By Laura Newlon, associate professor

Art Seniors Takeover: Spring 2021 Instagram Residencies

Each spring semester, the Cornish Art Department sponsors four-day Instagram residencies for graduating seniors. These residencies offer students an opportunity to professionally promote their work, tap into different potential audiences, and network via the school’s social media platform. They also provide the department a chance to showcase the hard work of graduating seniors from their own perspectives.

I started this program three years ago as a way to showcase the amazing work and research of the department’s graduating seniors and provide them with the opportunity to connect with a larger arts community via Cornish social media. It’s always exciting to see art majors share work that explores so many different, complex ideas and media, including sculpture, performance, video, painting, photography, print, installation, and everything in between.

But personally, I think it’s even more exciting to get a peek into their idiosyncratic practices and research, all the thinking and experimenting that fuels their work and that you don’t often have access to through a gallery exhibition. Particularly during a pandemic, this is one way students have of connecting with—and expanding—their communities. Seeing how they use the platform and support each other is incredible, and the engagement they get from the Cornish community and beyond reminds them that what they care about and what they make matters in the world.

Each residency lasts Thursday through Sunday, when students can share posts to the Art Department Instagram account feed, as well as post Instagram stories. The residencies are a lead-up to the annual BFA exhibition, giving the Cornish community a sneak peak into the behind-the-scenes work and other pieces students have worked on throughout their time here at Cornish.

Visit @cornish_artdept on Instagram to see more work from this year’s Instagram residents. You can also find their work at #cadtakeover.

Laura Hart Newlon is an artist, writer, and educator interested in the resonance and dissonance between images and objects. She is currently an associate professor in the Art Department.

Top Image: Recent Instagram residents (from left): Tia Shekelle, Soleil Busbice, Jehan Soderquist, and Jazmin Flores.