C3 Spotlight: Sam Swap
During the summer of 2022, rising senior Samuel Swap worked with artist, Dana Sherwood, during her artist-residency at the Florence Griswold Museum. Sam was able to assist Dana as she prepared for her upcoming solo exhibition and film, commissioned by the museum, Bedroom Bestiaries and other Animal Appetites and Other Encounters in Wildness.
Along with her paintings and sculptures, Dana's film will help further the narrative of the core story of the Florence Griswold Museum, inspired by the Lyme art colony. For three months, Dana and Sam set out food every night in a to-scale replica of an artist's bedroom from almost two hundred years ago and used Infrared trail cameras to capture the species that came and went and dined on their delectable feast. The bedroom was visited by opossums, raccoons, mice and more, which showed Swap and Sherwood more and more each night how interaction, control, and cross species action influences art, and helped them to explore the divide between anthropogenic and natural environments.
Through this experience, Samuel was given the opportunity to network with other staff within the museum, including some HAS Alumni.
"To have connections with a museum that holds the natural world at the forefront of its messaging, and expanding gives me a lot of hope and confidence for my future, and the future of the community that thrives there. All of this couldn't have been done without the generous help of the C3 scholarship."
Dana Sherwood's Bedroom Bestiaries and other Animal Appetites and Other Encounters in Wildness, will be on view at the Florence Griswold Museum, May-September, 2022
"Through the C3 scholarship, I was able to fully devote myself to this project for the past three months, it allowed us to create a project fueled by passion and plenty of raw food. To have the opportunity to work so closely with an artist who focuses on themes of anthropogenic divide, our view of the natural world, and how art interacts with nature is inspiring not only for this project, but also for the rest of my career. As someone who is solely influenced by the majesty of our natural world, it helped me gain confidence that our voices are important, unique, and can offer new perspectives at every turn. " - Samuel Swap, Illustration '22
The Creative Career Connections (C3) program is made possible through the generosity of Hartford Art School Endowment, Inc. donors. This fund is intended to help undergraduate students participate in valuable summer internships or artist residency experiences that have great potential but may not be “affordable” for all students. It is a competitive program for those pursuing a high-quality practicum that is likely to further their academic goals, professional goals, and career exploration.
To learn more about how you can contribute to C3, please contact the Hartford Art School Endowment, Inc. at haseinc@hartford.edu or call (860) 768-5281.
