The West Virginia University Division of Art is one of nine arts organizations in the mid-Atlantic region selected to host a Creative Artist Residency Program in printmaking and book arts in 2002-2003, in cooperation with the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF).

The Creative Artists Residency Program is a new program designed to facilitate the creation of new works by regional artists at the leading art centers in the region.

The MAAF is an arts organization that supports the creation and presentation of the arts in Delaware, Washington, D.C., Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the Virgin Islands.

The Foundation will select one or more arts genres each year to feature in its residency program. It selected printmaking and book arts as the first special project because the mid-Atlantic region is home to some of the best printmaking workshops and centers in the country.

Other organizations involved in the MAAF partnership include: Artists Image Resource of Pittsburgh; Brandywine Graphic Workshop, Philadelphia; Pyramid Atlantic, Riverdale, Md.; the Rutgers University Center for Innovative Print and Paper, New Jersey; The Print Center and the Samuel Fleischer Art Memorial, Philadelphia; Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums; Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, N.Y.; and Womens Studio Workshop, Rosendale, N.Y.

Each organization will choose an artist from a designated area to host for approximately four weeks, between April 2002 and March 2003. The MAAF provides the artist stipend, materials allowance, housing and travel subsidy and documentation expenses.

The WVU Division of Art will host an artist from Washington, D.C. The Division is accepting artist proposals through Sept. 16, with the residency to take place in the spring of 2003.

The second phase of the project will be a touring exhibition of all the new works created during the artistsresidencies, which also will feature display information about the participating print centers as a tribute to the wealth of arts resources in the region in printmaking.

The MAAF already has a long-standing relationship with each of these arts facilities, including the WVU Division of Art. The printmaking program at WVU has achieved a strong regional and national reputation through the strength of the alumni and its association with national arts and print organizations. In 1996 the program hosted the largest gathering of printmakers in an international conference.

WVU s residency is also sponsored by the WVU College of Creative Arts and the DC Commission on the Arts&Humanities.

For more information, contact WVU Division of Art Chairperson Sergio Soave at 304-293-4842, ext. 3140 or sergio.soave@mail.wvu.edu .