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The 309 Artist in Residence Program supports and advocates for regional, national, and international artists whose socially engaged work supports inclusivity and is relevant to the punk community. Our commitment to diversity is reflected in our aim to sustain an Artist in Residency Program that serves all of our community regardless of age and class and gives voice to underrepresented creative populations, particularly POC and LGBTQ2+ artists. |
We seek artists working in contemporary visual art, including but not limited to, zine and DIY print practices, photography, installation, experimental sound art, and crossover practices that include fashion, filmmaking, performance art, music, and writing.
We accept Letters of Interest on a rolling basis. Please send a Letter of Interest, links to examples of your work,
and a paragraph describing how your work aligns with our mission to [email protected].
Our yearly calendar is curated collaboratively by our Co-Executive Directors through a nomination and voting process.
AIRS will have full 24-hour access to a live/workspace on the first floor and access to the archive for research purposes.
We accept Letters of Interest on a rolling basis. Please send a Letter of Interest, links to examples of your work,
and a paragraph describing how your work aligns with our mission to [email protected].
Our yearly calendar is curated collaboratively by our Co-Executive Directors through a nomination and voting process.
AIRS will have full 24-hour access to a live/workspace on the first floor and access to the archive for research purposes.
- PROGRAMMING ~ Each Artist in Residence is offered the opportunity to create an educational or immersive experience for the local community. This can take the shape of a reading, lecture, open studio day, workshop, live performance, zoom programming, or other community engagement activity.
- THE 309 PUNK ARCHIVE ~ Each Artist in Residence participant donates one work created during their residency to the archive. The goal of the 309 Punk Archive is to inspire research and creative practice from our collective histories, which are currently preserved in the archive.
- PMA COLLABORATION ~ The Pensacola Museum of Art hosts the Annual 309 House Show. Each year, we exhibit a group show of the work created in the Artist in Residence Program. We love those folks so much.
January 2025 | 309 Artist in residence
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April Matteis is a Pensacola-based artist whose work delves into the cycles of life, loss, and renewal, drawing on her personal experiences and the transformative power of art. Growing up surrounded by her father’s antique store and moped shop in Fort Lauderdale, she developed a lifelong fascination with forgotten objects and their stories. These early encounters with relics—ranging from Edison phonographs to Zoltar fortune teller machines—ignited a deep connection to history, culture, and the beauty of repurposed things, which now shapes her mixed media assemblage work.
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In 1993, April moved to Pensacola to pursue an art degree and immerse herself in the city's thriving underground art scene. At the heart of this culture was a space where creativity and collaboration flourished. This sense of community, independence, and rebellion became a key influence on her artistic practice. Over the past 25 years, April has worked from a secluded studio in the historic Old Sacred Heart Hospital, a space that mirrors her themes of life, death, and transformation. Here, she transforms found objects into intricate assemblages, exploring decay and renewal with a belief in the power of discarded things to take on new meaning.
Guided by mentors and driven by a passion for experimentation, April’s art is a meditation on the passage of time and the beauty found in regeneration. With a BFA and a Fulbright Scholarship to Morocco and Tunisia, April has spent over 27 years in public education, fostering creativity and healing through art. Her work, largely absent from the social media spotlight, offers viewers a space to reflect on the cycles of life, encouraging them to embrace creative freedom and use art as a tool for healing, transformation, and connection.
The 309 House symbolizes the interconnectedness April explores through her art. She will create a collaborative, site-specific installation that reflects the spirit of community, using local materials and working with residents. Through this, she hopes to foster a dialogue on how we, as individuals and a community, can reframe what is broken or obsolete, contributing to the 309 House’s legacy of fearless self-expression and creative freedom.
April's Website
Guided by mentors and driven by a passion for experimentation, April’s art is a meditation on the passage of time and the beauty found in regeneration. With a BFA and a Fulbright Scholarship to Morocco and Tunisia, April has spent over 27 years in public education, fostering creativity and healing through art. Her work, largely absent from the social media spotlight, offers viewers a space to reflect on the cycles of life, encouraging them to embrace creative freedom and use art as a tool for healing, transformation, and connection.
The 309 House symbolizes the interconnectedness April explores through her art. She will create a collaborative, site-specific installation that reflects the spirit of community, using local materials and working with residents. Through this, she hopes to foster a dialogue on how we, as individuals and a community, can reframe what is broken or obsolete, contributing to the 309 House’s legacy of fearless self-expression and creative freedom.
