Spiro Arts in Park City houses the Relevant residency program

Artists at work are doing many things. They are in the process of creating something meaningful while at the same time improving themselves as an artist and honing their craft, searching for the best way to express themselves in a way that feels authentic. If they are fortunate they can find a mentor to offer them guidance and wisdom, words of advice from someone who has been there and who can impart genuine instruction for developing a career. This is the model for Relevant, an artist in residence program developed through a partnership between Kimball Art Center and Spiro Arts.

For ten days 12 artists at the undergraduate or graduate level congregate at Spiro Arts, a non-profit organization that is part of the Silver Star community in Park City, Utah. Here the residency participants are given studio space and housing. Each one is paired with a professional artist who mentors them as they create a piece that will be showcased and sold via auction at the Annual Park City Kimball Arts Festival Opening Night Gala on Thursday, August 4. The mentors will also have a piece in the auction and both residents and mentors will exhibit their works in a show in the Kimball’s main gallery through September 11.

The program, now in its second year, draws its vision from a Park City arts enthusiast who changed the face of the arts community in the famous mountain town. “The original inspiration started with Bill Kimball, founder of the Kimball Art Center, with the philosophy that no one of talent should not not succeed through lack of opportunity,” says Robin Marrouche, Kimball Art Center Executive Director. “That gave me chills when I first heard it.” Relevant, she explains, also began with a question: “How can we create something for visual artists that is just as compelling and useful as Sundance is for emerging filmmakers?”

The original inspiration for Relevant started with Bill Kimball, founder of the Kimball Art Center, with the philosophy that no one of talent should not not succeed through lack of opportunity,” says Robin Marrouche, Kimball Art Center Executive Director. “That gave me chills when I first heard it.” Relevant, she explains, also began with a question: “How can we create something for visual artists that is just as compelling and useful as Sundance is for emerging filmmakers?

Once the idea for Relevant was in place, Kimball Art Center turned to Spiro Arts for guidance. Spiro Arts Executive Director Justin Parisi-Smith has been facilitating two six-week artists-in-residency programs at Spiro for many years. Marrouche says, “We have an amazing resource in Spiro Arts here in Park City, whose core business model is this artists-in-residence program and that’s not what we were doing. So we reached out to Justin and said, ‘teach us about residencies,’ so he was a co-creator in this endeavor of ours.” Parisi-Smith was excited about the collaboration. “I think it’s important to develop partnerships with local organizations and that way we can share ideas and create innovative programs.”

In the first year Parisi-Smith and the artists in Spiro’s residency program served as mentors for Relevant. The program’s inaugural year was a tremendous success. “It was incredible to watch how a life can be changed in ten days,” Marrouche says. “This one student showed up with $13 in his bank account and walked out with not only a sale, but then got commissioned from a really well-known art patron.” Another artist became the subject of a documentary film when the University of Utah’s Humanities in Focus program approached the artist, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, and produced a film about his experience with the residency program and how it helped to define him as an artist. “Right out of the gate with year one we had successes that exceeded even our own expectations,” Marrouche says, noting that another resident secured an internship at the Guggenheim in New York. She anticipates that this year’s group of residents will have equally great success. “There is authentic purity to [these artists] that’s really touching,” she says. “For instance, one of the students had to google what a gala is because she’d never heard of one.” She was too embarrassed to admit she didn’t know what was meant when she was told her work would auction at a gala. “She said she realized that once she did her research a gala is just an adult prom.”

“Above all it feels amazing to offer this level of collective guidance,” Marrouche says. This not only includes providing the residents with mentors but also holding round table discussions with gallery owners where the residents learn the ins and outs of how to approach galleries and pitch their work. It also creates a supportive community where the residents have opportunities to collaborate and learn from each other.

Ryan Ruehlen working at Relevant 2011

For example, each night they gather at the Kimball Art Center, where one resident and one mentor give a short presentation about his or her work. One evening Nelson Parrish, a professional artist from Alaska who loves color and draws inspiration from Americana, shared a pivotal moment in his artistic journey: he was nearly broke when actor Rob Lowe purchased half a show of his work and displayed it in his home for a feature in Architectural Digest. Parrish is mentoring Ian Leinbach,|1| who in his own presentation confessed he is still finding himself as an artist; it is apparent that with some gentle guidance from Parrish, Leinbach’s raw talent and drive will launch him on a promising career.

Dale Thompson

Dale Thompson has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from The Evergreen State College and an Masters degree in communications from Westminster College. Her writing career includes work for a local theatre, journalism in Park City, and freelance contributions for various nonprofit organizations.