Spring 2027 Artist Residency opens for working artists

The Department of Art and Design opened applications for the Spring 2027 Artist Residency, which aims to bring professional artists to educate Troy students and the local community. Funded with the aid of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, selected artists will be invited to interact with students in concert with their own research and projects.

Applications are split into two opportunities, one for an artist-in-residence who will be welcomed for multiple weeks and another for five visiting artists who will be invited to stay for a week or less. Both applications are open and will close Nov. 1, 2026; the selection process will continue into early November.

Though designed for artists with strong ties to Alabama, artists worldwide are given equal consideration for participation. The residencies allot artists' access to the department’s substantial resources, equipment and facilities to support their research and projects.

Students will be able to participate via artist lectures and presentations, group workshops, studio visits, essays and summary exhibitions. Select students are also chosen to serve as student ambassadors, who will act as liaisons between the visiting artists and the campus.

These ongoing opportunities are co-directed by Professors of Art & Design Sara Dismukes and Will Jacks. Jacks spoke on the program’s resurgence.

“We knew after COVID that we needed to rebuild a sense of togetherness,” Jacks said. "We are proud that this program has tripled in budget, primarily through grants and faculty volunteering.”

Jacks voiced the program’s plentiful opportunities for students alongside the artists, which challenge the boundaries of how art can influence a community.

"This program is rooted in research—creative, academic, and community-based,” Jacks said. “We're exploring how artists can help us reimagine underutilized spaces, spark dialogue and contribute to long-term economic and cultural development.”

The artist residency program is descended from the artist residencies of Fred Nall Hollis and Larry Strickland during the early 2000s. Activity slowed until 2018, when a special grant invited ceramist Tara Cady Sartorius to Troy. The modern incarnation, structured by Jacks and Dismukes, began in 2024, and has since continued successfully.

Lauren Frances Evans, a sculptor and associate professor of art at Samford University, recently served as the Spring 2026 artist-in-residence. Her work will be displayed in the International Art Center’s Huo Bao Zhu Galley to coincide with the 2027 visits.

Evans reflected positively on her residency.

"I had been given an opportunity to really focus on my work and my own creative practice,” Evans said. “I felt like I was at some sort of turning point with that work.”

Evans also appreciated that the program was able to compliment her creative process.

"I first have to make the work with my hands to figure out what I'm trying to say,” Evans said. “It also feels like research in that way – hands on, tangible research.

"Having the time and space to focus on the work was a real gift."

Alisa Beck, a painter from Montgomery, Alabama, who served as a Spring 2026 visiting artist, likewise spoke fondly about her time on campus. Beck spoke about the program’s amenities.

“Having a space dedicated to my creative work, even for just a week, gave me the opportunity to slow down, focus and explore ideas,” Beck said.

Beck further contributed her visit’s success to Troy’s educational atmosphere.

“What I appreciated most was the time and attention the faculty gave their students,” Beck said. “That commitment made it a meaningful environment to be part of.”

Jenny Fine, a visual artist and photographer from Birmingham, Alabama, was a visiting artist during the Spring 2025 semester.

"It's like being dropped into a very creative space, being refreshed and then going back out into the world,” Fine said, describing her experience.

Fine also spoke on the importance of art and its academic exploration as a form of communication.

"I think that visual language is as important as the spoken or written word,” Fine said. “There's a wealth of things that can be said with an image that can't be said with words."

Interested artists can visit troyartistresidency.com for more information on the program. Both applications are currently open and will close Nov. 1, 2026. For further updates, students can also follow the Department of Art & Design and the IAC through their Instagrams, respectively @troy_art_and_design and @iac_troyuniversity.