Research and Development: Concerning Belonging

NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale launches Research and Development, a new series of artist residencies that provide artists with essential time and resources to further their work and apply their creativity to social issues. In its inaugural program, the museum invites South Florida artists Rick Ulysse, Natasha Lopez de Victoria, Augustina Woodgate, and Antonia Wright, to use the museum’s second floor gallery as studios and develop new projects addressing issues of homelessness and belonging. Works produced during the residency are on view to the public and change regularly. Participating artists also lead art workshops dealing with homelessness and belonging at Broward Partnership for the Homeless, a local shelter.
The artists-in-residence have access to leaders in the field of art therapy and social services in the community and through Nova Southeastern University's interdisciplinary programs. During the last month of the exhibition, works made by individuals at the shelter are also included in the exhibition, along with a documentary of the workshops and personal stories of shelter participants. This project and its various components engage South Florida artists directly, as social activists, with the divisive issue of homelessness in Broward County. It also launches an innovative program that helps others understand some of the ways that art can create a “sense of belonging.”