Artist in Residence Program
About AiR
AiR Application
If you are interested in applying for the Artist in Residence Program, please click here to start the application process.
Previous AiR Participants
Bethany Johnson (June 27-July 1, 2022)
Bethany Johnson, an Assistant Professor in the School of Art and Design at Texas State University, will be the next Artist in Residence at the Laguna Madre Field Station in June 2022. Bethany incorporates a range of methods and media to produce drawings, collages, and sculpture. Her goal during residency is to construct sculptures at the LMFS using materials she finds on site, such as broken-down beach plastic or other pieces of litter. She also plans to create complementary drawings that are directly responsive to the setting itself. Following residency, Bethany will share her works of art with the creative and professional community via subsequent exhibitions and digital dissemination.
Robin Ward-McLaurin is an Art Professor at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor and was selected as the Artist in Residence at the Laguna Madre Field Station in March 2022. Robin is a photographer that works in digital, analog, and historical photographic processes to produce her unique style. She enjoys working with art materials derived from natural sources, such as photographic emulsions, which are created from plant materials. During her residency, she produced a series of prints using salt extracted from the hypersaline waters of the Laguna Madre. Robin sought to demonstrate that art can be made from the materials that surround us and that art is accessible and interactive. She plans to display her work at local showings later this year.
Lorraine McFarland, the first Artist in Residence to reside outside of Texas, made the journey to the Laguna Madre Field Station from Missouri in March 2019. Lorraine was trained as a wildlife biologist but has worked as a self-employed artist since 2006. She travels the country to show her artwork and has hosted workshops for aspiring artists. Additionally, she has won several awards for her art and belongs to numerous professional societies. Lorraine possesses a combination of scientific knowledge and artistic skills, which allowed her to create a unique body of work during her residency.
Jon Steele, a Texas native, makes his living traveling the world, documenting surf and skateboarding culture, while capturing his perspective of the world's oceans. As two-time photo editor of surf and skateboarding publications, Steele has been in the trenches of editorial work for the past 20 plus years. His work includes international surf, skateboard, and SUP magazines the world over and has been featured in prestigious surf and skate magazines and global industry campaigns, including The Surfers’ Journal, Surfer & Surfing Magazine, ESPN, and the New York Times.
Jacob “Augs” Augsburger is a classically trained Fine Artist with a diverse background in every facet of creative enterprise, and a strong passion as an artist, sportsman, and conservationist. Augs is also a former Professor of painting, drawing, and digital art at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi.
His undergraduate career includes both the University of Houston and Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, and he received his Master of Fine Arts degree from The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, the nation’s oldest Art School and Museum. He has worked as a graphic designer, illustrator, photographer, and videographer and enjoys combining his classical education with modern elements of design, graphics, and digital imaging. His training allows him to push the boundaries of existing fine art media and techniques, while allowing the fusion of traditional styles into the fast-paced digital world. His approach to producing art is based on the beauty and energy of nature; he often blends classical illustration and painting techniques with new media and a style indicative to the Gulf Coast.
Jeffery Neel McDaniel, an artist from Corpus Christi, TX, was chosen as the second Artist in Residence in October 2016. He resides on the South Texas Gulf Coast with his wife Jessica and an ever-changing menagerie of animals. In addition to painting, he enjoys fishing, golfing, photography, birding, reading, and joking around with family and friends. He is also captain of the search and rescue boat, the Laguna Mermaid, for the Texas Sealife Center.
