Artist
Madeline Benfield and Walker Bankson

Project Title
Essie Staycation

Grant Amount
$2,000

Website
essiestaycation.cargo.site

Essie Staycation is a DIY artist residency run out of a home in Ormewood Park aiming to serve as an open-ended resource for artists of all kinds. The residency has hosted more than a dozen artists and allows each of them to spend their time at the residency how they see fit, such as creating new work, having alone time to ideate, or developing skills or professional practices. Residents travel to Atlanta from around the country and stay in the Essie guest room, use the residency’s facilities and artmaking resources, cook and share meals, and engage with the Atlanta arts community. The residency facilities include a full woodshop, a Kelsey letterpress, a Xone and Pioneer DJ setup, a high quality photo printer and scanner, a Singer sewing machine, and much more, including printmaking, oil painting, and image-making materials. For each residency, the Essie Staycation team curates itineraries based on artist’s wants and needs, ranging from studio visits with local artists to field trips to art spaces around the state. Essie Staycation supports artists who lack access to dedicated time or space to create, work between or across mediums, and are navigating critical transition points in their careers.