Introducing the Studios Inc 2024-2027 Incoming Artists In Residence: Caleb Taylor & Casey Whittier
Kansas City, MO - December 8, 2023 – Studios Inc. announces multi-disciplinary artist Caleb Taylor and ceramic artist Casey Whittier as the incoming artists joining the acclaimed three year residency program in Kansas City, MO in 2024. Launched to serve mid-career artists, Studios Inc is Kansas City’s only nonprofit arts organization offering pivotal three-year residencies to mid-career artists who are poised to significantly expand their careers. In tandem with the Residency Program is the Studios Patron Program, which connects artists directly with a patron for a heightened level of dialogue between resident artist and patron through studio visits, exhibitions, and funding opportunities. Also layered into the program is an annual group residency exhibition each spring and a solo exhibition towards the end of each artists’ residency.
Caleb Taylor, Studio A
Caleb Taylor, Studio Portrait 2023
Caleb Taylor is the recipient of the prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant, the Charlotte Street Foundation Fellowship, and residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Joan Mitchell Center, and Ucross Foundation. His paintings and drawings are published in Art in America and New American Painting, and he has exhibited at venues including the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Grand Arts (KC), Weatherspoon Art Museum (NC), and Tiger Strikes Asteroid (NY). Taylor’s work is included in the public collections of the Nerman MoCA, KU Medical Center, and Polsinelli Law Firm (KC). He received a MFA with an emphasis in Painting from Montana State University-Bozeman and a BFA from Northwest Missouri State University, double-majoring in Painting and Ceramics. He is an Art Instructor at Metropolitan Community College – Longview. Taylor is a founding member of PLUG Projects, a curatorial collaboration in Kansas City formed in 2011 with the shared goal of expanding the connections of Kansas City voices as part of a wider, national network of creative practitioners. During this tenure with PLUG, he contributed to the curation of over 40 exhibitions and more than 100 public programs ranging from rap battles, interpretive sound performances, installations taking over vacated shopping malls, artist book fairs, and collaborative events joining confectionery and dance. PLUG is a recipient of a 2011 Rocket Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation, Spencer Museum of Art, and Charlotte Street Foundation and two Francis Family Foundation Grants.
On joining the Studios Inc residency program, Caleb states:
“I am honored to join the community at Studios Inc. and to be a part of a history of artists whose careers have flourished through this program. In residence, I will explore the building as an architectural subject while utilizing the studio to construct billboard-sized photo-collages, investigate ceramic sculpture, and build installations combining photography, painting, and wallpaper. This opportunity will transform my multi-disciplinary practice by providing the immersive space to build expansive works simultaneously, challenge how I think about materiality and process, and push bodies of work forward with greater experimentation.”
Casey Whittier, Studio P
Casey Whittier, Studio Portrait
Casey Whittier received her BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and MFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
She is interested in the metaphorical and philosophical power of visual art and the ways in which the ceramic material creates direct connections between the geology of the earth, basic human needs, and complex metaphysical desires. Repetitive processes and systems of reliance are often used as metaphors for our interconnectedness.
Whittier teaches ceramics and social practice at the Kansas City Art Institute and works from her home studio. Whittier works with The Land Institute through their Ecosphere Studies Program cohort and as a participant in their Silphium Civic Science Community, where research into new perennial and sustainable food and oil seed production is ongoing. Whittier was named a 2020 Emerging Artist by Ceramics Monthly Magazine. She serves as President for Artaxis.org. More of her work can be found at www.caseywhittier.com.
On being accepted into the residency program, Casey states:
“I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Studios Inc community and to connect with the fellow residents. This residency will allow for a much larger and more professional space for the creation, installation, and documentation of my large-scale ceramic sculptures and weavings and for increased exploration into materials and processes. I look forward to having a proper space for hosting studio visits and participating in exhibitions and open studio events. I am currently working toward a solo exhibition, Systems of Reliance, at Greenwich House Pottery in NYC.”
Studios Inc looks forward to welcoming these artists into the space in early 2024. For more information, please visit www.studiosinc.org or contact Mallory Edson at mallory@thestudiosinc.org.