Now in its sixth year, Amazon’s Artist in Residence program provides local Seattle-area artists with a $15,000 grant, 10 weeks of studio space in the company’s Seattle or Bellevue offices, and an opportunity to connect with Amazon employees by sharing their artistic inspiration and processes. The 2023 program will feature eight artists, each of whom will create one new piece of art to be featured at Amazon’s Puget Sound headquarters at the completion of their residency, contributing to Amazon’s peculiar culture with original works of art.
“I never thought I would be a part of a program like this, as many artists in previous years have been focused on installation and video art–I’m proud to be the first oil painter to be welcomed to the program,” said Yongqi Tang, a 2023 program participant who currently resides in Seattle. Tang earned a bachelor’s degree in painting and drawing, in 2019, and a Master of Fine Arts degree, in 2022, from the University of Washington.
The first residency started at the top of the year. Meet our 2023 residence program participants:
Amanda Manitach
Manitach is a self-taught artist, and her visual practice merges a love of drawing and language in large-scale works, on paper. Learn more.
Yongqi Tang
Tang is an oil painter whose work is influenced by cultural and ideological differences between China and America. Learn more.
Lauren Boilini
Boilini is a painter, and she also works in installation and public art. She considers collaboration vital to her craft. Learn more.
Henry Jackson-Spieker
Jackson-Spieker is a multidisciplinary artist focused on sculpture and site-specific installations. Learn more.
Meggan Joy
Nate Clark
Clark is an installation artist whose work primarily examines the process of creating and recontextualizing the form of fiber nets. Learn more.
Ellen Ziegler
Ziegler investigates the psychological and physical world through drawing, painting, mixed media, and installation. Learn more.
Fumi Amano
Amano learned glassmaking as a traditional Japanese craft. Learn more.
“I’m excited to be a part of this artist residency, as there's nothing quite like it,” said Manitach, a 2023 program participant. “The studio environment gives you time and space to play, explore creative ideas, and connect with employees. I’m treating the studio as a think tank and laboratory focusing on exploring new technologies for my practice, including artificial intelligence, which is a direction I wasn’t headed in before entering the program.”
Amazon’s program acknowledges the need to support local artists in the greater Seattle area with access to quality studio spaces while providing opportunities for engaging dialogue and inspiring creative expression and problem-solving with Amazon employees. Amazon partners with arts nonprofit Shunpike to administer the Artist in Residence program.
Amazon’s support of the arts in the Puget Sound region goes beyond the Artist in Residence program. For example, in Seattle, Amazon provides grants and funding for the nonprofit arts sector and assists with organizational planning through ArtsFund. In partnership with Wing Luke Museum, Amazon provides funding for the “our stories are your stories” series, which dispels misconceptions about the Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community and celebrates their representation in society. Additionally, Amazon provides funding to a number of organizations across the east side of the Seattle area, including the Bellevue Arts Museum in support of the award-winning Bellevue Arts Fair, the largest arts and crafts festival in the Pacific Northwest.
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