The Amon Carter Museum of American Art is ringing in the new year with a fresh batch of local talent through its Carter Community Artists program, welcoming four regional artists determined to weave their creative threads into the fabric of Fort Worth's cultural landscape. This 2024 class, featuring Colleen Borsh, Stuart Hausmann, Anna Joy Pham, and Kelsha Reese, marks the sixth year of an initiative designed to champion local artists and make art a more inclusive and expansive experience for all comers, according to the Fort Worth Report.
The Carter Community Artists program is a yearlong endeavor that fosters collaboration between artists and the museum's education staff to generate a slew of projects and events for the community, their skills spanning a variety of media, themes, and backgrounds, they are set to shape the museum's programs which will include everything from workshops to art-making activities.
"The Carter Community Artist initiative prizes the impact of art on our local community," Amanda Blake, Director of Education, Library, and Visitor Experience at the Carter, emphasized the museum's ongoing commitment to amplifying diverse voices and expanding the instructional and experiential footprint of the museum, as per NBC DFW.
Meanwhile, the individual journeys of community artists such as Rebecca Shewmaker, whose unique thread-based landscape "paintings" are set to inspire participants with her innovative techniques, and Adam Fung who sees his involvement as an oil painter and association professor at TCU's College of Fine Arts, as a bridge to new community connections—testing his resolve and pushing boundaries in the process, not content with just painting, he looks to experiment and grow through this unique platform, according to the Fort Worth Report.
Emphasizing the accessibility and inclusivity of the arts, Olivia Garcia-Hassell, also a Carter Community Artist, shared her aspiration to bring more Spanish speakers into the museum fold, remarking on the importance of museums being perceived as spaces for everyone, not just "the fancily dressed upper echelon of society," Garcia-Hassell said. As the Amon Carter Museum steps into 2024, this new class of Carter Community Artists is set not only to add to the museum's vibrant array of programs but also to challenge and expand the notion of what art can be in the heart of North Texas, per the Fort Worth Report.
