Pines of Arcadia. That’s the name of a new artist residency and studio north of Manistee. The studio is built into a sand dune and surrounded by pine trees.
Judy Jashinsky is the owner and came with the idea to start the residency.
The studio building is 30 feet by 40 feet and is 27 feet high.It’s full of windows and a lot of natural light shines inside. There’s a main work area on the ground floor and a balcony overlooking it.
Judy says it’s important for an artist to have a spacious studio.
“You work to a space you imagine in your mind,” she says. “Then when you get a chance to work in a place like that you can even go back to a smaller place and you can still have the memory of what that would be and where you wanted your work to eventually be.”
Judy says artists can come up with bigger ideas when they’re in a larger space simply because it can happen. They aren’t confined by their surroundings.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s big art in the sense that it’s a painting that’s 10 feet long and five feet high,” Judy explains. “It can mean that they can do smaller things that add up to something big ... So it’s not necessarily the size of the piece, but it’s like the overall feeling of what the project is.”
Residencies at Pines of Arcadia will last anywhere from about a week to a month. Judy created a non-profit to help cover the expenses of the residency, and she’s targeting artists living in Great Lakes states.
“I thought that there was something more vibrant about what was happening in the Midwest,” she says. “I thought coastal artists don’t need help … Most of the large artist colonies are on the east coast.”
Judy Jashinsky says in a way, artists are foretellers. They lead our culture.She just wants to give them a chance to work in a place other than their basement, or garage.
“I want them to be able to be in a place where they don’t have to worry about getting up early for the job, or taking care of the kids, whatever,” she says. “Then it can be a sacred space for them and they can experience what I experienced at other times in my life. I’m trying to recreate something that was really important to me.”
Judy Jashinsky will host an opening exhibition and reception for Pines of Arcadia, Wednesday, January 10th at 6pm.
