HOUSTON, TX.- Houston Center for Contemporary Craft announced its newest class of residents for 2023 – 2024, a group of 11 outstanding local, national, and international artists working in craft media.

For more than 20 years, the Center’s artist residency program has offered time and space for craft artists to focus on their creative work and interact with the public. The program supports emerging, mid-career, and established artists working in all craft media, including but not limited to clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood and mixed media. Residents are required to have their studios open for at least two days each week, giving visitors the unique opportunity to walk in, ask questions, and watch them work. This deeper level of interaction between artists and visitors allows the public to learn about a range of craft processes and techniques and helps artists to gain exposure, make connections within the Houston community, and educate people of all ages about craft.

Over the past few years, HCCC has increased the diversity of its artist residency program by removing financial barriers and expanding its outreach and marketing. This year, HCCC partnered with Crafting the Future, a nonprofit working to diversify the fields of art, craft, and design, to reach a broader pool of national applicants and offer a BIPOC support grant for the incoming cycle of artists. (The grant allows artists who identify as BIPOC to receive unrestricted funding, ranging from $500 - $1,000, in addition to their monthly honorarium.) As a result of these efforts, over 50% of this year’s nearly 200 applicants and over 70% of the final group selected identify as BIPOC.

HCCC also continues to collaborate with Houston Center for Photography (HCP) on a joint Interdisciplinary Craft + Photography (ICP) Artist Residency. The residency, designed for artists creating work at the intersection of contemporary craft and photography, supports artists with an experimental, multidisciplinary edge, who are testing the boundaries within both fields. ICP residents are hosted in a studio space at HCCC and receive all the benefits of regular resident artists, as well as printing credits and digital lab access from HCP.

The juried selection of artists is based on quality of creative work, ability to interact with the public, career direction, and program diversity. In addition to 24/7 access to studio space, HCCC provides the artists with a materials-and-living stipend, a variety of professional development opportunities, and a group exhibition at the conclusion of the residency cycle.

The artist residency program is generously supported by funding from the Windgate Foundation; the John & Robyn Horn Foundation; Susan Vaughan Foundation, Inc.; and the Gordon A. Cain Foundation. Grant support contributes to monthly stipends for the residents, as well as the operations and administrative needs of the program.

HCCC 2023 - 2024 Resident Artists

Bifei Cao, Metal (Guangzhou, China)
Winter 2023 – Summer 2024

Nela Garzon, Fiber (Houston, Texas)
Spring – Summer 2024

Liz Hingley, Craft + Photography (London, England)
Interdisciplinary Craft + Photography Residency
(in collaboration with Houston Center for Photography)
Spring - Summer 2024

Robert Hodge, Fiber (Houston, Texas)
Winter 2023

Ann Johnson, Fiber (Houston, Texas)
Fall 2023

Sarah Knight, Clay (St. Louis, Missouri)
Fall 2023 – Winter 2024

Hai-Wen Lin, Fiber (Chicago, Illinois)
Spring 2024

Rebecca Pipkin, Fiber (Phoenix, Arizona)
Summer 2024

Lin Qiqing, Fiber (Born in Guangdong, China; based in New York City)
Fall 2023

Terumi Saito, Fiber + Clay (Born in Shizuoka, Japan; based in New York City)
Fall 2023

Sarita Westrup, Basketry (Dallas, Texas)
Winter 2023

The fall residents move into their studios at HCCC this September. The application for the 2024 - 2025 residency cycle opens January 1, 2024. More details about the artist residency program can be found at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft