2022 Terrain Residency

artists in residence

Evelyn Davis-Walker & Kristy Woudstra

Evelyn Davis-Walker and Kristy Woudstra’s collaboration stems from their work as makers, activists and artists.

During the Terrain Residency, Evelyn Davis-Walker and Kristy Woudstra will work together to develop a collaborative stop motion workshop series designed especially for children and young adults. 

Storytelling is a powerful communication tool and moving images help reach an even wider audience. As a form of play therapy, their  workshop, Social Storytelling through Stop Motion will be geared to help young participants (a.k.a. youth directors) learn the art of storytelling through stop-motion animation. They will use Grumpy Faces, a series of unique, handmade woodland and Arctic creatures. They are created by Kristy Woudstra. As a professor of art and storytelling, Evelyn Davis-Walker has extensive experience teaching people of all ages how to communicate visually. The goal of our workshop is for young adults to connect with doll characters provided at the residency and use the creatures as actors in a story with a theme that is of interest to them, whether it is environmental issues, inclusivity, bullying, acceptance, overcoming anxiety, etc... There will be three touch-points with the young directors. The first being an information session; the second being a one-on-one appointment  to create their stop motion animation; the last interaction is the “movie premiere” event.

Evelyn Davis-Walker holds a B.A. in Visual Communication and Computer Art from Otterbein University and an M.F.A. in Advertising Design from Marywood. Evelyn is a graphic designer; a maker; an educator; and a socially engaged art activist. 

She has a strong affinity for all things paper – from mixed media collage, to creating typographical prints on her letterpress machine. She has received numerous awards and has exhibited in solo, group and juried exhibitions nationally and internationally. In 2010, Evelyn was awarded 25 for 25 AOL International Art Grant where 25 winners (9,000 applicants) were funded $25,000. Evelyn designed individual memory games for 200 Alzheimer’s patients. In 2015, Evelyn received the Otterbein University Young Alumni Recipient for Community Engagement as a result of her game design’s activism. 

She has taught graphic design at the university-level for over 14 years and has run her design business with her husband for the last 20 years. Evelyn teaches socially conscious forms of storytelling such as children’s books, board game design and stop motion animations, to help students develop a sense of ownership, identity and agency to address topics of diversity and inclusion. 

evelyndaviswalker.com | @profdaviswalker

Kristy Woudstra is based in the beautiful downtown east-side of Hamilton, Ontario, in Canada, where she wears several creative hats. As features editor of Broadview, Canada's oldest magazine, she explores stories of justice, ethics and spirituality. As a writer, she has authored many magazine stories and the book Highrise: The Towers in the World and the World in the Towers. 

As a textile artist, she expresses her thoughts and emotions through the centuries-old practice of quilting with her minimalist, modern designs. And as a maker, Kristy designs and hand sews a sustainable and inclusive line of Arctic and woodland creatures called Grumpy Faces. As the kid of very practical Dutch immigrants, she is heavily influenced by her culture and experiences, and she is grateful for every moment she has to write, doodle and create.

kristywoudstra.com

Millicent Kennedy

Millicent Kennedy’s art practice collaborates with  materials and time through performance, fiber, and print. The themes explored in her work often pivot on the tension between labor, and impermanence.

For the Terrain Residency, Kennedy will host local participants as part of their community workshop “What We Kept.” Participants will volunteer to share stories and be interviewed about items that they have held onto and decide to donate for the making  of a larger artwork. This is a community extension of an ongoing series in the artist’s practice taking abandoned or broken items, and quilting them into fabric, creating a shroud that preserves, buries, and gives them new life.