An Artist, a Curator, and a Writer walk into a building...
Pedantic Arts Residency, a new program created by artist Henry Simonds, launched this June with its inaugural three residents.
From left to right: Joshua Ware (Writing resident), Elise Butterfield (Curatorial resident), SHAN Wallace (Visual art resident)
Located in Pittsburgh’s Garfield Arts District, Pedantic is built on the belief that structured contemplation, education, and study can benefit artistic output through collaboration and discussion. By selecting an artist, a curator, and an arts writer to work and live alongside one another for one month, the program fosters its mission by centering the residents’ relationships with one another and prioritizing the exchange of ideas. The end result is a collaborative exhibition that showcases their communal thinking and working processes. Pedantic's first cohort included photographer SHAN Wallace of Baltimore, MD; curator Elise Butterfield of Chicago, IL; and writer Joshua Ware from Denver, CO
Founder Henry Simonds hatched the idea for the residency back in 2017, and began the design process in 2018. “I had always thought about housing for visiting artists and creatives,” Simonds says, “but my time in graduate school informed my thinking about additional uses for that space. I became aware of the value of intensive periods of dedicated time devoted to one's creative practice.” This inspired Simonds to incorporate live-in apartments and studio space for participating residents. “Seeing that there were few opportunities in Pittsburgh for this, and recognizing certain access and relationships I have developed here, led me to think that I could help shepherd a residency program and share those advantages with participants to make their time here more productive.”
Simonds intended to work with Casey and Casey Droege Cultural Productions since the idea for Pedantic hatched. “[Casey knows] the broad artist community and is dedicated to advancing the status and stability of that community for individuals and as a whole,” says Simonds. “She had proven that she could pull off events and manage lots of little details. In short, she was the only person I imagined working with to develop my idea into a reality.”
Pedantic emphasizes the importance of its residents forming a connection to Pittsburgh and its arts community during the course of their program. Each resident is paired with a Pittsburgh creative guide and encouraged to engage with the arts ecosystem of the city during their residency period. “I don't know whether or not Pittsburgh is more compelling as a base of inquiry and creative immersion than any other place in the world, but I believe that it enjoys a unique narrowing of the gap between the formal institutional sector and the community of local artists and creatives,” says Simonds. “The hierarchies that are entrenched in larger global art market cities are not active here…With the connections that Casey and I enjoy, we can offer that to residents to give them unfettered access to all the different strata of the cultural community here.”
Pedantic finished its first round at the end of June and is looking forward to another cohort in January. To learn more about Pedantic, visit the residency’s site.