The Paseo Arts Association (PAA) is pleased to announce Sam Charboneau as its first artist in residence in the organization’s new Paseo Arts and Creativity Center (PACC). Charboneau, a photographer, will create a new body of work in her PACC studio for one year, which begins July 1, 2020.
In May, the PAA made the move from their previous home at 3022 Paseo next door to 3024 Paseo. With quadruple the square footage, they now have the space to provide the resources and programs to artists that there was great need for in the historic arts district. Two galleries and a curated gift shop make up the front of the building, but the real magic will happen in the back half of the building that is dedicated to ten low cost artist studios and a photography studio. The new PACC Artist in Residence program offers an artist a free studio space for one year. Details about the application process for 2021 will be released in the fall.
Sam Charboneau first picked up a camera as a way to release the tension of growing up and working. She quickly fell in love with and pulled inspiration from the work of surreal painters and stop motion animators. As a self-taught artist, Charboneau is familiar with the process of trial and error. She uses found objects to build the handmade creatures she includes in her whimsical and surreal composites.
Inspiration for her newest body of work is drawn from Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince, a tale that is styled as a children’s book, but makes poignant observations about life and human nature. Imagery from the story of the human body as a shell, a simple container that houses a person’s true essence, has stirred something cosmic inside her. “The notion of death becomes less permanent, not an end but a transition,” Charboneau says. “I’m reminded that we are all stardust, light and energy.”
The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Seeker, by Uusi
During her year at the PACC, she hopes to explore that idea further. After amassing a trove of odd objects collected over a decade, Charboneau is excited to have the space to spread out and tinker with the pieces of the subjects she will construct and eventually photograph in the PACC’s studio. Her collection will visualize the energy erupting inside each of us and celebrate the flawed realness of our life experiences, inviting anyone who dreams, ponders, and is inspired by the cosmic magic of life itself.
For several years, Charboneau has been an active participant in the PAA’s annual juried shows and was one of six female artists featured in the PAA’s March exhibit Luminosity. Program Manager Paige Powell says that Charboneau was a natural fit for their inaugural residency. “Sam’s finished work has always intrigued gallery visitors, and now that she will be creating her work here and utilizing the resources in our new space so fully, we are excited for guests to be able to experience more of her creative process.”
The Paseo Arts and Creativity Center will be open during the July 3 Paseo First Friday Gallery Walk, and visitors will be invited for the first time to view the July exhibits, tour the new facility and meet with Charboneau and the other studio artists.