2010 Artist in Residence: Stefan Rose

City of Kitchener Artist-in-Residence Program

Kitchener takes pride in being the home of the first municipal artist in residence program in Canada.  The program has encouraged dialogue between artists and Kitchener residents and visitors through special programming presented by one visual artist each year.

Landscape and the Grand River will be the focus of Stefan Rose’s work as the City of Kitchener artist-in-residence for 2010.

Rose has designed a program of photography, poetry and video to explore the effects of landscape and geography on people’s community-building experiences.

The year-long program, entitled “Grand River: Grand Conversations,” will be showcased in a number of locations, including the Rotunda Gallery, and inside Grand River Transit buses in conjunction with Earth Day. The bus exhibits would be also interpreted as a booklet for distribution at library branches, and as a PDF file for distribution through the internet.

In addition, a video of the Grand River will be created for exhibition on the Cube, on the Berlin Tower at city hall. Throughout the program, Rose will organize artist talks, engage in conversation with residents about their experiences with the river, and conduct two photo critique sessions for the public.

 “I am interested in the way that landscape and geography inform a community’s identity,” said Rose. “How do sometimes inaccessible waterways connect to the Grand River and the nearby inhabitants?”

Rose, who was born in Leeds, England, and immigrated to Canada in 1977, is interested in both creative and documentary forms of expression. 

Contact Stefan Rose, Kitchener’s 2010 Artist in Residence, by email at: grandconversations@live.ca
Or visit his web page: www.grandconversations.spaces.live.com

Past artists in residence are Nicholas Rees, Carol Bradley, Bill Downey, Ron Hewson, Marshall Ward, Melissa Doherty, Andrew Wright, Sandra Martin, Michael Ambedian, Tony Urquhart, Phil Irish, Paul Roorda, Laura Kavanaugh, and Ian Birse. 

For more information on this program, please contact Cheryl York, arts/culture co-ordinator at 519-741-3400 ext. 3381, or send email to cheryl.york@kitchener.ca.cheryl.york@kitchener.ca

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