gestring, 30, a multidisciplinary artist originally from South Florida, who uses traditional texture practices, including embroidery, quilting, and weaving to explore themes of ritual, queerness, labor, identity, and the modern political landscape. “It was really nice to have the time and space to focus on my work. I was able to meet a quilt artist local to this town and visited her studio to learn more about her practice. It was just a great experience.”
Sierra Reading and Ross Roadruck established the Social Studies Residency program in 2019 using space provided in the community. The program now provides artists from outside Colusa County, mostly from urban areas, a low-cost place to stay and access to studio space at their home in Arbuckle.
The artists stayed seven to 10 days in a small apartment on the premises, working and exploring their practice in an unfamiliar setting.
“We had six artists from the end of April to the end of June,” Reading said.
Hardison, an accomplished graphic artist specializing in large scale painted installations, lives in the east Bay Area. While in residence, Hardison also spent some time in Colusa volunteering at the first Levitt Amp concert and had painted the sign and backdrop mural for the series.
“I came up here and had a fabulous time,” Hardison said.
Hardison, 36, originally from a rural North Carolina community, said meeting Reading, Roadruck, and members of the Arts Council, and witnessing their accomplishments to bring music, art, and artists to a small community after they had lived in other places, was incredibly inspiring.
“Because I think about going home sometimes, it was cool to see people who returned to their rural community and brought art back with them to their homes,” Hardison said. “That made me think what I can do if I ever decide to move back to North Carolina. I could bring art back to my own rural community.”