Hannah Watters and Nicole Westfall of Charleston, WV, and Brian Reed of Ivydale, WV have been selected for the 2023 New River Gorge Creative Community-in-Residence at Lafayette Flats Boutique Vacation Rentals – four modern apartments in one historic building.
For the past eight years, Lafayette Flats Boutique Vacation Rentals has hosted the New River Gorge Creative Residency, a program that supports the development of creative people by providing a unique opportunity for at least one creative person each winter to live and work on an artistic project at Lafayette Flats.
In past years the residency hosted one artist at a time, for a period of one to three months, but next year’s residency will be expanded in scope thanks to support from the National Endowment for the Arts and Tamarack Foundation for the Arts.
The three creatives-in-residence will live and work in Fayetteville throughout March 2023. During their residency, the fourth apartment at Lafayette Flats will be designated a shared workspace and lounge for the three artists to spend time together and collaborate. At the conclusion of their residency, their work will be made public at a special show at Love Hope Center for the Arts in Fayetteville.
Hannah Watters of Charleston, WV
Hannah Watters is a cross-disciplinary multimedia maker. She received her BA from West Virginia State University and her MFA from Columbus College of Art and Design. Hannah creates unfamiliar yet identifiable forms that are her interpretation of place within Appalachian communities. These artifacts depict her experience of growing up in West Virginia and the pathological presence that she has witnessed creeping into the lives of those forced to rely on the coal industry.
Nichole Westfall of Charleston, WV
Nichole Westfall is a Korean-American artist born and raised in a small town in West Virginia. In addition to a BA from West Virginia State University, she has studied at the University of the Arts London and the Saas-Fee Summer Institute of Art. Nichole is best known for her large-scale mural work that can be seen throughout the United States. These murals are often joyful, whimsical scenes created with large blocks of color. In contrast, her smaller works are often identity-driven, focusing on the complexities of, well, being alive. Both works are influenced by a multidisciplinary practice.
Brian Reed of Ivydale, WV
Brian Michael Reed is an internationally exhibited conceptual artist; a pictorial anthropologist who creates works of art in a broad range of mediums. He draws his creative energy from his study of global religions, mythology and art, in addition to a wide variety of cultural experiences, including residencies in Mexico, Japan and China. Brian attended his graduate work at Yale University in the History of Art Department and his undergraduate work in Painting and Art History at James Madison University.
The 2023 New River Gorge Creative Community is made possible in part by:
Learn more about past New River Gorge Creative Residents:
2022 – Michele Sons, L. Renee, Nevada Tribble
2021 – Jessica Sands, Amy Pabst
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