April's Website
309 Artist In Residence Alumni
@kyaniteeye
@famousgabetattoo
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@that_so_and_so
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@pinheadgunpowder
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@hurreyupcp.arts
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@smarkgubb
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@JamalSTEELE
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@yusukehorsejeanokada
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@abbaphone
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@Sovereign _stone_jewelry |
@locolono_designs
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@enikoujj
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@smhoak
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@panhandle_slim_
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@leakingbrainart
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@cookies__and__cake
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@wm.johnsonphotography
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@jimbo_easter
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@feliciaegail
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@kimdahling
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@roscoe__hall
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@gytrashh | @cindy_crabb
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@future_juju
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@bumpkin.bpm
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@croadcore
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@malevitus
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@julia_gorton_nowave
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@thepoppygarcia
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@movetk
@broilerk
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@skottcowgill
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@surrounder_band
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@mikebrodie_thepolaroidkidd
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@malloryluana
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@Malevitus
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Testimonials
I cannot speak highly enough about the 309 Punk Project Artist in Residence program. My time at the house was truly a gift. The visionary founders and dedicated supporters behind this project have created a space that is nothing short of phenomenal—a place where the transformative energy of resistance and punk culture is kept vibrantly alive. The deep conversations and intense intersections with fellow artists and community members nourished my spirit and ignited my passion to create new work and collaborate with the house itself. This beloved project is a remarkable contribution to the art world. ~ Kim Darling, Artist In Residence, 2023
As an artist in residence at 309 Punk Project, I was afforded the freedom to reinvestigate my art practice, respond site-specifically, and interact with and serve an extraordinary community. Through social practice, photography, video, sound, and installation, I had the chance to honor my hometown community and my friend who'd passed away, a previous tenant of 309 N 6th Ave. The 309 Punk Project gave me a haven to make artwork again while simultaneously enlivening my career as a visual artist overall. ~ Felecia E Gail Artist In Residence, 2023
As a late-in-life artist, I wanted to reboot my photography practice, which I began in my punk rock years, 1976-1980, in New York City. For almost four decades, I put my work aside to raise a family and be a design professor at Parsons School of Design. I am very good at helping others realize their potential, and I needed to do that myself. 309 Punk Project invited me to be a resident during their first year as a non-profit. I used my time in the house to photograph over a hundred members of the local community – neighbors, past residents, artists, punks, activists, art students and faculty, and members of the queer community. This opportunity helped me realize that as a photographer, I could use photography as a tool to connect with a divergent community by making portraits with them one by one. Two years later, I am still deeply connected to 309 and the people I met there, and I have returned to photograph them repeatedly. My residency helped me gain the confidence and experience I was missing and desperately needed. I have since taken this project to Los Angeles, Manhattan, London, Delaware, and Mobile – and in the coming year – Buffalo, Scranton, Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and Tokyo. ~ Julia Gorton, Artist In Residence, 2022
As an artist in residence at 309 Punk Project, I was afforded the freedom to reinvestigate my art practice, respond site-specifically, and interact with and serve an extraordinary community. Through social practice, photography, video, sound, and installation, I had the chance to honor my hometown community and my friend who'd passed away, a previous tenant of 309 N 6th Ave. The 309 Punk Project gave me a haven to make artwork again while simultaneously enlivening my career as a visual artist overall. ~ Felecia E Gail Artist In Residence, 2023
As a late-in-life artist, I wanted to reboot my photography practice, which I began in my punk rock years, 1976-1980, in New York City. For almost four decades, I put my work aside to raise a family and be a design professor at Parsons School of Design. I am very good at helping others realize their potential, and I needed to do that myself. 309 Punk Project invited me to be a resident during their first year as a non-profit. I used my time in the house to photograph over a hundred members of the local community – neighbors, past residents, artists, punks, activists, art students and faculty, and members of the queer community. This opportunity helped me realize that as a photographer, I could use photography as a tool to connect with a divergent community by making portraits with them one by one. Two years later, I am still deeply connected to 309 and the people I met there, and I have returned to photograph them repeatedly. My residency helped me gain the confidence and experience I was missing and desperately needed. I have since taken this project to Los Angeles, Manhattan, London, Delaware, and Mobile – and in the coming year – Buffalo, Scranton, Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and Tokyo. ~ Julia Gorton, Artist In Residence, 2022
309 permanent RESIDENT ARTISTS
The 309 Punk Project offers two upstairs rooms to the local community for fair, all-inclusive, rent with a renewable yearly lease.
Sean Linezo is an experimental producer, filmmaker, artist and archivist. His most recent work is an on-going project called AnArchive, a collection of stories and a series of films featuring the Pensacola punk community from the 1980's to today. His work has been featured in exhibitions nationally and internationally including New York City, Tokyo, and Los Angeles. He is a co-founder of the 309 Punk Project and is a 309 Resident Artist.
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Barrett Williamson is a Pensacola musician and recording artist. He has been in Zerox 82, Apostate, The Hazards, and Rezolve. He is a long-standing resident of 309, living there for the past several years. Barrett has returned as a 309 Resident Artist.
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