CCAD grad accepted into prestigious Skowhegan residency

Congratulations to CCAD alum Jake Mason-Macklin (Fine Arts, 2017), who has been accepted into Skowhegan, an intensive nine-week summer residency program for emerging visual artists.

Skowhegan accepts a small number of artists each year for intensive artistic creation, interaction with fellow artists, and growth in respective practices.

“Skowhegan’s list of alumni, faculty and visiting artists is like a ‘who’s who’ of the art world,” says Fine Arts chair Tim Rietenbach.

Part of the program’s appeal is its rural location, on a historic, 350-acre Maine farm. “Nine weeks in the middle of the bucolic landscape of Maine, working in a beautiful studio space surrounded by equally invested artists, can only lead to a life-changing experience,” Rietenbach says.

At CCAD, Rietenbach says, Fine Arts students are encouraged to continue to build confidence in the studio while expanding their connection to communities of artists by exhibiting as much as possible, applying for residencies, and going to grad school.

What drew Mason-Macklin to this particular residency were community and conversation, essential for any artistic practice. “The ability to create a dialogue and work alongside creatives from all over the world is what appeals to me the most,” he says.

During his time at CCAD, Mason-Macklin focused primarily on the use of found objects and large installation works. His thesis comprised of patchworking large, found scraps of tarpaulin printed with constructions advertisements for luxury developments around the city.

“I wanted the work to talk about displacement; specifically, who gets displaced,” he says. “I found I could use the iterative process of patchwork—I likened the pieces to ‘quilts’—to merge my relationship with the subject and the work’s relationship to what was happening in Columbus.”

At Skowhegan, Mason-Macklin plans to use the time to experiment.

“I feel it’s important to allow space to play and create outside of what’s comfortable,” he says.

After graduating, Mason-Macklin moved to Brooklyn, where he continues to practice art.

Learn more about Fine Arts at CCAD or apply here.