This year, the Spiro Arts artist residencies at Silver Star will run in two six-week terms, April 10-May 22 and June 13-July 24, said Executive Director Justin Parisi-Smith.

“This is the first time we’ve done the residencies like this,” he told The Park Record. “In the past they were done four weeks at a time but we were able to increase the length of the opportunity. We hope that will take a little bit of stress off their projects and allow them time to explore Park City. Because when they come for only four weeks, once they figure out where they are and what they want to do, the session is over.

“We’ve also found when people come to Park City, they don’t want to leave, and artists are no different. The more time and support you give them, they’re going to take them.”

The purpose of a residency is to give artists time to start a new idea or complete an old project, Parisi-Smith said.

“The program allows us to give these artists studio space, housing and a working stipend,” he said. “Each resident is also asked to do a community outreach project during which they will do a demonstration, or hold a clinic about what they’re doing, or talk in the studio space or at a school.”

The first-term artists-in-residence for 2011 are: Alaskan writer Nancy Lord, South Korean mixed-media artist Sun Young Kwon, Ohio-based installation artist Danielle Wyckoff and Louisiana-based digital media artist David Sullivan.

The artists for the second term are: Maryland-based writer Laura van den Berg, Connecticut-based filmmaker Katja Straub, Colorado mixed-media artist Robin Cole Smith and Ohio-based visual artist Kim Krause.

The Spiro Arts artist-in-residence program started in 2007, based on the concept of enhancing the Silver Star community, said Parisi-Smith, who moved from New York to Park City in 2008.

“We wanted to build a seasonal arts community that would also involve the café, bike shop, homeowners and season renters,” he explained.

Each year hopeful artists submit a proposal to Spiro Arts. The proposal includes ideas of what they would do with the time, space and money that would be allotted to them.

“They also submit images they have done, or if they’re writers, they submit sections of a novel or notes for a new project,” Parisi-Smith said. “They are also required to submit letters of recommendation, references, résumés and other background information.

“We look for artists who have innovative styles of work, show new ways of thinking and who will come in with a plan to make their art happen.”

One or two days during each residency, Spiro Arts hosts an open-studio event, where the general public can visit and see what the artists are doing.

“I don’t want to make it seem like the public can’t stop by during the residencies, but the idea of the residency is to give artists time to work on a project, without a lot of distractions,” Parisi-Smith said. “A residency isn’t an ideal time to have 100 visitors coming in each day, but I don’t want to keep people out, so that’s why we do the open studios. It gives the public an opportunity to see what’s going on.”

The first open-studio event at 1825 Three Kings Drive will be May 20 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“We have food, drinks and sometime music,” Parisi-Smith said. “The other event will be announced shortly.”

For additional information about the Spiro Arts Artists-in-Residence and events visit: http://www.spiroarts.org/node/148 .