ART TALK WITH THE 18^TH STREET ARTS CENTER Anu Vikram: This is really continuing education for artists. It keeps them current, it keeps them connected, it keeps them inspired, and those are very hard things to come by. So we are essential to the practice of making really cutting-edge, contemporary art. Adam Kampe: That’s artistic director Anu Vikram of the LA-based, 18^th Street Arts Center on why artistic residencies matter. A longtime NEA grantee, 18^th Street Arts Center has been managing art residencies for decades. Here’s executive director, Jan Williamson, in conversation with Anu Vikram and current artist-in-residence, Hao Ni. Jan Williamson: Our mission is to provoke public dialog through contemporary artmaking. Adam Kampe: Jan Williamson Jan Williamson: 18th Street Art Center is a creative environment that supports living contemporary artists in the creation of new work, and we do that through a variety of programs and methods, including providing a home for other nonprofit arts organizations.  There's about seven other nonprofit arts organizations that have a permanent home here, and then also we provide various kinds of artist residencies and exhibition programs, which Anu directs. Anu Vikram: And I would add to that that 18th Street Art Center is a place where artists from all over the globe can meet one another and have an exchange of ideas.  That's a very rare and special thing, because we are bringing people from all over the world.  We've served artists from over 61 countries now. And we also have this great community of multigenerational L.A. artists, and there are not even in L.A., which is, as has been acknowledged and up-and-coming, very strong art center, and very much on the radar of international artists as well as a place that they want to be. That said, L.A. in terms of how it supports its arts community, it functions more like a regional art center than it does like an international art center. And that's a place where, as the art scene grows, the community is also developing and growing, and I think 18th Street has a really important role to play there, because we are…we reflect the future of what L.A.'s art scene can be, which is both deeply rooted in Los Angeles and the artists who have come and made this place what it is, and also with a real international focus, and specifically looking out over the Pacific. Hao Ni: I arrived July 1^st and then I'm leaving the end of September. Anu Vikram: Hao Ni is currently in residence as an artist through the support of the Ministry of Culture Taiwan. We have Hao here with us for three months, so he has a studio where he lives and works.  It's a private apartment with a workspace built into it, full kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room, and also, like I said, a small exhibition space.  So he's creating new work, and he's also presenting work at the same time.  Hao Ni: I do all kinds of stuff. You know, for instance, sculpture, painting, drawings. I do performances and then mixed media stuff. I have a sculpture background. That's what I studied in school from foundry to woodworking….There's even ceramics and stuff like that. So now just working a lot with found objects and in manipulating them into different things. Anu Vikram: Generally speaking, when we work with international artists and visiting artists, we do not require them to do an exhibition.  Many residency programs do.  We prefer not to be directly outcomes-based with our residencies because ultimately that mission of provoking dialog is so essential to what we do. Our mission is not for artists to create work. Of course, they do create work, but the mission is really the thinking and the dialog and the feedback that allows an artist to break out of their pattern or routine and make new discoveries.  Hao Ni: Because when you go to a residency, you need a lot of time to actually adjust. Like, it doesn't matter where you are, you just need some time to explore. Half of a residency is about exploring the place. During my time here, there was two other curators, actually, and then another choreographer. But, you know, we hang out and we're getting to know each other. It's more me learning from those people. Anu Vikram: One of the things we realized over the years, and particularly recently, is that because of our long-running international program, we have a sizable audience outside of L.A., and we haven't necessarily treated them as our constituency the same way that we have treated our L.A. physical audience as a constituency, but that's changing because we live in global times now.  Jan Williamson: We've been receiving support from the National Endowment for the Arts since the beginning of 18th Street in 1988, in different ways: supporting individual artists residencies, and then more recently with the development of the Artist-in-Communities grant program, focusing primarily on supporting our-- the overall residency program. And when we get funding from the NEA, it tells all of our other funders that we're meeting the national standard of support. So it's important in that regard to us. Anu Vikram: And so the fact that the NEA is still around supporting us as we get into 30 years…The NEA, we wouldn't exist without the NEA.  Adam Kampe: That was Anu Vikram and Jan Williamson of the 18^th Street Arts Center with artist-in-residence, Hao Ni. For the NEA, I’m Adam Kampe Music Credits: Excerpts of “Skylines,” “Images,” and “Descent” by The Album Leaf from the cd, Forward/Return, used courtesy of The Album Leaf and by permission of The Album Leaf, Songs of SMP, and Robots on Rollerskates (ASCAP and BMI). Excerpt of “Magpie” by Podington Bear from Solo Instruments and excerpt of “Siesta” by Jahzzar from Traveller’s Guide, used courtesy of Creative Commons and found on WFMU’s Free Music Archive.