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Sandia Prep’s Visual Arts Department has launched its first-ever Artist Residency Program. 

The program will allow local artists to collaborate with and teach students while they create art.

 “It makes such a difference when an outside artist comes into the classroom,” says Visual Arts Department Chair Waseem Touma.”There is nothing like being around a professional in their field and interacting with them while they make art on campus.”

The inaugural resident is clay artist and Prep alum Shane Silva ’12, who works for Natan Moss Design as the lead potter in Albuquerque. He specializes in making high-end art furniture out of large-scale vessels.

Silva is an alum of the University of New Mexico, earning his BA in Studio Arts in 2018. He worked at Hanselmann Pottery in Corrales under the guidance of the head potter, James West, and also teaches pottery classes at Burque Throwdown.

When Silva has done demonstrations for Prep students in the past, students “were just enthralled with what he was doing,” Touma explains. “He has a great, loving, caring, positive vibe about him. You can tell he loves making pots and sharing that.”

That experience sparked the idea for an artist residency program.

Silva is already a familiar figure on campus, as he has been a substitute teacher at Prep and also taught clay classes during SummerPrep. 

Silva has been given a space in the clay room to work and has full access to the kilns and equipment.

Silva is a former student of Touma’s, and the two have stayed in contact over the years. His residency will culminate in the spring with an exhibition highlighting what he and the pottery students create together.

Touma hopes Silva is the first of many different types of artists with whom Prep will partner. “We have incredible facilities and equipment here. It’s nice to share it with our larger community,” Touma adds. “It benefits us all.”