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“Givenness”

The Center for Faith & Work is pleased to announce our 2016 Spring Artists-in-Residence. Inspired by Marilynne Robinson’s recent collection of essays The Givenness of Things,applicants were asked to craft proposals for new work prompted by the theme ofGivenness. To quote Robinson: 

An etiology that implies a lower order of complexity than our given experience reports to us and through us only seems rational if we leave out of account the most basic knowledge we now have of the cosmos, knowledge that has as its signature a radical resistance to simplification, to understanding in terms of any known language of causality.

Riffing off Robinson’s essay, artists were asked to creatively consider: What is a given? What defines its nature? Proposals ranged from projects that were deeply personal, as in Erin Layton’s devised theatre piece about uncovering a secret family heritage, to the hyper-structural, as in Jane Adams’ urban installation on morphogenesis, juxtaposing city datasets with the language of ancient atomists. 

The five awarded artists are writer Jakki Kerubo, storyteller Adam Wade, actress Elizabeth A. Davis, data artist Jane Adams, and theatre artist Erin Layton. 

CFW is excited to walk alongside each artist with financial support and resources towards the creation of new work that explores the essence of Givenness. 

Keep an eye on CFW’s website to see past and present CFW Artist-in-Residence work, as well as each artist’s full bio.

CFW’s artist-in-residence program has a two-pronged purpose: to support emerging and established local artists through the commissioning of new work, and to celebrate and contribute to the intrinsic value of the arts as a vital fabric of the city. Being devoted to the flourishing of all New York City, the Center for Faith & Work is proud to offer selected resident artists the opportunity, resources, financing, and support to create works of art that contribute to the excellence of New York’s rich and creative culture.

For more information, visit faithandwork.com/artistinresidence.