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Emerging Artist Residency
With an emphasis on emerging practices, this program provides one artist with a non-residential studio space at Arts Fort Worth. This program aims to help practicing artists offset the cost of living by providing free studio space for a period of twelve months; $6,000 stipend for materials (paid in $500 monthly installments); studio visits with established regional artists, arts professionals and the media; all culminating in a solo exhibition. The Arts Fort Worth Emerging Artist Residency is made possible through with the generous support of The Arts Fund at North Texas Community Foundation.
XXavier Carter
2024 Artist-in-Residence
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Xxavier Edward Carter (b. 1986) was born in Dallas, Texas. Over 12 years of compulsory education, Xxavier attended 8 schools. The eldest child of professional athlete (Russell Carter) and saleswoman (Melody Missick), embodiment and communication were foundational to his upbringing as well as flexibility in new environments. Xxavier attended Stanford University on a football scholarship, receiving a BFA in Studio Art after studying Political Science and English. After 7 years of art world immersion Xxavier returned to Dallas to receive his MFA from Southern Methodist University, the alma mater of his father.
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Xxavier was a recipient of the Arch and Anne Giles artist award from the Dallas Museum of Art in 2011. Xxavier was a fellow at the Yerba Buena Center for the arts in 2016. In 2020 the Nasher Sculpture Center acquired artwork from Xxavier followed by an acquisition by the Dallas Museum of Art in 2022. Xxavier is also a poet with several published novels, poetry books, and academic texts. Xxavier has been a part of residencies in Vietnam, South Korea, Spain, Morocco, Mexico, France, and England.
Xxavier has shown a commitment to the concepts of returns, community, ecology, humanity, abstraction, and poetry. His career has been established through travel and the intimate connections made through sharing his artwork and telling his story and the philosophies that have molded his practice. He is currently the Head Artist and Engineer of Goldfish Dreams, an artistic publication and production house based in Dallas, Texas. Learn more about Xxavier here.
Artist-in-Residency Events
Artist Talk: A Song In Four Parts
Saturday, November 23 | 1 p.m.
Fort Worth Community Arts Center
Emerging Artist Resident Xxavier Carter will speak on the principles of his artistic practice and his unique perspective on contemporary art, being a professional artist, and how he fits into the arts ecosystems in North Texas and beyond.
The Vessel and The Candle Workshop
Saturday, November 23 | 3 p.m.
Fort Worth Community Arts Center
In this workshop, participants will lead by Emerging Artist Resident Xxavier Carter through the process of making ceramic rocks as vessels for candles. At the end of the workshop, participants will part with their own unique winter-scented candle. ​
2023 Emerging Artist Resident
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Claire Kennedy (she/her) is a Fort Worth-based multidisciplinary artist from Cincinnati, Ohio. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts from the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati in 2018, and her Master of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting from the University of North Texas in 2022. She currently teaches undergraduate Foundations, Painting, and art history courses at University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University. In 2019, she founded Risen Shine Gallery, an online and outdoor space in which she curates work by local Texas artists. Claire is passionate about art education and is optimistic about continuing her career in teaching art at the college level. She looks forward to future possibilities with her studio practice, as she believes in conducting a process that is ever changing.
2022 Emerging Artist Resident
Sarita Westrup is a textile and sculpture artist who received her MFA in Fibers from the University of North Texas. Formerly the Textiles Studio Coordinator at the Penland School of Craft, Sarita’s sculptural basketry works are rooted in weaving techniques and bricolage and inspired by the Rio Grande Valley on the Texas-Mexico border where she was born and raised.
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Read more about Sarita's solo exhibition The Tension of Connection.
For the past 60 years, Arts Fort Worth has helped launch and level-up artists and arts groups and, with your support, we can continue to grow and evolve to better promote, nurture, and support the arts in Fort Worth!