Zócalo Apartments announces the 2021 winners of its first in Houston Artist-in-Residency program. Chosen from 82 applications from 23 states, the winning artists are granted free housing at Zocalo Apartments, a monthly stipend and need-based project funding. The program is the first in Houston to offer artists a residence in a multi-family property.
Full Year Residency Winner: Le’Andre Douglas
Le’Andre Douglas is a nationally accomplished dancer, choreographer with a decade of professional dance experience. A Houston native, he has worked nationally with Grammy nominated artists such as, LL Cool J, B.o.B, Rock legend Pat Benatar, Big Daddy Kane, The Sugar Hill Gang, and many others.
Douglas intends to use his Zócalo residency to deepen his artistic practice and will engage Zócalo residents in outdoor dance programs on Zócalo’s large, landscaped grounds with appropriate social distancing. Douglas explained, “My artistic goal is to give everybody a piece of art that they can keep for themselves within their body. Learning to move or connect through movement is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself.”
“We are thrilled to include Le’Andre Douglas in this year’s program,” said Sophia Collier, Zócalo Apartments’ co-owner. “His work is inspiring and beautiful, and he clearly has a tremendous future ahead of him. It is our honor to award him the full year residency in 2021.”
Spring Six Month Residency: Stacia Yeapanis
Stacia Yeapanis is a Chicago-based, interdisciplinary artist, educator, and writer. She describes her work as exploring “the relationship between repetition, desire, suffering and impermanence” and uses an intriguing combination of diverse media including cross-stitch embroideries, remix videos, temporary collages, and improvised, sculptural installations.
Yeapanis is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she received her MFA in 2006.
At Zócalo Yeapanis plans to create a range of temporary and improvised installations in outdoor areas of the Zócalo campus. Yeapanis explained: “Day-long, ground-based arrangements will invite participation. I want to create an art experience that is a reliable refuge from the difficulties of living in this world. As with prayer and meditation, this aesthetic practice will be there waiting.”
“It is a significant opportunity for us to include Stacia Yeapanis in 2021 program, said Sophia Collier, “It allows us to bring a strong midwestern artist to Houston. Her work is an intriguing fusion of media types and her artistic focus is highly relevant today as we enter what we hope will be the beginning of the end of the Covid era.”
2021 Judges:
This year’s judges were Houston interdisciplinary artist, curator, and former Zócalo artist-in-residence, Theresa Escobedo; public visual artist, curator, and muralist, Angel Quesada; and Sixto Wagan, the inaugural Director for the Center for Art and Social Engagement (CASE) at the University of Houston.
