Cascade Canyon Artist in Residence Program
at O'Hanlon Center for the Arts
Applications for our 2024 program will go live in early 2024.
Check back here or subscribe to our newsletter to get the announcement.
THANK YOU to our Amazing 2023 ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE!
Luba Zygarewicz & Ben Allanoff
Luba Zygarewicz
Luba Zygarewicz is a Chilean-Ukrainian artist, educator, and mother of four based in the New Orleans area. She grew up in Bolivia and moved to San Francisco at age 15. She received a BA in Sculpture from Loyola University and her MFA from San Francisco Art Institute. Working in a responsive manner, Zygarewicz creates material-and-process driven pieces that archive the quotidian to highlight and value ordinary human experience.
“As a multidisciplinary artist who works in a responsive manner to create sculptures and installations using what is around me as inspiration and source; I was drawn to O’Hanlon for the opportunity to work in an environment that offers an indoor studio space with nature as its backdrop and share my passion for making art with everyday materials. Through accumulation and manipulation, I seek to excavate traces of human interaction embodied in the mundane to create works that bring greater awareness of environmental issues, appreciation for our surroundings, and spark wonder.”
Ben Allanoff
Ben Allanoff: About twelve years ago, on a break from my work in real estate, I spent a few days playing with some of the weird/cool things that I had collected in my back yard, and without the intention of making anything at all, I put together a hanging sculpture made of chain, wire, and agricultural parts – a giant necklace. I hung this strangely compelling object from a trellis in front of my house and was very surprised and pleased by the positive attention and offers for purchase that followed. So I made some other mobile-like pieces, which also sold very quickly, and I consulted with some artist friends, who encouraged me to keep going. A year or so later, I installed my first piece of public art, at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, and decided to commit myself full-time to continued experiments and adventures in art, and to a career as an artist.
Integral to my practice is an anti-elitist approach to art, actively empowering any and all to engage in creative play and expression without judgement or unnecessary analysis.
Presently I work with acrylic paint, rust, plant material (living and dead), wire, steel, rocks, bones, and found objects to make prints, paintings, sculptures, and large scale installations. Some of my installation projects include members of the public as collaborator/participants, and I also lead workshops where I share my approach and techniques.
Using a combination of figuration, abstraction, and calligraphic influences, I aim to express something elemental and extra-rational about my subjects. Many of my works are kinetic, alive, or sensitive to wind, light, gravity, time, human interaction, and/or perspective. My primary goal in art-making is catalyzing connections among people, between people and the natural world, and between our conscious selves and other aspects of our psyches.
Favorite themes include fertility (in both the biological and cosmic senses) and the interplay between the spiritual, psychological, physical worlds. I am particularly interested in things that are phototropic, as well as things that float, swim, or fly. I enjoy and am influenced by art, architecture, and religious practices of all cultures and time periods, but I am primarily inspired by a deep and life-long connection to the natural world.
PRIOR YEARS
Artists in Residence
2022:
Allison Spreadborough and
Jacqueline Mallengi
Jacqueline Mallengi
I began making Asian style paper with kozo fiber in 1987. My journey with paper and sculpture has been varied from light fixtures to stone carving to ethereal mixed media sculpture. The thread of my creative process always begins with papermaking. I’m excited about the new Chrysalis series that feels like a merging of many techniques developed over the years bringing various voices together. I refer to as contemplative sculpture.
Jacqueline is a member of IAPMA, International Association of Papermakers and Paper Artists, NM State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts and Surface Design. She is an exhibiting artist and teaches papermaking and fiber art workshops in various locations, and from her Santa Fe studio via Zoom.
Allison Spreadborough
My name is Allison Spreadborough. I’m a watercolor artist and Sacramento native. Plein air painting is my passion as is painting intuitively from a nature-inspired prompt. I mainly create landscapes to express my fascination with the ability of nature to quiet the mind and invoke a sense of wonder. I love painting scenes depicting deep space and I appreciate places unspoiled by modern influences.
