New sculptures will soon rise from the grounds of Annmarie Garden, thanks to a collaboration between the garden and St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM).

The two institutions have joined forces to create a new residency program for emerging artists working in sculpture. The first sculptor-in-residence, Diana Al-Hadid, began her residency Aug. 1 and will remain until Dec. 15.

Al-Hadid will present a public lecture at SMCM at 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept 21 in room 321 of the College’s library. “My installations are propositions for an imaginary world,” Al-Hadid said. “They are places that have a sense of believability without recognition and rely on their own internal logic. I want to create a sense of nonsensical logic. If I can’t have an inherent contradiction, I’ll take an apparent one.”

Through the residency program, artists are given the opportunity to propose and create site-specific sculpture installations on the garden grounds, while working collaboratively with the garden staff to develop public programming designed to introduce their work to visitors.

“A hallmark of this new sculpture-in-residence program is to provide emerging artists with time and space to create innovative new work in the beautiful and inspiring setting of Annmarie Garden while offering them the opportunity to develop their teaching skills at St. Mary’s College,” said Sue Johnson, department chair of art and art history at SMCM.

Stacey Hann-Ruff, director of Annmarie Garden, said the collaboration between SMCM and Annmarie Garden is important for the Southern Maryland community because it provides additional opportunities for area residents to increase their knowledge about art. “Since we began our affiliation with the Smithsonian Institute, we’ve been steadily expanding Annmarie Garden,” Hann-Ruff said. “This is a great project for the College and the garden, and it has brought another wonderful addition to the garden. It allows the community to experience art in a whole new way.”

At the College, each resident artist will give a public lecture on their work and teach a semester-length course at the college. Through the public programming offered at both Annmarie Garden and St. Mary’s College, members of the Southern Maryland community will be able to learn more about contemporary art and artists by attending lectures and workshops, and participating in other programming developed by each resident artist. The sculptors-in-residence for 2005-06 are Diana Al-Hadid, Michele Kong and Sarah Bednarek. While each can be considered an emerging artist because they have all earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in the last several years, all of the artists have exhibited their work in galleries and alternative spaces, and received numerous awards and grants. Living accommodations and studio workspace for each artist is provided on-site at Annmarie Garden.

Al-Hadid earned a double major in sculpture and art history from Kent State University. She was awarded a sculpture department graduate fellowship to attend Virginia Commonwealth University, where she received her M.F.A. in sculpture. In 2004, Al-Hadid was awarded “Best in Show” at the “Wearable Art 7th Annual Benefit Show” at LaDifference in Richmond, Va. In the summer of 2006, Al-Hadid will be a resident of the prestigious Sculpture Space Residency Program in Utica, N.Y. Michele Kong will be the sculptor-in-residence Jan. 11 – May 10, 2006. She will present a public lecture at SMCM at 8:30 p.m., Wed. Feb. 8 room 321 of the College’s library.

A Maryland resident, Kong has taught part-time at the Community College of Baltimore County-Essex, the University of Maryland-College Park, and the Corcoran College of Art and Design, in addition to guest lecturing. She completed a MFA in sculpture at Rhode Island School of Design and received concurrent BFA and BA degrees from the University of Colorado-Boulder. Kong was recently artist-in-residence at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Neb. and a fellow at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, N.H. She will spend the fall at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Wash. participating in the Emerging Artist-in-Residence program.

Sarah Bednarek will be the sculptor-in-residence from May 12 – Aug. 18, 2006. She will present at public lecture at SMCM at 4 p.m., Tuesday, March 21 in room 321 of the College’s library. Bednarek received a BFA from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and is a 2005 MFA Phi Kappa Phi graduate of the Sculpture and Extended Media program at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work has been internationally showcased in Pork Barrel and Madison’s Cave at the Keith Talent Gallery in London, where she was also published in the art magazine Miser and Now (2005). Her exhibition record includes a solo show at the Paul Whitney Larson Art Gallery in St. Paul, Minn.; and curated shows at The Barrel Factory, Art Works, and the Anderson Gallery, all in Richmond, Va.

For more information on the artists-in-residence, visit www.smcm.edu/art/faculty or www.annmariegarden.org. This is the second artist residency program developed in recent years at St. Mary’s College. The Artist House at SMCM continues to bring emerging and established visual artists and writers to the College to create new work and interact with students, faculty, staff and the community.