The Arrowmont Artists-in-Residence Program provides early career, self-directed artists time, space and support to develop new work and be an active part of the Arrowmont community. Each year, five artists are selected to participate in the 11-month program, which begins in mid-June and continues through late May of the following year. Started in 1991, the Arrowmont Artists-in-Residence program celebrated 30 years in 2021.
Artists-in-Residence are given a monthly stipend, shared housing with private bedrooms and meals (during workshop sessions), and a private well-lit studio with climate control, a basic work table, shelving and sink. Residents provide instruction for Arrowmont’s celebrated children’s education program, ArtReach, and are offered paid teaching opportunities.
Arrowmont welcomes the 2024-25 Artists in Residence: Lela Arruza, Grant Turner, Sam van Strien, Breana Ferreira, and Johnny McCaffrey.
Lela Arruza is a contemporary paper artist from Apex, North Carolina. She received the Chancellor’s Scholarship from Appalachian State University and completed her BFA in ceramics in 2023. Her background as an adopted Asian American artist encourages her to explore identity and culture through paper; utilizing an origami technique called Golden Venture Folding. She draws inspiration from traditional Chinese porcelain ceramics. Arruza is a 2023 recipient of the Windgate-Lamar Fellowship, and her work has been exhibited at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum.
Grant Turner is a multidisciplinary artist from Wapakoneta, Ohio. Turner brings his illustrations to life through the arts of enameling, metalsmithing, and digital fabrication. His artistic process reflects the layering of possibilities, turmoil, heartache, love, and hope that accompany the human experience. Turner earned a BFA in Digital Arts from Bowling Green State University in 2022, after which he continued exploring his practice during his 2023-2024 residency at Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft.
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Sam van Strien is a visual artist who examines the relationship between architecture, finance, and capitalism. In his research and studio-based practice, Sam employs various techniques such as rubbings from buildings, laser-cut engravings of photographs, and prints sourced from archival records. Sam earned an MFA in Painting & Drawing from Ohio State University and a BA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins. His artwork has been exhibited internationally and he has completed several residencies, most recently at the NARS Foundation in Brooklyn, New York, with the support of Arts Council England and the Netherland-America Foundation.
Breana Ferreira (she/her) was born and raised in Southern California and received her BFA in Ceramics in the Spring of 2022 from the University of North Texas. Her practice revolves predominantly around surface and ornamentation through the integration of hand building, throwing, painting, and printmaking to craft functional ceramic objects with loaded layered surfaces. Within the last two years Breana has worked as an emerging studio artist and educator in association with the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, CA and the Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago, IL.
Johnny McCaffrey (they/them) is a queer and trans woodworker and sculptural artist from Olympia, WA. Their work focuses on themes of reclamation, reinvention, and playful curiosity, both conceptually and materially. Craft and art making have been a through-line in all areas of their life – from a familial lineage of makers to working as an art installer, handler, home builder, and carpenter. Johnny earned a BFA in Craft and Fine Art from Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA in 2021, and attended Penland School of Craft in 2023 for a fall concentration in woodworking.