I typically paint in a style which I call Dreamy Expressionism meets California Regionalism. The Dreamy Expressionism description showcases a soft wistfulness and wonder depicting my inner awareness. California Regionalism celebrates a loose and abstracted blend of East and West influences such as brush calligraphy, simplicity, bold color and symbolism. Later, in the studio, I problem-solve the painting in an overhead mirror to critique any issues. Although this watercolor technique is unpredictable, the creative process feels freeing.
ABOUT the Cascade Canyon Artist in Residence Program
at O'Hanlon Center for the Arts
Thanks to all who applied for the Summer 2023 Residency!
The Artist-in-Residence application opens early in the year for the following Summer. For updates, subscribe to our Newsletter, or follow OHCA on Facebook or Instagram.
DATES:
2024 Residency: DATES TBA
LOCATION:
O’Hanlon Center for the Arts
616 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley CA 94941
ABOUT:
Located in a spectacular, peaceful setting at the base of Mount Tamalpais and surrounded by redwood and oak trees, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts (OHCA) is a well-established creative haven for artists and writers, having a 50+ year history in Marin County. Just across the Golden Gate Bridge, OHCA occupies 3 acres in a quiet neighborhood in Mill Valley one mile to downtown with easy access to many of the world-renowned hiking and mountain biking trails on Mount Tam.
Our location provides artists of all disciplines to explore, create and reflect on your creative process away from the hectic demands and constraints of daily life while still being able to take advantage of the conveniences a vibrant town that hosts three other exceptional art galleries and three live performance and theater venues. Being able to work in a private, natural setting provides artists an unparalleled opportunity to step away from distractions and focus on their work. If more stimulation is desired, we are just a 20-minute drive to San Francisco and Oakland.
As the residency is intended to be a working retreat, partners/spouses, family and pets are not permitted.
Our residency supports and encourages a collaborative atmosphere among fellow Artists in residence as well as with the membership of O’Hanlon Center for the Arts. We welcome a broad range of creative visual arts disciplines including, sculpture and installations.
OHCA has evening gatherings, discussions, and exchanges with various Bay Area artists at the Center and online. This residency will conclude with a 3-day exhibition of all artists in residence work in our 2-story main gallery space and/or on the grounds. This exhibition will be open to all OHCA members and the wider Bay Area community.
Number of artists in program: 1- 2
Provided:
• Living Quarters close by (less than 3/4 mile) at a guest house or other neighborhood location (room with bathroom and kitchenette)
• Work/Studio Space for 1 or 2 people (Lower Loft 400 sq feet 12-foot-tall ceilings. Worktables provided.
• Opportunity for an informal critique by Bay Area Gallery owner
• Art exhibition/roundtable discussion with OHCA community about the work in process
• 10% Discount at local art supply store Once Around
• Access to upper Loft with extensive art library and kitchen
Artist’s Responsibilities:
• Personal expenses
• Meals/food
• Supplies & Materials (No oil paints or other toxic materials, not open to welding, or glasswork.)
• Transportation
• Offer a drop-in Studio Day to the public plus attendance at Donor Circle dinner.
Application Requirements:
• Artist Statement 1 page or 500 words or less. Describe your work process and conceptual development.
• Resume: Max 3 pages.
• Three References with email, phone, relationship to you & years known.
• Images of 10 works created within the last 3 years.
CONTACT the OHCA Office with questions.
The Loft building – exterior
O’Hanlon walkway and deck
Deck between Loft and Gallery
Loft upstairs – lounge seating
Loft Lower Studios
Art book library in Loft
O’Hanlon Gallery – Black & White show
O’Hanlon Gallery upstairs
“My time at OHCA was filled with heart and meaning. I turned a corner with my work regarding sense of place which has been an underlying theme for many years. At O’Hanlon the concept became actualized resulting in new work. The Cascade Canyon forest and creeks, my past relationship to the location and the natural environment opened a doorway focusing on ‘roots as metaphor’. It was wonderfully freeing to feel the transformation from concept to reality – intangible to tangible. Now discovering how to carry this with me wherever I am.”