Category: Artist-In-Residence

  • Summer 2024 Artist-In-Residence: jen berger

    Summer 2024 Artist-In-Residence: jen berger

    This summer, Generator is hosting jen berger as the Artist-In-Residence. jen comes in with experience in printmaking, painting, mixed media, and installation work. A theme she is currently exploring through her public artwork is the idea of care. How the use of care as a lens puts responsibility on artists to truly consider what is being created and put into public spaces. 

    jen comes to Generator with many years of experience in utilizing care within her artwork and practice. Originally from outside of Philadelphia, she spent time in Chicago and moved to Vermont in 2001. Her interest in herbalism and living closer to plants is why she moved to Burlington. jen has always had an interest in art, however, it was not until after 9/11 that she began to veer away from herbalism and use art as a tool of activism.  jen has been bringing people together for many years, through her community-based work, teaching artistry, and as an educator. jen has worked for several higher education institutions in Vermont, such as Community College of Vermont, and Champlain College, and currently teaches art at the University of Vermont. She has been involved with Generator for the last decade, because of her previous work at Champlain College, she came in to work on a project, and using the laser cutter is what kickstarted her relationship with the makerspace. She has brought students here, has had friends who were Artists-In-Residence and has been a member on and off for many years.

    Though her art began as activist and social movement-oriented, it has changed to not be less literal as “in your face”, but instead has become more of a personally memorable experience to folks engaging with the work. As the Artist-In-Residence, jen will be working on an installation, tying together the ideas of care, public art, memorials, and monuments, things that have been prevalent in her mind since the racial reckoning of 2020. She will be highlighting the concept of loss, not only physical but intangible, and this will manifest in the form of a multi-alter memorial monument. The piece is intended to be used as a means to bring people together and make it easier to be in the world with one another.  jen has spent the last month of her residency practicing and planning, she expresses her love for power tools, and how “there’s a world of opportunities that [she] can just scratch the surface at right now” at Generator. She foresees herself focused on the metal and wood workshops for her installation piece. She is also playing around with a print to accompany the installation.

    Though jen is a full-time teacher and artist, she is also a full-time human being. Some of the things she does for fun outside of art are spending time with friends, traveling, swimming, cooking, being outside, hanging out with friends, and dancing. Joy is also a big part of jen’s life, specifically joy as resistance. To jen, going dancing feels like joy, or when she can find time in her day to do something that is not scripted feels like joy. 

    If you would like to learn more about how joy, care, community, and education take hold in jen’s work visit her business website At the Root, or her Instagram. Also, you can connect with jen, and see her most recent work, on September 6-8 during the South End ArtHop–More Info Here. 

  • Generator and SEABA Launch Artist-In-Residence Partnership

    Generator and SEABA Launch Artist-In-Residence Partnership

    A New Collaboration

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    Generator and the South End Arts and Business Association (SEABA) are proud to announce a new partnership to support a collaborative Artist-In-Residence program.

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    About the Program

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    The Generator Artist-in-Residence program first began in 2014. Founded with the organization, the program is an active example of Generator’s long-standing support of developing artists in Vermont. by offering professional development in technical skills within a collaborative community space. 

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    Generator is thrilled to collaborate with SEABA to continue supporting Vermont artists in Burlington’s South End Arts District. “Partnering with Christy Mitchell at SEABA is a no brainer. Providing access to our tools and the opportunity to develop technical skills can significantly accelerate an artist’s career. Partnering with SEABA allows both of our organizations to expand our networks while increasing our impact and role in the arts”, says Meg Hammond, Executive Director of Generator. 

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    Through the Artist-In-Residence program, Generator will host four artists annually, offering each resident four months of free Generator membership, 3 months of free Generator studio rental, and a combined $900 in the form of tool training credits and a material stipend. 

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    The Perfect Partnership

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    The Artist-In-Residence partnership is an exciting culmination of years of collaboration between Generator and SEABA. As a nonprofit in Burlington’s South End, Generator has long been a member of SEABA and has participated in many South End Art Hop events run by the association. “The partnership with Generator meshes perfectly,” says SEABA’s Executive Director, Christy Mitchell. “Many artists benefit from tools that expedite their process or allow them to create works that would be impossible by hand. Conversely, makers often need the inspiration of art and other visual minds to create aesthetically rich pieces.” 

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    Generator and SEABA are also connected through leadership: Christy was also Generator’s first Executive Director. “Both organizations lift up our creative community by giving unique access to tools and training,” she says. “By SEABA and Generator collaborating on the Artist-In-Residence program, it allows us to support the artist and maker community in ways that our organizations would not be able to do alone.”

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    The application for our Winter and Spring 2024 residencies is open now. Are you our next Artist-In-Residence? Apply here.

  • Meet Menghan Wang, Artist-In-Residence 2023

    Meet Menghan Wang, Artist-In-Residence 2023

    Meet Menghan

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    Menghan Wang is Generator’s Summer 2023 Artist-In-Residence. 

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    Menghan is a Beijing-born, previously Berlin-based, and currently Vermont-based interdisciplinary artist, musician, and DJ.

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    Beijing to Berlin

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    Menghan was an active experimental musician in Beijing’s subcultural scenes and independent art communities. She performed at many China’s major electronic music venues, including The Shelter, Oil, Zhao Dai, and Yugong Yishan, as well as festivals including Audi Urban Electronics, Prajnasonic’s T.A.U.M, and BEME (Beijing Electronic Music Encounter). She was also a key member of Sinotronics label, supporting and promoting local musicians.

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    In 2018, Menghan moved to Berlin, Germany to study Sound Studies and Sonic Arts at Universität der Künste Berlin. She started to realize her works in more interdisciplinary ways, gaining experience in poetry, photography, videography, and installation. She exhibited and performed works including the 8-channel sound installation Gate (2019) at Berlin ACUD Macht Neu, multimedia live act Now is the Place, Here is the Time (2021) as part of Climate Care Festival at Floating University Berlin, and sound installation Silver Ripples (2022) across 6 secluded places in Berlin and 1 location at Sound Studies and Sonic Arts Master Exhibition at Collegium Hungaricum Berlin. She then moved to Vermont in late 2022.

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    Woodworking, Electronics, And Soon Sewing

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    Menghan came to Generator excited to work in a synergetic creative community. “I look forward to participating in a collaborative environment where I can exchange knowledge and ideas with other makers,” she says.

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    Menghan has a fundamental understanding of woodwork, metalwork, and electronics, however she is eager to expand her skill set at Generator. Menghan is especially excited about the tool training in our sewing studio, as she hopes to incorporate textile elements into her work. 

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    A Place-Based Proiect

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    During her residency, Menghan will continue a series she calls “Sounding Presentness: Resonating with the Otherworld.” 

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    Menghan describes Sounding Presentness as a “multidisciplinary place-based project” that draws on reflections from the recent pandemic, psychogeographical wandering, instrument design, and sound art installation. The project will address sustainability, community, and healing, and will invite our local communities to listen and share their experiences.

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    “As I embark on this new journey, I am eager to absorb fresh perspectives and gain knowledge from the diverse array of resources available here,” Menghan says. “Ultimately, I anticipate that this experience will infuse my work with new dimensions of meaning and depth.” 

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    Don’t miss Menghan’s installation of Sounding Presentness at Art Hop, September 8-9, 2023 at Generator.