“Hello, Reed residence. This is Tirzah speaking.”
I was taught how to answer our landline when I was little, and at the time I didn’t understand what “residence” meant. One pandemic later, and I’m still trying to figure it out.
It’s currently impossible to attend residencies where artists work, learn, and rest. Instead, residency as a home and place of shelter— this definition is increasingly evocative. What constitutes a residency? Is it an institution’s stamp of approval? Is it an address? A feeling of comfort? Community? The possibility for personal growth? Perhaps artist residencies and the Reed residence are not so different after all.
Summer 2020: The Reed Residency is founded as I host myself in my family’s home.
The blog below contains artifacts and updates from the adventure.
After being stuck inside for so much of the quarantine, Reed House Plants deserved a day in the park.
Well, not in the park, because it would have been nearly impossible to distance from the other greenery. Looking at friendly faces from across the street had to suffice.
Make it a picnic? Sure, why not! Except that the sun had already gone down, so there was not much in the way of food. We’ll try again another day.