EWU Art Grads Display Works at The Hive®

EWU’s Performing Arts Department and the Spokane Public Library recently launched an Emerging Artists Program to help talented artists gain attention and get a jump-start on their careers.

The program provides six-month residencies for two recent graduates from the Bachelor of Fine Arts’ Studio Art Program inside The Hive®. The Hive® is a non-traditional library focused on arts education, and free public event space, located at 2904 E. Sprague Ave.

Joshua Hobson, lecturer and director of EWU Gallery of Art, says the first few years after students graduate can be difficult because they lose their school studio space and the guidance they received. This transition can result in a loss of momentum and confidence, resulting in a timely recovery process, he says.

“An artist residency at The Hive® offers a landing space for graduates to learn how to incorporate art and their creative practice into their post-graduate life,” Hobson says.

Noelle Bowden and Luu Melon, recent EWU Bachelor of Fine Arts graduates, are the first artists to be featured at The Hive®.

“This residency gives me the space and time to expand myself as an emerging artist but also to fearlessly think, explore, and do,” says Bowden. “The environment, other artists, and the community at The Hive® create a wonderful learning and creative atmosphere. The energy is inspiring to me!”

Additionally, Melon says the residency is helping her become more open to sharing her art with others.

“I have always found myself more comfortable with keeping the things I create to myself but so far, through this residency, I am more open to sharing with others,” says Melon adding that the environment at the Hive® “is very beneficial to my thought process and is helping me discover my own way of doing things.”

Hobson and other faculty are working to develop community partnerships to support professional growth and development for art students. They connected with Eva Silverstone, Spokane Public Library arts education specialist, to brainstorm, create and implement this new collaboration.

“The incredible mentorship I see within the EWU Fine Arts Program is reflective of the Spokane community as a whole,” Silverstone says. “Spokane is unique in that our creative community is very supportive of one another. It’s less competitive and has more of a ‘rising tide lifts all boats’ mentality.”

Silverstone foresees this partnership continuing to nurture this supportive mindset while helping to produce “a high-quality lineup of emerging artists in our region.”

**Thank you to the Spokane Public Library (SPL) for providing content for this Inside EWU article – and additional thanks to SPL for providing opportunities for BFA graduates to showcase their talents.