The Newport artist residency, AiR/Newport encourages the creative, intellectual and personal growth of emerging to established visual artists and designers by giving them the time, space and solitude needed to create, apart from the daily demands of production and deadlines.

Our selection committee was deeply impressed by the quantity and quality of applications. It is clearly evident that residencies such as AiR/Newport are viewed by artists as unparalleled opportunities for creative growth. We look forward to seeing how aspects of Newport County’s architecture, flora, history, or ocean front geography influence our AiR/Newport artists in their current practice or the creation of new work.

We are pleased to introduce the 2023 AiR/Newport artists:

April AiR: Emma Welty

Connecticut-based artist Emma Welty is a textile artist who incorporates weaving, mending and Armenian needle lace-making. www.emmawelty.com

Artist, educator, curator and writer, Emma Welty currently resides and works in her Connecticut studio where she is a weaver and researcher, interrogating her relationship to the loom through craft legacies, inherited muscle memory and the links between textiles and language. She completed her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Fibers and Art History and her MFA in Visual Arts and MA in Art History at Purchase College, SUNY.

Emma will share her process during the April 29 FREE for ALL Saturday with a collaborative community weaving project facilitated in partnership with artists from Looking Upwards and Downtown Designs.

June AiR: Heather McMordie

Heather McMordie’s environmentally-based print, textile, and zine work will encourage local exploration and contemplation of threatened flora and fauna and the region’s fragile coastal salt marshes. www.heathermcmordie.com

Heather McMordie is an artist, educator, and curator based in Providence, RI. Her work explores the complexities of soil science and environmental restoration through prints, puzzles, artist books, and interactive installations. She is especially interested in the ways in which experiences with art objects can mirror field research experiences and create opportunities for tacit learning. Recent projects have been developed through field explorations and collaborations in Guyana, South Africa, and the US. Her work is in the collection of the Georgia Museum of Art, and has been exhibited in galleries and museums nationally, including the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Newport Art Museum, RISD Museum, Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, and Woodmere Art Museum.

Heather received her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and her BFA from the University of Pennsylvania. She is an Adjunct Lecturer at Brown University, a Critic at RISD, and the Arts Curator for Creature Conserve. When not in the studio, Heather is likely biking to one of Rhode Island’s many salt marshes.

Heather McMordie will share her process during the June 24 FREE for ALL Saturday – stay tuned for details!

October AiR: Fernanda D’Agostino

Fernanda D’Agostino from Portland, Oregon will illuminate Newport with local dancers with her projection-mapping installations. www.fernandadagostino.com

Fernanda D’Agostino is a public art and new media installation artist based in Portland, OR. D’Agostino has exhibited nationally and internationally with video installation, large scale public art projects, and performance. Her work has been featured in numerous new media festivals, and exhibitions, and she strives to share what she has learned with others. In 2018 at the invitation of Curator Justin Hoover, she produced large scale outdoor projection mapping works in San Francisco for the Untitled Art Fair and in Hong Kong in conjunction with Art Basil Hong Kong.

Her Borderline series of installations was exhibited in 2018-19 at 1A Space Hong Kong, Disjecta Contemporary Art Center, Open Signal, and Portland Art Museum. (all Portland, OR.) Her work has most recently been featured as part of Venice VR Expanded-a division of the Venice Film Festival and Venice Biennale. Her work is in the collections of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, New York Public Library, and the Cyland Media Archive in St Petersburg, Russia. D’Agostino’s work has been recognized by the Flintridge Foundation, Bonnie Bronson Fellowship, Andy Warhol Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation, Ford Family Foundation, 4Culture TechSpecific Award, Sacks Foundation of the University of Pennsylvania, Americans for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts and with the Oregon Arts Commission Artist Fellowship. D’Agostino is co-founder and co-director with Sarah Turner of Mobile Projection Unit and is a member of the IN/body performance collective in Portland, and Collective Action Studio, San Francisco. D’Agostino works between sculpture, installation, creative coding and video mapping on several programming platforms. The connecting thread in all her work is creating an immersive, interactive environment that places viewers within the work.

Fernanda will share her process during the October 28 FREE for ALL Saturday – stay tuned for details!

The West Bay View Foundation
Cynthia Sinclair
EJMP Fund for Philanthropy
The Sand Foundation
Roseanne Williams
Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Cultural Facilities grant