It's the best time of year to hang around the Pajama Factory, 1307 Park Ave., because the Public Art Academy's Artist-in-Residence program is in session.
For the third year in a row, accomplished and hip artists from all over the country have brought their creative energies to Williamsport, where they are busy working away in their collective studio at the Factory.
For the rest of July, the Sun-Gazette will profile artists participating in the program. The three featured artists this week are Tom Wagner, Ellen Mueller and Penny Young.
To visit the Artists-in-Residence, call Program Director Jeremiah Johnson at 506-0786 to schedule an appointment.
Tom Wagner
Tom Wagner is a painter in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, who investigates urban architecture and sense of place. His work is currently in group shows at Masur Museum, Los Angeles, Attleboro Museum, Mass., Rawls Museum Arts, Va., and Arlington Arts Center. Recently he has exhibited at Brazilian Army Commission, McLean Project for the Arts, NBC4 Asman Gallery, Holter Museum, Mont., Delaware Center for the Arts, Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, Fla., and is included in the public collections of the US Department of Health and the DC Call Box Project.
His paintings have been published as cover images on Playbill for Carnegie Hall, New York City, Euphony for University of Chicago and The Literary Review for Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Wagner has received grants, awards and fellowships from the following institutions: Vermont Studio Center, Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Puffin Foundation, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, The Washington Post Educational Foundation, Virginia Commission for the Arts, and Phi Delta Kappa.
"I am interested in the types of spaces and places we inhabit daily and the multiple meanings we derive from them," Wagner said. "In particular, transitions between places and states of being direct my work. The boundaries and borders, the places in-between, and the movement and activities therein gain my constant attention."
Wagner said that he was interested in the Public Art Academy residency because of its focus on experimentation rather than competition and that Williamsport was appealing because of its size.
"Having participated in residencies with both larger and smaller amounts of artists, I chose Williamsport because of its relatively moderate size," he said. "Each residency has its own character; one of this size allows for intense individual research as well as optimum peer interaction."
About the Pajama Factory, Wagner said, "It is, in a way, sublime! This enormous living, breathing creative monster chewing up raw data and churning out life-changing experiences and products cloaks itself in the periphery of a cozy hamlet. My July Williamsport First Friday offered legions of art enthusiasts, artists and art supporters. I am sure this program will flourish within a community so dedicated and supportive of the arts."
Ellen Mueller
Ellen Mueller has exhibited nationally and internationally as an interdisciplinary artist exploring the shared, everyday challenge of resisting change and maintaining control. She creates experiences that engage the cultural conscience of the audience, while addressing social and political issues through image, performance and installation.
Recent projects include "Starting Fires" at the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum in Tampa, Fla., "Three Mouth Light Arrays to Counter Frightful Darkness" in the Wild Pansy Press Book of Rainy Day Activities published by Wild Pansy Press of University of Leeds, United Kingdom, and "PAGES" at Paragraph Gallery in Kansas City, Mo. Recent artist residencies include Vermont Studio Center, where she received an artist grant.
Mueller was raised in Fargo, N.D., and lives and works in Tampa, Fla. She received her master of fine arts degree in studio art from University of South Florida, as well as a bachelor of arts degree in theatre and art, and a bachelor of science degree in design technology from Bemidji State University. Additionally, she has obtained training at Dell'Arte International and the Brave New Institute.
Mueller applied to the Public Art Academy's residency program because she wanted to have a lot of time to make art, distraction-free.
"I applied to this residency because it is a great opportunity to focus on my work for a full month with very few distractions," she said. "I also looked forward to getting to know these artists from different locations across the country."
About her art, Mueller said, "As an artist, I explore the shared, everyday challenge of resisting change and maintaining control, while addressing social and political issues through installation, performance and image."
During her time at the Pajama Factory, she has plenty of goals that she wants to accomplish.
"I hope to complete a series of at least three large-scale drawings on canvas," she said.
Mueller said that the factory is "a beautiful building."
"The light is gorgeous," she said. "I feel lucky to be working in this space."
Penny Young
Penny Young is a sculptor, poet and arts educator. Her practice includes paper and ceramic sculpture, installation, drawing and kinetic works. Young graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara, and received her master of fine arts degree from California State University Northridge.
Young has been an artist-in-residence at Mt. St. Mary's College in Santa Monica, Calif., and at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, Calif. She was the Chairman of the Art in Public Places Committee for the City of Burbank, and consulted on set as an artist and prop-maker for Hungry Man Productions and the HBO series "Six Feet Under."
She has taught at California State University Long Beach and Northridge, the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and Inner-City Arts in downtown Los Angeles. At Wonderland Avenue Elementary, Young worked as a Coordinator for parent volunteers teaching art.
From 1999 to 2010 she successfully owned and managed Weesner Studios with artist Keith Weesner. Weesner Studios specializes in both commercial and original low-brow art work and is an integral part of an international network. Young lives and works in the Los Angeles area creating large-scale paper mache objects, ink drawings and writing poetry.
Young applied to the artist-in-residency program because she heard about it from her friend Jennifer Gunlock, who attended the program last year.
"She shows at the same gallery I do, and is in my local critique group," Young said. "She loved it and encouraged me to apply."
She said that her work is "mainly sculptural, and sometimes contains text."
"I often work large scale out of small objects, whatever I have most recently scavenged or collected in my own life," she added."
Her plan for her time in Williamsport is to experiment with some new artwork.
"I am not sure I will have something large scale for the show on July 29th, but I would love to do a structural installation reflecting the steel-rust belt or the Pajama Factory specifically."
Young is amazed by how well the Factory suits her creative goals.
"The people are great, and the residents are humming like a happy bee hive," she said. "Jenn Rixey took us on a tour that truly blew my mind - the roof top and Equinox camping gear being highlights. But the whole idea and plan of the place is ambitious and just great."
