COASTAL OREGON ARTIST RESIDENCY

2022 Award Winners

Kate Speranza is a life-long Oregonian, who received her BFA from Oregon College of Art & Craft where she concentrated in metalsmithing. She went on to pursue an MFA at East Carolina University where she discovered a love for painting. “Found objects often become subject matter or components in my work.” Speranza wrote in her application, “My ability to look at the humblest of objects and see immense potential for its use and transformation constantly has me exclaiming, ‘Ooh, I could make something with that!’”

Speranza has an abiding interest in architecture and is drawn to clean lines, structure, and minimalism. She currently divides her time between painting, sculpture, and metalsmithing and is a represented artist at RiverSea Gallery. Her paintings, sculpture, and jewelry have been featured in many national and regional exhibitions. In February of 2020, Speranza participated in a month-long artist residency at Arteles Creative Center in Finland, and later that same year, she was awarded a Career Opportunity Grant from the Oregon Arts Commission.

Bill Atwood

Bill Atwood received his Bachelors in Sculpture from Eastern Oregon University. He then went on to co-found Waypoint Studios, a successful artist co-op in La Grande, which offers artists and musicians a place to create and is still in operation since its inception 18 years ago. For the past 10 years the backbone of his sculptural work has been found objects, typically acquired through visits to local scrap yards or beach combing. COAR is an exciting opportunity for Atwood to have access to a substantial amount of scrap materials. “I start by laying out various collected pieces on a clean table and allow for relationships to develop between objects. Keeping an open mind is key,” Atwood says of his process. He aims to work on larger scale public art in the future and hopes COAR could provide first step in that direction. Atwood is a represented artist at Riversea Gallery in Astoria.

Coastal Oregon Artist Residency

A partnership between AVA and Recology Western Oregon

Recology and AVA aim to support the creation of art from recycled, repurposed, and discarded materials recovered from the Astoria Recycling Depot and Transfer Station. The annual residency provides two selected artists with access to discarded materials, a stipend of $1,000 per month for 4 months, studio space at Recology’s Warrenton-based facility, and, at the close of the residency, a public exhibition in downtown Astoria.

By supporting artists who work with recycled materials, Recology and AVA encourage the public to conserve natural resources and promote new ways of thinking about art and the environment.

Former COAR Participants

* Due to Covid-19, COAR was canceled in 2020 & 2021. Artists that applied for COAR 2020 were considered for the 2022 residency.

2019: Drea Rose Frost, Jeremy Furnish

2018: Cara Mico, Stephen Shumaker, Wenda Vorce

2017: Bonny Gorsuch

2016: Dawn Stetzel, Sean Barrow