American Landmark Apartments is bringing the arts into its multifamily communities to offer both a unique living environment and amenity for its residents and to support emerging artists.
Its Artists in Residence program provides visual artists with no-cost housing and studio space for up to one year. In return, the grant recipients provide communitywide, on-site art programs, classes, and workshops for residents.
The program is the brain child of Rachel Lubeck, a fine arts graduate from Pratt Institute as well as an accomplished artist and permaculture professional, and Gladys Margarita Diaz, owner of Urbaniza Studio, which links financing and design services for property investors with a focus on multifamily. The women had a vision to create a partnership with a leading multi-family company to help enrich residents’ lives, encourage brand loyalty, and provide career opportunities for artists.
After a successful pilot in 2020 at one of America Landmark’s South Florida communities, the program was launched in 2021 and expanded to include four multifamily communities in Orlando, Tampa, and South Florida as well as Dallas-Fort Worth.
Mural artist Austin “Slim” Gee is the artist in residence at Tampa’s Parc at Wesley Chapel. His sketch-and-sip events for adults and children’s art classes have been well-received, with his residency term extended into 2022 at the request of property management.
“This opportunity could not have come at a better time,” says Gee. “The ability to focus on my work, while feeling so comfortable in my living and workspaces, has freed me to grow and develop in ways I never thought possible.”
Artist in residence Calder Kamin, a recycling artist known for her sculptural animals, has not only offered art classes at Shelby at Northside in Fort Worth, but she also developed a recycling center to encourage residents to think about the importance of reusing waste and the possibilities that can be created from those items.
Additional artists in residence include figurative painter and illustrator Sheherazade Thenard at Central Station in Orlando and printmaker and installation artist Jacoub Reyes at Midtown 24 in Plantation, Florida.
