Session Five Update from Djerassi!
Session 5 artists from left to right: Yosvany Terry, Lisa Rosenberg, Krista DeNio, Chloe Crotzer, Jenifer Wightman
Residencies, Renewal, and Reconnection
Last month, Djerassi hosted the first of two “Leonardo@Djerassi” residency cohorts, including category-breakers: scientists engaged in artistic and cultural production as well as artists incorporating scientific techniques into their practices.


Some highlights from Session 5 Artists’ experiences:
"The opportunity to get my work out—on the studio walls—to where I could see and hear my thinking has been transformative. What often takes years was able to arrive in weeks… Working primarily as a poet and writer, my art is mostly invisible. The larger category of work is Applied Systems, and having (for the first time in decades) a studio of my own allowed me to immerse myself in the many threads—poems, essays, lectures, instruction—of my recent work, which brings together my years in physics, engineering, and multiple arts." 

Lisa Rosenberg, Poet and Author, 2022

“The residency was a unique opportunity to pace myself and go deeper in my creative process. "
Yosvany Terry, Musician, 2022
“Based on experiential research in the environs of the Djerassi land and trees our team of performers, scientists, land stewards and designers create[d] a multi-media, audience-interactive, site-specific, experience-working with the trees, land, and site; dance, theater and installation design.” 

Collaborators Chloe Crotzer, Biologist and Dancer
and
Krista DeNio, Choreographer, 2022
Introducing our fifth session of artists-in-residence this year:


With a background in biology, neuroscience, dance, and philosophy, Chloe Crotzer’s research and work transcend genre, including investigation of the effects ecosystems have on the human body and how this understanding can illuminate models of sustainability and stewardship.


Krista DeNio is the Artistic Director of KD>>MovingGround and an interdisciplinary choreographer, director, performer, writer and educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work bridges performance, education and activism; integrating embodied experience, civic engagement and human-to-human interaction.
Lisa Rosenberg is the author of A Different Physics (Red Mountain Press). She holds degrees in physics and creative writing, and worked as a research engineer in the development and production of photovoltaics for satellites and the International Space Station. In 2017 and 2018, Lisa served as the Poet Laureate of San Mateo County, California.
Grammy-nominated and award-winning saxophonist, composer, educator and cultural bearer of the Afro-Cuban musical traditions, Yosvany Terry moved from Cuba to the United States in 1999. He is active as a musician and educator. Yosvany’s music has been presented at international Festivals in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America and the United States.

Formally trained in Environmental Toxicology, Jenifer Wightman has dedicated the last 20 years researching ways to quantify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry, energy, and waste systems. Her art practice engages microbial systems living and biosynthetically painting in small vessels. Jenifer is interested in the biotic and abiotic exchange that drives the co-evolution of life and landscape.
Alumni Announcement: Djerassi will again offer Winter Residencies for alumni in January and February 2023. The application process is open and the deadline is Aug. 30. The link for alumni to apply is here. Please address questions to Jewel Carter (jcarter@djerassi.org).
(P.S. We couldn’t do this without your help. Please consider making a donation by clicking here. Your support for our mission of supporting artists and preserving the natural beauty of these 583 acres is greatly appreciated!)
SImages by )ewel ). Carter: Top right - Session 5 Cohort |Top left- Krista DeNio, Jenifer Wightman, Chloe Crotzer, & Lisa Rosenberg | Middle left - Chloe Crotzer, | Middle right - Krista DeNio | Middle left - Lisa Rosenberg| Bottom right - Yosvany Terry | Botton left - Jenifer Wightman
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