Jane Irish (MFA Program Coordinator) receives the Alfred and Trafford Klots International Program for Artists Residency

Jane Irish (MFA Program Coordinator) recently received the Alfred and Trafford Klots International Program for Artists Residency in
Léhon, France. The residency invites Irish to a five week program beginning May 15th, 2011. In addition it provides artists with notable resources includinng Painting French rooms, WWII landscapes and beautiful churches. In 1989, Isabel Klots founded the Artist Residency Program in Rochefort-en-Terre in memory of her father-in-law, Alfred Klots, and her husband, Trafford Klots, both artists, and of their hospitality to other artists. In 1995, Maryland Institute College of Art began to administer the program. The "Friends of Rochefort" was established in 1998 to support the program as its focus and reputation expanded. Through the generosity of the Friends and of Isabel Klots, MICA has established an endowment fund for the Residency Program. Through 2010, the Residency Program was housed on the grounds of the Château that Alfred Klots created in the early 20th century from medieval structures remaining on the site of an ancient castle destroyed during the French Revolution. Now, because the Château requires extensive renovation and is no longer habitable, MICA has moved the Residency Program to Léhon, another extraordinary medieval village in Brittany. Irish, a painter, received her MFA from Queens College, CUNY, and has exhibited in New York and Philadelphia since 1983. Irish’s ceramic work can be seen in the Institute of Contemporary Art’s exhibition, Dirt on Delight: Impulses Which Form Clay (Jan 16 - Mar 29, 2009), which travels to the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN. In 2002-03, Irish created a large-scale installation for the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts - her first solo museum exhibition, History Lesson. She is currently represented by Locks Gallery, Philadelphia.

In addition to receiving the Alfred and Trafford Klots International Program for Artists Residency, Irish has been named the Bill Co-Organizer of the Bill Walton exhibition opening at ICA in September 2011.