Program Manager for a New York City prototype developing safe haven residency infrastructure for artists at risk.
The idea was first developed in 2012 during freeDimensional’s COL:LAB residency on Wasan Island, Ontario, and was designed at the intersection of artist residencies and shelter. In 2017 it became the NYC Artist Safe Haven Residency Program, a yearlong residency for NYC-based international artists facing censorship, persecution, or other threats to their freedom of expression. It was founded by Artistic Freedom Initiative, Todd Lanier Lester, Residency Unlimited, and Westbeth Artists Housing. Its first residents were Hadi Nasiri (Iran, 2017) and Rashwan Abdelbaki (Syria, 2018).