Today we’d like to introduce you to Bonnie Bastien.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I am an independent producer of artist programs and projects in Boston. I design, install, and administer programs that foster artists’ creative processes. I am most interested in creating artist residencies embedded in compelling and rich contexts, which has recently included community art organizations, and public institutions. I grew up in Southbridge, a small town in south-central Massachusetts on the border of Connecticut. I graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2001 with a BFA in illustration.
Something shifted in my mind soon after graduation which made it clear to me that a career in illustration was not the right path for me. The journey to build on all, I had learned in school while correcting my path began when I joined the Esprit de Corps art collective soon after graduation. I wanted to develop a new kind of art practice. Together, we supported and pushed each other’s art making and took over a basement space to curate art shows while hosted all manner of performance and music shows to help pay for all our endeavors.
In 2005, I was introduced to another DIY artist organization called the Berwick Research Institute. I was brought on initially as a member of the board, and then became a curator for their Artist-in-Research (AIR) program from 2006 to 2009. In those four years, I discovered a new entrance into art as a facilitator. The AIR program supported artists working conceptually in mediums such as electronics, sound, installation, performance, and video. It focused solely on process and dialogue and required no finished product at the conclusion of the residency. The program was created to deepen and strengthen the artists’ proposed projects at the very beginning stages of conception through research aid, moral support, critical feedback, and the aggregation of resources (material or intellectual). The artists I supported were doing work that stretched me in new and challenging ways. I fell in love with my uncommon access to the artists’ creative processes and, because of my own art practice, I found that I could apply great empathy and curiosity to this work.
After my time at the Berwick, I became interested in other people, places, and organizations that do the work to support, enable, and influential artists and their creative processes, specifically. I wanted to go deeper into understanding how to support the generation of an idea, the research and development, the experimentation, and the community of art making. I became a member of the Alliance of Artist Communities and found that artist residencies, in all of their manifestations, are the flexible framework within which I want to build a career.
Since then, I have founded a small residency within the Quinebaug Valley Council for the Arts and Humanities, a community art center in my hometown of Southbridge, MA. I have also been hired as a consultant for various for-profit businesses seeking new and different ways to support the arts.
Most recently, I co-founded the Brookline Library AIR pilot program with Andi Sutton, an artist and activist, and Colin Wilkins, a reference librarian at the Brookline Library. The program recognizes the value of professional artists as engaging community partners and deploys them to create public art and art programming that stimulates dialogue and reflects the library and its patrons very directly. For the artist community, the program introduced a fully-funded opportunity in the heart of a local community to create site-specific, public artwork with the support of dedicated program staff. The Brookline Library AIR pilot was launched in the spring of 2016 and was completed by the end of that December. My focus now is to find it a new home and new funding. The Brookline Library AIR program has been pivotal for me and I look forward to translating it into other contexts.
Please tell us about your work.
I am most inspired by the framework and flexibility of artist residency programs. I am motivated by a deep sense that access to high-quality art and artists for all communities is a part of social justice. The arts in all forms develop and stimulate the creative mind, an essential tool for problem-solving, innovation, and idea generation. The arts can provoke complex thought and self-reflection and can serve as a tool for advocacy and speaking truth to power. I want to build programming that works to adjust common perceptions of who contemporary art is for. Art and its ability to comment on the world around us should be open, engaging, and as accessible as a library book.
What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
I can’t speak for all artists, but if I had to guess, I’d say the biggest challenge for artists is the same challenge for most residents in the Greater Boston area – a lack of affordable housing, healthcare, and childcare. Artists struggle financially to stay in Boston. This should be of concern to everyone because, arts and culture drive the economy, build community, strengthen education, and reflect diversity and inclusion. All residents will benefit when issues of affordability are effectively addressed in all of Boston’s communities because we all have a lot to lose.
What we can do about these issues is to vote for local leaders that are willing to push hard to stop low and moderate income residents from being pushed out of their communities. Vote for leaders that see the intrinsic value of the arts and are motivated to push for significant funding to support them. Art is not a common talking point for politicians, so be sure to ask about their position on supporting the arts in your community.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
You can learn more about the Brookline Library Artist-in-Residence program and view my writing on the project at www.brooklinepubliclibraryAIR.org.
My website is www.bonniebastien.com.
You can support my work by hiring me as a consultant or to develop and/or run an artist residency program in your organization or institution.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bonniebastien.com
- Email: bonniebastien@gmail.com
- Instagram: @bastienlegeyt, @brklibAIR
- Twitter: @bastienlegeyt, @brklibAIR
- Other: www.brooklinepubliclibraryAIR.org
Image Credit:
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