The Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation Art Critic Residency Program
The Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation partnered with the Beaverbrook Art Gallery to establish an Art Critic Residency Program. “During an intensive public consultation process in 2014, the need for critical discourse was identified as vital to the career development of New Brunswick artists”, said Louise Imbeault, chair of the Board of Directors of the Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation. “We are proud to work in partnership with the Beaverbrook Art Gallery on the critic-in-residence program, which promises to enrich the culture of critical appreciation in our province.”
According to Terry Graff, Director/CEO and Chief Curator of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, “This new initiative is aimed at nurturing a regional, national and international exchange of critical thinking about contemporary art in New Brunswick.”
In 2016, Stephanie Buhmann will become the second art critic in residence at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. She is the author of New York Studio Conversations, a contributing editor at Artcritical and an art reviewer published in a variety of international galleries, newspapers, and art magazines including, Kunst Bulletin, Sculpture Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, ARTPulse, Art on Paper, Art Papers, Art Collector and Art Lies and Chelsea Now. Buhmann’s residency in New Brunswick will take place from November 9 to 15, 2016, and will involve several studio visits with local artists, a public lecture, and an art writing workshop. Her observations of the work of New Brunswick artists will be published in 2017 in the Gallery’s visual arts journal Billie: Undercurrents in Atlantic Canadian Visual Culture.
The Gallery’s first critic-in-residence was Edgar Allen Beem. His residency in New Brunswick took place October 18 to 24, 2015. A program of personal visits to artist’s studios, a critical writing workshop and a public lecture were significant elements of this program. Mr. Beem’s critical essay was published by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
Signature Grants – Residences