The Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) has selected two artists, Jaime Bennati and Luke Stettner for its annual international artist residencies in Dresden, Germany as part of GCAC’s Artist Exchange Program.

“With the addition of Jaime and Luke, we’ve now proudly sent 53 artists to Dresden, to serve as cultural ambassadors of Columbus through this program,” said Tom Katzenmeyer, president and CEO of GCAC. “We value getting to exchange ideas and inspiration between the cities of Dresden and Columbus, and we’re excited to see how Jaime and Luke further their work through their dedicated time abroad.”

Jaime Bennati (she/her/they) is an artist whose practice is grounded in altering everyday materials and collections to create relief sculptures, collages, and installations. Bennati is currently a visual arts teacher at Wellington School and has previously served as an arts instructor at the Wexner Center for the Arts and Columbus College of Art & Design, and as an assistant professor at the Universidade de Federal de Goias in Goiânia, Brazil. She holds a BFA in sculpture and an MA in teaching from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her work has been exhibited at the Ohio State Fair, All People Arts, Cleveland Institute of Art, Carnegie Gallery, Second Site Studio, Zanesville Museum of Art and many others. She hopes to use her time in Dresden to explore its baroque architecture and to visit different porcelain manufacturers, to help further a ceramic series of hers that pays homage to female artists who have otherwise gone unrecognized throughout art history.

Luke Stettner (he/him) has had 13 solo exhibitions to date, including at the Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY; Kate Werble Gallery, NY; The Kitchen, NY; Stene Projects, Stockholm; and an upcoming solo exhibition at the Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh. Stettner has lectured in photography and other media at The Ohio State University, Denison University, Ithaca College, Ohio University and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He hopes to use his time in Dresden, which he hasn’t visited since he was a student in 2000, to further his work in exploring his family’s history and translating letters of theirs during World War II. All of this is in preparation for a joint exhibition with German artist Sandra Erbacher at The Contemporary Dayton art galleries in May 2024.

Now in its 28th year, GCAC’s Dresden Exchange program is offered in conjunction with the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony (Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen) as part of the Sister City program. In 1999, GCAC launched a website to document the Columbus artists who have participated in the program since 1995. Columbus also hosts a pair of German artists every year, providing them with lodging, transportation, studio space and opportunities to collaborate with the Columbus creative community.

Visitors can learn about all of the Columbus artists who have traveled to Dresden through biographies, images and quotes about their experiences at dresden.gcac.org and learn more about the German artists who have visited Columbus at columbusdresden.de.

Jurors for the 2024 Dresden Artist Exchange were:

• Don “Doncee” Coulter, 2022 Dresden Exchange Artist
• Lea Goldsmith, artist and GCAC board member
• Joshua Penrose, 2021 Dresden Exchange Artist

Artists must be invited to apply for the Artist Exchange Program. Eligible artists include recipients and finalists of the GCAC Visual Arts Fellowship, Media Arts Fellowship, Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Fellowship, Artists Elevated Award, Film it in Cbus Award and #ArtUnitesCbus Film & Photography Award.

The selected artists will travel to Dresden sometime between March 1 and Nov. 30, 2024 for 60 to 90 days. The Artist Exchange Program provides an extended period of time for artists to concentrate on research and production so that their artwork benefits significantly. Various work and research facilities are made available to the artists. GCAC also supports the artists by providing a stipend, lodging, studio and travel accommodations, and by fostering connections to artists, galleries and community leaders. While in Dresden, the artists act as ambassadors for GCAC and the city of Columbus.

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