Incoming Artists in Residence Bring Fresh Faces to Genesee Center for the Arts & Education

(ROCHESTER, NY – August 22, 2016) The Genesee Center for the Arts & Education eagerly welcomes new artists in residence for the 2016-2017 residency program. Six residents will enter the Book Arts, Ceramics and Photography program areas. Residents will be involved with educational programing and special events while continuing their practices of art making.

About Arleen Thaler
Arleen Thaler is a full year resident. She is a socially engaged photojournalist based out of Rochester, NY. She received her BA in Photography from Empire State College (ESC) and is currently working towards a Master's in Liberal Studies with concentrations in Photojournalism and Community Advocacy at ESC. She specializes in immersive photography spending months getting to know her subjects on an intimate level, gaining their trust while sharing their story visually. Photographing for POST Rochester magazine and most recently added to the list of photographers working with the Focal Point Project in NYC, it is her hope to elicit conversation and raise an awareness surrounding social issues.

About Stephanie Mercedes
Stephanie Mercedes is in residence from January to March. She is an Argentinian/American performance artist who graduated from Smith College with a degree in Latin American Politics and Studio Art. She was a recent Art + Law Fellow, and will be having her first solo show in the United States this February at Common Ground Gallery. Mercedes has performed and exhibited in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Switzerland and the US.

About Ryana Lawson
Ryana Lawson is a full year resident. She is a ceramic artist from Rochester, NY. She makes functional work with hand drawn surfaces featuring a wide array of flora and fauna. In 2016, she spent a year as a post-baccalaureate student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and received her BFA from Alfred University in 2015.

About Marval A. Rex
Marval A Rex is a full year resident. He is a self-proclaimed mutant, artist and Jedi apprentice to the Master we call Life. Although he primarily identifies as a ceramicist, Marval is open to any and all mediums in expressing his indomitable spirit. His most recent artistic forays include video art and the photographic memoir of his gender adventure. For the sanctity of his mental and emotional health, Marval lives Life as Art, where every moment is full of intentional wonder and hidden masterpiece. Alongside his surrender to his inner muse (boy is she sassy), Marval holds a deep sense of spirituality, moving beyond any existential angst to find magic in all things. His daily meditative practice includes throwing a hexagram for the I Ching or Book of Changes, consulting astrological transits, and imbibing the wisdom of Gene Keys and Human Design.

About Susan Doran
Susan Doran is a full year resident. Her work focuses on paper making and forming art out of reclaimed materials. She studied at Oswego State University and the Rochester Institute of Technology obtaining a degree in Printing and Graphic Arts. She owned a typesetting/graphic design business and currently works in the Pittsford School District where she has created a Service Learning Program to teach elementary students the value of recycling. She is the Regional Director of the Odyssey of the Mind Program. Most of Susan’s art is made from materials slated for the landfill and repurposed for use today. Sharing the process of handmade papermaking techniques and sculptural artwork using recycled materials is at the center of her craft.

About Megan Sullivan
Megan is a full year resident. She is multi-media artist living and working in Rochester, NY. She moved to Rochester in 2010 to work on her MFA at the Visual Studies Workshop and has since made the city her home. She has spent the past two years serving the community at RCSD School No. 34 through Rochester AmeriCorps. She has self-published two books. The first in 2011, is a limited edition trio of pamphlet books entitled Awake or Asleep? and in 2012 she worked collaboratively with writer Aaron Lawrick on Bumblebee Dreams, a series of poems and images about the hypothetical dreams of insects. She works in video, sound, photography, book arts and various sculptural forms to explore the enigmas of religion, memory and family. She is looking forward to beginning her time as an artist-in-residence in Book Arts at the Genesee Center for the Arts & Education in the fall of 2016.

About the Genesee Center
Genesee Center for the Arts & Education is a community-based not-for-profit that educates, encourages and inspires all people to create and enjoy the visual arts. As a member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, the organization is committed to making high-quality arts education available to all.

Genesee Center for the Arts & Education is a non-profit arts center in operation since 1970. Located on Monroe Avenue in the city of Rochester, the Center focuses on ceramics, photography and printing and book arts. Annually, the
Center offers over 225 classes to the general public, provides youth programs for K-12 students, and allows access to facilities and equipment for people interested in learning about and practicing the visual arts. Facilities access
24x7 enables artists without a private studio to continue making art at an affordable cost and with our studio support. Internships and artist residency programs provide additional opportunities to engage emerging artists. Three galleries serve as exhibit space for local, regional and national artists. More than 4000 people benefit annually from services and programs provided by the Center.

For more information, contact the Genesee Center Administrative Office at 585-244-1730, or visit our website at www.rochesterarts.org.

Amanda Chestnut
communications@rochesterarts.org
585-244-1730
Genesee Center For The Arts & Education
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