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Creating Space for Black and Brown Artists: Indigo Arts Alliance Artists in Residence @ Hewnoaks
When Hewnoaks Artists Residency and Indigo Arts Alliance (IAA) formalized our partnership in 2022, it marked the beginning of a shared effort to create space where Black and Brown artists could build lasting relationships, experiment, and grow within Hewnoaks’ singular creative environment. This opportunity, offered exclusively to IAA alumni Artists-in-Residence (AiR), invites them into weeklong or 10-day residencies alongside residents selected through Hewnoaks’ annual juried application process.
Over the last four years, the partnership has intentionally disrupted the white-dominant norms of artist support programs in Maine by expanding access and championing equity. Together, we honor the truth that a community enriched by many identities, practices, and lived experiences makes stronger artistic statements, and a more expansive world, possible.
Through the course of our partnership, we have welcomed 13 Indigo Arts Alliance alumni artists-in-residence to residency sessions at Hewnoaks since 2022. This group represents 8 countries and cultural heritages, including African American/US, Brazil, Ghana, Mexico, Native American/US, New Guinea, Peru, and Sierra Leone.
2022:
Samuel James
(IAA AiR ’21)
Ebenezer Akakpo
(IAA AiR ’19)
Pamela Chevez
(IAA AiR ’21)
Antonio Rocha
(IAA AiR ’21)
2023:
Aminata Conteh
(IAA AiR ’21)
Tanya Crane
(IAA AiR ’22)
Aina Sullivan
(IAA AiR ‘22)
Brian J. Evans
(IAA AiR ’22)
2024:
Arisa White
(IAA AiR ’22)
Rosalba Breazeale
(IAA AiR ’23)
2025:
VIVA
(IAA AiR ’21)
Shane Charles
(IAA AiR ’23)
Liz Rhaney
(IAA AiR ’22)
Together, these artists work across a range of creative disciplines, including Performing Arts, Sculpture, Photography, Video and Audio, Mixed Media Installation, Graphic Arts, and Writing, Poetry, and Authorship.
As we reflect on how far this partnership has come and envision its future, we are reminded of the transformative power of sustained, intentional support for artists of color. True community is measured not just by what we offer in the moment, but by how long we remain committed to each artist’s continued journey. We want this residency to be a lasting testament to that ethos, an evolving space where artists are met with opportunity, affirmation, and a sense of belonging that does not fade with time.
Each year, Hewnoaks works to secure grant funding to sustain this program, and we are deeply grateful to the Grassroots Fund for supporting the 2025 cohort. This giving season, you can help this journey continue in 2026. Your gift supports everything that makes this opportunity possible—from modest artist stipends to Hewnoaks’ on-site operations and Indigo Arts Alliance’s administrative support.
With your help, this program and partnership can continue to carry forward – three artists and one transformative summer at a time, laying groundwork for generations to come.
Invest in their future. Give today. Our goal is to raise $4,000 to support the 2026 Indigo Arts Alliance Artists in Residence @ Hewnoaks Program Partnership, which will support 3 IAA Alumni residencies at Hewnoaks. The Grassroots Fund has already generously granted us $1,000 toward this goal! We need you to help close the gap!
Hewnoaks offered quiet, land-held focus; IAA offered an opportunity and community that may not have been sought without their insights and my positionality within the field, and my newness to the state at the time. Together, they created the exact conditions needed to embody my ideas.
I reconnected with my ancestral ties to land and water while at the residency, despite being from a different part of the country. The ability to be in the water every day and have solitude with the wildlife was grounding and resetting. This partnership gives BIPOC artists a space to be all of who they are, which is rare in our everyday lives. I continue to bring that grounded feeling into my practice and teaching.
By leading the importance of diverse work with partnering Maine-based art and cultural organizations, like Hewnoaks, who are committed to prioritizing inclusive strategic plans; will only ensure that the wellbeing of our Black and Brown ecosystems in our state can survive.
Executive Director
When Hewnoaks and IAA collaborate -- a historically white nonprofit and a Black-led; Black and Brown centered organization -- we demonstrate what becomes possible when institutions come together across differences and coalesce around shared ideals.
Executive Director 2020-2025
Invest in their future. Give today.
Our goal is to raise $4,000 to support the 2026 Indigo Arts Alliance Artists in Residence @ Hewnoaks Program Partnership, which will support 3 IAA Alumni residencies at Hewnoaks.
The Grassroots Fund has already generously granted us $1,000 toward this goal! We need you to help close the gap – please make a donation by clicking the button below.
Invest in their future. Give today.
Our goal is to raise $4,000 to support the 2026 Indigo Arts Alliance Artists in Residence @ Hewnoaks Program Partnership, which will support 3 IAA Alumni residencies at Hewnoaks.
The Grassroots Fund has already generously granted us $1,000 toward this goal! We need you to help close the gap – please make a donation by clicking the button below.