2023 Artist-in-Residence

2023 Artist-in-Residence Casey Williams

2023 Artist-in-Residence, Casey Williams

Casey Williams was born in Kalamazoo Mich to parents whose Indiana ancestry goes back into the 1800’s. Although Casey grew up in S Fl, she moved to Indiana in 2020 to be closer to her roots. Her innate love of art was expressed as a small child in coloring, painting, drawing and all things creative.

In her high school years, Casey participated in the Congressional Art Show in FT Lauderdale Fl, winning first place allowing her to have her art on exhibit in the Nation’s Capital for one year. After graduating, Casey was commissioned to paint murals in the Baja Beach Club, South Beach, Miami among other commissioned projects as a freelance artist. Although High school was her only formal training, Casey has always had an aptitude for art, the understanding of light and proportion.

Today Casey is a photographer and working artist who specializes in colored pencil realism and acrylic painting. Her philosophy on art and photography is finding the beauty in everything and bringing that beauty to the forefront through her work. Her main subjects of interest include animals, landscapes and surreal art.

The Artist-In-Residency opportunity at Indiana Dunes National Park was the first project of it’s kind for Casey and was the perfect culmination of all things she loves. Dramatic lighting blended with nature and plenty of interesting textures. Casey looks forward to exploring more residency programs in the future further sharing her love of natural beauty through art.

To view a current selection of works, visit her website at Caseywilliamsartistry.com

 

2023 Artist-in-Residence Kuhn Hong

2023 Artist-in-Residence, Kuhn Hong

After graduating from medical school in Korea, Dr. Hong came to Chicago, completed residency training, and started his practice. Dr. Hong retired and moved to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to serve in a mission hospital as a volunteer radiologist for 5 years, from 2013 to 2018. During his time in Addis Ababa, he spent weekends and evening hours painting freely. He held exhibitions at Asni Gallery and at the mission hospital where he served. He was invited to showcase his artwork at Viviene Gallerie in Paris, France and also in Seoul, Korea.

Currently, Dr. Hong resides in Chicago. He is an active member of Palette and Chisel, Plein Air Painters Chicago, Duneland Plein Air Painters and Area Artist Association. He continues to showcase his art with recent exhibitions at the Lubeznik Center of Arts in Michigan City, Korean Community Center of Chicago, Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts and Devonshire Cultural Center in Skokie. In 2022, he visited Korea to have series of solo exhibitions at 6 different galleries in 4 cities as well.

 

2023 Artist-in-Residence Kyle Ragsdale

2023 Artist-in-Residence, Kyle Ragsdale

Artist Kyle Ragsdale grew up in Texas and New Mexico, witnessing from a young age a mix of vibrant cultures and large wild spaces. Since earning degrees at Baylor University (BFA) and Southern Methodist University (MFA), Kyle has been painting full time, working periodically as a decorative painter and stage set designer, and making fine art. He has served as curator for exhibits in Texas and Indiana and currently is curator for the Harrison Center, Indianapolis.

Kyle’s work has changed many times—the paint has been thick, thin, shiny, and flat. He often delves into decorative floral patterns, landscapes, and portraiture, but probably is best known for his mysterious elongated figures. Many times, people featured in his paintings are enjoying the beauty of community, sharing life at picnics or parties. Sometimes formal, sometimes casual, these signature figures and their often ambiguous settings always leave room for interpretation; like an open-ended novel, relationships and meanings are found in the viewer’s gaze.

Kyle works in a beautiful studio at the Harrison, beneath stained glass windows and amidst a crazy menagerie of paints, antiques, and eclectic music. He is part of a great, synergistic community of 36 working artists at the Harrison Center who share ideas, tools, and life.

Kyle is currently in his 7th season of creating paintings for the Indiana Repertory Theatre and has created several murals in public spaces around Indianapolis. His work has been shown in galleries locally and nationally, and is frequently featured on HGTV’s Good Bones.

 

2023 Artist-in-Residence Mary Ann Pals

2023 Artist-in-Residence, Mary Ann Pals

Mary Ann Pals is a pastel and charcoal artist from Chesterton IN, within 2 miles of the Indiana Dunes National Park. She earned her college degree in Humanities/Visual Arts. She regularly exhibits her work in area, national, and international exhibits and art fairs. In 2008, she won the Hoosier Women Artists Award and her artwork hung in the Indiana Statehouse for one year. She is a Signature member of 3 national pastel societies and has attained Master Circle status with the International Association of Pastel Societies. She has published articles in Pastel Journal magazine several times. She regularly gives pastel classes, workshops, and lectures across the US.

Mary Ann's artwork is her passion. She enjoys creating lifelike scenes that depict the natural beauty she sees around her. She has traveled extensively with her family across the US, hiking, bird and butterfly watching, and taking lots of reference photos. Her frequent travels provide her with a rich library of visual images. Back in her studio she uses her photos and memories as a springboard to create artwork that features individual creatures and plants, designing an intimate view of nature’s smaller, often overlooked stories.

What a gift for Mary Ann to have been awarded the Indiana Dunes AIR experience. Since she has visited the Indiana Dunes for over 50 years, something magical happens while spending that much time exploring one park that has such a rich tapestry of diverse complexity. Mary Ann claims, “Nature says it best. I just embellish the tale.”

 

2023 Artist-in-Residence Nina Grauley

2023 Artist-in-Residence, Nina Grauley

Nina Grauley has always been curious about the world around her. She first learned about it through art, but science introduced her to the processes and structures that lay beneath the surface. Being a science illustrator allows her to bring both of these disciplines together to grow our understanding of the places we are a part of.

Paying attention to the particularities of a community- whether it is made up of plants or people- is an act of love. Nina very much has a researcher’s heart. She loves looking at the world and asking questions. She gets incredibly excited about big academic ideas and tiny clumps of moss on the sidewalk. This world is so big and so beautiful and the closer you look at anything the more exciting it gets- but also the more obvious it becomes that our relationships with ourselves, each other, and with nature are broken. Nina’s work centers around a belief that looking closely at nature can teach us more about what it means to be human, and how we can begin the process of healing together.