4 Invited To Merriweather District’s Artist-in-Residence Program

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Entering its fourth year, Merriweather District’s Artist-in-Residence program has announced its artists in residents. This year’s program, HUEPHORIA, will offer more opportunities to interact with the artists, their work and the community, including in-person workshops and culminating in a spectacular three-day exhibition.

The MDAIR program, in collaboration with the Howard County Arts Council, brings together artists to work, live and create in the Downtown Columbia community. The four artists, selected through an international selection process, represent a diverse range of multimedia disciplines. They will be provided with a $10,000 stipend, studio space and housing at Juniper. During their six-week residency, artists are required to spend at least four weeks in the studio during the residency.

This year's artists are:

Morgan Bobrow-Williams
Brooklyn, NY

Morgan is a transdisciplinary artist who seeks to express themselves by blending traditional mediums, such as dance and movement, film, sound and installation art, with the beauty of improvisation. Driven by emotions and the sensual experience, Morgan is a creative problem solver and collaborator looking to bring all people together and engage with work that is curiously enlightening and accessible to all. Morgan has a BFA from Marymount Manhattan College in dance performance and has formal training in ballet, Graham and Horton, as well as improvisation, dance history and choreography. Recently, Morgan returned from Germany after completing a long-term residency at Staatstheater Kassel. While in residency, Morgan is creating an immersive and experiential world that the viewer can step into and feel the embodiment of multiplicity, imagination, and a broad perspective.
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Andrew Burke
Baltimore, MD

Andrew creates music that explores political and social subjects, opening up fraught discourse to a higher level of emotional sensitivity. After working in political communications for four years, he was interested in how to further progress in the structure of our political system and realized that there was an opportunity to allow music to be a catalyst and change agent in nuanced discussion. In this residency, Andrew is bringing to life composition and curating an immersive sound installation named Juniper. The orchestral piece will be performed with a chamber ensemble on an immersive and engaging stage and performed for a live audience with the intention of creating a moment of connection. The audience will get the chance to not only observe live performers but to mingle among them and be enveloped in their music for a deeply cathartic and welcoming experience. Andrew is currently pursuing a master of music in composition at the Peabody Conservatory at John Hopkins University.
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Chrystal Seawood
Glen Burnie, MD
Chrystal Seawood is a primarily self-taught artist from the rural town of Forrest City, Arkansas. At the heart of her work, she explores ideas of equity and infrastructure of gender expression, specifically masculinity. In theory, she seeks to humanize her subjects in the same ways they’ve been objectified. During the program, Chrystal will be exploring masculinity with the community and building a series of installations that explore the spectrum of masculinity while also addressing the way that gender identity can continue to be expressed in a more inclusive and safer environment. In 2008, Seawood earned a bachelor's degree in digital art and design and worked as a graphic designer in corporate America. In 2015, she decided to become a high school English teacher and has since been operating much like an activist with a classroom and a canvas. Starting this year, Chrystal will be pursuing her MFA at Maryland Institute College of Arts.
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Bobby Zokaites
Tempe, AZ

Bobby is a sculptor who engages in the imagination through the creation of large-scale, colorful, interactive objects and spaces. His work is intended to stimulate audience interaction and inspire enthusiasm about the idea of "play." While investigating themes of adventure and childhood, Bobby fabricates and assembles sculptures in an industrious process. The audience is invited to see, hear, and play with installations that blur the lines between artist, performer and viewer. The magic really happens when children start to show their parents how to interact with the space. During the residency, Bobby is exploring the long and shared tradition of weaving, and how to experiment with interplay and illumination. He will be weaving 9 miles of paracord with a loom designed and developed by Bobby himself. At the exhibition, the audience will be able to explore a dynamic sculpture garden from his imagination.
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