As we begin to close the inaugural year it is worth taking a moment to express what has unfolded. Four artists were chosen from a pool of twenty-three.
Steven H. Anderson, Kyle Henderson, Julie L. Sims, and Xenia Simos began a journey of individual and group sessions that started in April 2016.
The year of exploring the artistic process, everyone’s individual lens at which they saw the world through, and getting to know how each other were healing, we began to form a cohort that allowed for us to articulate deeper threads of what we felt and what the work brought up for us. The first three group session lead us in with open process, the next four contained studio visits for each resident. and then we took a turn to focus on the final showcase. It was pretty present early on that the artists wanted to do two shows. The first show would be more traditional and honor their individual perspective while the second would be a collaborative show helping the viewer experience what the artists did during residency.
Here are images of the work for Holding Space at J . Gallery
During the Artists Talk we got to hear the artist unravel that going into the inaugural year none of us knew what to expect and we were carving the residency from scratch. Xenia’s site-specific work represented the tight places we experience and the light we can see and reach on the other side if we push ourselves through those tight spaces.
Steve created a stream of videos representing a spiritual journey that from a single glance seemed like one video on repeat, but was a stream of multiple edits that reveal with each run through new visuals. 
Kyle brought to light two figures that speak to his inner duality he encountered in the residency.
Julie detailed the ways that her photos of her self and distorted selves represented the multiple views she had towards herself, and how at times she felt like a person made of parts trying to discern what was nature and what was nurtured (or lack there of).
https://orionpsychotherapy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/IMG_0854.mov
Where we are now
Second in a two-part series, Parallels: Unfolding Space, is a group collaboration that extrapolates the process of the year-long residency into three nights: Connect-Unfold-Release. The viewer will enter into exploratory engagements that will summon them to sense what the artist felt in residency. We showcased our Unfolding Space at Day & Night Projects on January 27th, 2017.
Connect: July, 27 7-10 p.m. In a room dark enough to hold space for anonymity, the residents of TAR will lead a series of check-ins inspired through the tradition of their own group process. Small cohorts of individuals will be invited to arrive and become present with themselves and those around them. In the end, leaving their experience transcribed on a flag bookmarking their arrival.
Unfold: August, 3 7-10 p.m. During these two hours the space/gallery will enter into a process of shapeshifting. Collectively the artist will work to be in a process of art making with the motive of setting the energetic container for the Release.
Release: August, 10 8-11 p.m. An invitation into vulnerability. A place to witness and honor a release of one year of living with breast cancer. This evening will hold the artist as sacred practitioner, art as method towards healing, and solidify intention towards a 400 gallon galvanized tub becoming a sacred circle to unfold a path of beginning again. Opening up the possibility for gallery attendees to experience the release bath themselves.
Updated 1/18