Sibyls Shrine Launches Call for Artists for Home Residency
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alisha Wormsley & Office of Public Art
810 Penn Avenue, 6th Floor
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
Contact
Alisha Wormsley, artist
Sallyann Kluz, Office of Public Art
Three Black creative mothers in the Pittsburgh region will be selected
June 22, 2020. Pittsburgh, PA… Artist Alisha B. Wormsley and the Sibyls Shrine team released a Call for Artists for the Sibyls Shrine Home Residency. This year-long program will support three Pittsburgh-based Black creative mothers with professional and personal development, space, connectivity, mutual aid, financial and creative support, and mentorship. Home Residency artists will remain in their own homes, but will be supported with relief from some of their day-to-day tasks of homecare, childcare, cleaning, and grocery purchasing and shopping in order to provide them with the time, space, and resources to support their creative practices. The Home Residency includes an individualized twelve week intensive for each of the selected artists. During the intensive, other Black creative mothers and working professionals from the Pittsburgh area will be hired to provide support and assistance to the Home Residents in the form of, but not limited to counseling, social work, financial planning, home ownership planning, and self care practices.
An information session about the Home Residency will be held via Zoom on Monday, July 6, 2020 from 6 - 7 PM. To attend the session, RSVP to sibylsshrine@gmail.com. After registration, registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom meeting room. Attendance is not required to submit an application. Applications to be considered for the Home Residency are due on Monday, July 20, 2020 at 11:59 PM. To learn more about the Call for Artists and submit an application, visit: tinyurl.com/SibylsShrine-HR.
“Sibyls Shrine is my dream project.” said Wormsley. “My research has recently led me to the Combahee River Collective who say ‘If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free, since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all systems of oppression.’ It’s crucial for my spirit and arts practice to support the wholeness of black women. This residency aims not only to support the careers of its residents but also their livelihood as they are one and the same.”
Home Residency artists will each receive an unrestricted Artist Honorarium of $5,000 and an allowance for materials of $1,500. Additional non-cash support will be provided to support both personal and professional development that is identified by the selected artist in collaboration with the Sibyls Shrine team. At the conclusion of the Home Residency, a final group exhibition of the Residents’ work will be held at the Mattress Factory Contemporary Museum.
The Home Residency is one of four types of residencies that comprise the Sibyls Shrine Residency program. Additional residencies include: Community Liaison Residency; Network Residency; and Visiting Artist Residency. The Home Residency will launch in September 2020 and will include three intensives, including Fall 2020, Winter 2020-2021, and Spring 2021. The Final Exhibition will be held in Fall 2021.
Sibyls Shrine is funded in part by a grant from the Just Arts program of The Heinz Endowments.
About Sibyls Shrine
Sibyls Shrine is a new artist residency program for Black women, womxn, trans women, and femmes who are mothers and identify as artists, creatives, and/or activists in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For these womxn, the challenges of parenting in combination with systemic racism and sexism often make the barriers to entry into the art world insurmountable.
Sibyls Shrine is an homage to the Sibyls, the original priestesses of the Black goddess Mami Wata. The term, which predates Greek history, was used to name the guardians of the Matriarchy. The Sibyls Shrine residency program is motivated by a similar goal: uplifting Black mothers with opportunities for self-care, childcare, space and support in an effort to further develop their craft and presence in the art world. Sibyls Shrine was created by artist Alisha B. Wormsley in 2019.
About the Team
Artist Alisha B. Wormsley serves as the project’s Creative Director, and works in collaboration with Jessica Gaynelle Moss as the Administrative Director and Naomi Chambers as the Community Artist Liaison. Wormsley, Moss and Chambers are all Pittsburgh-based Black creative mothers. The Office of Public Art provides additional support as the Sibyls Shrine collaborating organization.
About the Office of Public Art
The Office of Public Art (OPA) envisions a region in which the creative practices of artists are fully engaged to collaboratively shape the public realm and catalyze community-led change. OPA builds capacity for this work through technical assistance, public programming, artist resources, and civically engaged public art projects. Located at the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, OPA serves the thirteen county region of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Learn more at publicartpittsburgh.org.