Barcelona-based artist to spend two weeks at Flagler College as Artist-In-Residence
Flagler College welcomes Barcelona-based artist Laia Estruch as the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum’s (CEAM) Artist-in-Residence from Monday, October 16th through Saturday, November 4th. Estruch is the second Spanish artist to participate in the artist residency program in partnership with the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain in Washington D.C., a collaboration that was initiated in 2022 when the organizations jointly hosted artist and writer Pablo Vindel.
An artist talk with Estruch will be held on Wednesday, October 25th at 6 pm at Flagler College’s Ringhaver Student Center’s Virginia Room, 50 Sevilla Street, downtown St. Augustine.
Additionally, the St. Johns Cultural Council and CEAM will co-host a reception to engage with the artist on Friday, October 27th from 6 pm to 7:30 pm at The Waterworks, 184 San Marco Ave., St. Augustine. Both events are free and open to the public.
Laia Estruch’s artistic practice centers the voice and the body through spoken word, song, sculpture, and publications. She explores the emotive qualities of the acapella voice, which allows for reflection on the performative character of language, sound recording, and the oral archive. In recent larger-scale sculptural projects that function as stand-alone objects and vehicles for performance, Estruch investigates how urban spaces and physical environments play a role in our everyday lives. During her residency, Estruch will engage with Flagler College and St. Augustine communities. In addition to learning more about St. Augustine’s Spanish Heritage, Estruch will immerse herself in the natural landscape of Northeast Florida and collaborate with students, staff, and faculty on campus through class visits and special projects.
Christina Parrish Stone, Executive Director of the St. Johns Cultural Council, is thrilled to partner with CEAM and Flagler College to support the partnership with Spain Arts & Culture and to work collaboratively for future artistic exchanges and programming. “The relationship of St. Augustine and the Kingdom of Spain is more than 450 years old, dating back to the founding of the City in 1565,” she said. “Over the next 12 months, we will recognize the 100th Anniversary of St. Augustine’s sister-city relationship with Aviles, Spain, with activities celebrating our Hispanic heritage. We are pleased to host Laia Estruch at The Waterworks to provide an opportunity for the public to engage with a Spanish artist and learn more about the connections between our City and Spain.”
ABOUT LAIA ESTRUCH: A Spanish artist who has been awarded both the Premis Ciutat de Barcelona (2021) and Premios Cervezas Alhambra de arte emergente (2022), Laia Estruch has led workshops for the educational department of MACBA, Barcelona since 2016. She is currently working on a program there with children with
autism and their families. Estruch has presented her work throughout Europe and across the world, including XXIII Bienal Arte Paiz Guatemala (2023), PUBLICS, Helsinki (2022), Centro Cultural de España, Mexico City (2020), and Chapelle des Beaux-Arts, Paris (2017).
ABOUT CEAM’S PARTNERSHIP WITH SPAIN ARTS & CULTURE: CEAM’s Artist Residency program continues to provide support for interdisciplinary artists who want to interact with North Florida’s vibrant community. The museum’s partnership with the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain connects St. Augustine’s Spanish history with contemporary Spanish art by providing an emerging Spanish artist with the opportunity to connect and explore the rich cultural ecosystem of St. Augustine. The Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain, through its cultural program SPAIN Arts & Culture, aims to foster positive bilateral relations between the U.S. and Spain while promoting Spanish culture in the U.S. through cultural exchanges among institutions and artists.
