Social Practice Artist Residency (Keene): SPAR(K)
The Social Practice Artist Residency (Keene), SPAR(K), is designed to bring
accomplished social practice artists to Keene to work with and within the
community to create experiences for engaged participation, reflection and the
making of art. It is understood that the nature of Social Practice art is that a
process will develop and that we will have patience to allow that process and
outcomes to develop as needed. SPAR(K) Director, Craig Stockwell.
Residencies occur once a year, usually for the month of October.
The 2025 Residency took place at The Colonial Theater of Keene. The Colonial
Theater is a restored theater celebrating 100 years in the Keene community. “We
present globally recognized and community-based performing arts, leveraging
their transformative powers to delight, enrich and unify our communities.”
The Colonial was in a transitional moment as they welcomed new Executive
Director, Keith Marks. Keith has enthusiastically taken the lead in reinvigorating
the programming for both the Colonial mainstage and the Showroom, the smaller
partner theatre. Keith is also keenly aware of the need to revitalize community
energy and affection for the Colonial. The idea was that a social practice artist
residency might offer a spark to this effort as well as exhibit the Colonial’s
intentions to experiment and collaborate with the creative community in our
region.
Letter to the Keene Sentinel 12/10/25 : Last night (12/11), at Showroom, SPAR(K)
hosted Club Alive! an event created by Kye Grant the 2025 visiting SPAR(K) artist.
SPAR(K) is the Social Practice Artist Residency (Keene). We want to thank The
Colonial and Keith Marks, the Director, and the Colonial staff for making this
evening a striking success in creating community-based art. The event brought
together numerous community performers: The Cheshiremen, The Super Seniors,
Len Weldon, Ernie Hebert, Donlin Foreman, Nicole Melanson, J.B. Mack, Noah
Steadman, Riley Lynch, Alexis Medina, Wolf Elkan, Down in the Ground, Swift
Corwin, Nina Cabral, Jim Murphy and many others to paint a picture of
Keene...what we are and what we might be. The Showroom is a marvelous
adaptable space that rose to full potential. SPAR(K) has brought visiting artists to
Keene in the Fall of each year since 2022. Collaborative partners have included
Monadnock Family Services, Covenant Living of Keene, and now The Colonial.
The 2025 residency brought many different community members together in
common cause. The Club Alive event served as a celebration of who Keene is and
a beautifully executed teaching lesson in what Social Practice art can be. The
Showroom (and thus the Colonial) was reimagined and presented as a place of
possibilities.
2025 Artist in Residence: Kye Grant Kauffman
https://kyealive.club/About-Me
Kye Grant Kauffman is a socially engaged artist and performer living and working
in Portland, Oregon. Practicing art as a public utility through interactive
performance, devised gatherings, and neighborhood interventions, their work has
taken the form of an unsanctioned artist residency in Times Square, a public
access television show, T-shirts functioning as conversation pieces, DJ sets, music
videos, choreographed stage shows, original pop music under the moniker
Jennifer Vanilla co-created with NYC producer and technologist Brian Abelson, a
pedestrian parade with a group of fifth grade crossing guards, and a
comprehensive artistic campaign to get a crosswalk painted in Queens.
This residency provided a $5000 stipend to the artist as well as living
accommodations. Total budget for the Residency was $10,000.
Sponsors: Osier Foundation, Putnam Foundation, Jan Cohen, Savings Bank of
Walpole, Spotfund (donations from friends and supporters).
The 2024 Residency took place at Covenant Living of Keene. Olivia DelGandio of Portland, Oregon was Resident Artist for the month of October 2024.
Covenant Living is a senior living community that is, by mission, devoted to providing a vital
community experience.
The idea for the residency grew out of conversations that SPAR(K) Director, Craig
Stockwell had with Carl Jacobs, a Covenant resident. Craig is 72 and is a working
studio artist and teacher, but thoughts of how to be an artist in the next phase of
life are present in his thinking. The Residency would likely begin with the artist in
conversation with Craig around these issues and move quickly to a convened
group of 8 artists dealing with aging. The skill of a social practice artist is to take
these bare bones and enter a process that would engage: 1) Stockwell, 2) a
focus/core group, 3) the Covenant Community, and 4) the Keene community. Age
and a changing artistic practice would be the focus with the understanding that
thinking around this issue speaks to us all.
SPAR(K) at Monadnock Family Services 2023-24 The MFS-SPAR(K) residency ran from September to early June 2024.
The SPAR(K) artist (Katie Bachler), along with MFS’s art therapist, Kate Russo,
undertook a process with a group of young MFS clients to develop a working
relationship and to undertake projects and processes that worked to establish an
understanding of the MFS building and its site near the Ashuelot River. Katie has
done extensive research concerning the water ways of Keene (Ashuelot, Beaver
Brook, etc.) and the water theme developed as a focus for the project. A very rich
cooperative project developed between the artist, the young clients, MFS staff,
and the Keene community.
Katie Bachler is an artist and educator living in Brattleboro, Vermont. She deeply
believes that the role of art is to connect us to each other and the world around
us, through sharing our gifts. Her work is always collaborative with the public, and
takes multiple forms, including maps, gardens, dinners, audio recordings, mobile
museums, and braided rag rugs.
Pilot Residency 2022: Artist: Roz Crews
The pilot residency successfully occurred for 4 weeks in October 2022. Roz Crews
was the artist: http://rozcrews.info/#/rozinkeene/o/ The project was titled:
When no one is there to witness how it feels inside. The project resulted in a
performance that ran for four consecutive nights. Five non-actors enacted a
dinner wherein the conversation was unfailingly positive and supportive.