Marton Robinson, Arleene Correa Valencia, and Daniel Shieh were the inaugural Our Stories Unite US residents in October 2020, a thematic residency dedicated to foreign-born artists and their stories. Photo by Alex Nuñez.
Marton Robinson, Arleene Correa Valencia, and Daniel Shieh were the inaugural Our Stories Unite US residents in October 2020, a thematic residency dedicated to foreign-born artists and their stories. Photo by Alex Nuñez.

In December, the streets of Florida’s Miami-Dade County are packed with locals and tourists visiting galleries and museums, and, of course, taking in the famed graffiti and street art on the Wynwood Walls. But year-round, the artists who create the art works in and around institutions are actually all over Miami as part of the Fountainhead Residency program, which fosters the Miami art scene with locations all around the city. Now the program is introducing a new model based on thematic residencies for the 2022 season.

Founded in 2008 by Kathryn and Dan Mikesell, the Fountainhead Residency program has invited three to four artists each month, drawing from a pool of national and international candidates. Since it began in March 2008, more than 430 artists from 47 countries have participated in the program. The alumni list reads like a who’s who of the art world, including established and emerging artists Devan Shimoyama, Kennedy Yanko, Lauren Halsey, Austin Lee, Madeline Hollander, Tschabalala Self, Deana Lawson, and Ebony G Patterson.

In a press release, Kathryn Mikesell said “Moving towards this more focused approach allows us to elevate artists’ voices and the valuable role they play in shifting perspectives and shaping the future.” The themes, which are introduced on a monthly basis, include pressing issues like “Celebrating Women in the Arts” (slated for March 2022), “Climate and Environmental Sustainability” (April 2022), and focuses on particular cohorts, like the first program, debuting in January 2022, which will bring together artists born in different decades in “Wisdom and Energy: Multigenerational Artists” as well as in “Time For You: BIPOC Mothers” which welcomes parent artists.

A panel of artists, curators, and writers including Rene Morales, chief curator at the Perez Art Museum; Diana Nawi, co-curator of Prospect 5 New Orleans; and artist Mark Thomas Gibson were selected to choose from a pool of nominated artists for the 2022 thematic residencies; their selections will be announced in November 2021.