The Department of Art and Art History and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin are pleased to announce Zalika Azim as the 2023 recipient of the St. Elmo Arts Residency and Fellowship. Azim will be in residence during the 2023-24 academic year, culminating in the residency’s annual solo exhibition at the Wildflower Center.
The St. Elmo Arts Residency launched in fall 2018, offering one fellowship each academic year to a newly minted MFA artist in painting, drawing, print, photo, sculpture or multimedia. The residency supports emerging artists and the creation of new work by providing a dedicated studio and living space in South Austin in addition to a $30,000 stipend. Each fellow engages with the UT Austin community through classes and lectures at UT Austin and at the Wildflower Center.
Azim is a New York based artist and educator with ancestral roots in Aiken, South Carolina and Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Her conceptual practice explores the tensions between personal and collective narratives (both known and indecipherable) in order to explore Black movement, belonging, and possibility. Azim received a BFA in Photography & Imaging from New York University (2014), and a BA in Social and Cultural Analysis from New York University (2014). Upon graduation, she pursued an independent art career while working at institutions including The Museum of Modern Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and Aperture Foundation. She returned to her practice in 2018 and completed her MFA in Photography from the University of California Los Angeles (2023).
Azim's work has been presented in solo exhibitions with Baxter Street at The Camera Club of New York and Soho20 Gallery. Group exhibitions include Various Small Fires, The Mistake Room, New Wight Gallery, University of California Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, 1708 Gallery, Milwaukee Art Museum, Gagosian, Welancora Gallery, Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, The African American Museum in Philadelphia, Dorsky Gallery, and The Dean Collection. Azim has completed residencies with Pratt>FORWARD (2021), the McColl Center for Art + Innovation (2020), NXTHVN (2019-20), Shandaken Projects (2019-20), BRIC (2019), and Baxter Street at The Camera Club of New York (2018).
About the Department of Art and Art History
The Department of Art and Art History at The University of Texas at Austin includes the divisions of Art Education, Art History and Studio Art. It reflects the rigorous standards of a flagship institution, while offering an intimate environment for students to train as scholars, artists and educators in the arts.
About the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
As the Botanic Garden of Texas, The University of Texas at Austin Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center inspires the conservation of native plants through its public gardens, education and conservation programs, research, and consulting work. It is internationally renowned for its leading role as a champion of native plants and resilient landscapes.
About the College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin
The College of Fine Arts educates artists, scholars and future arts educators in a context that emphasizes artistic excellence, advanced technology, cultural diversity and best professional practices. The college places a high priority on research and the creation of new work through its many divisions and departments, including among others, the Butler School of Music, the Department of Art and Art History, the Department of Theatre and Dance, the School of Design and Creative Technologies, Texas Performing Arts, the university’s arts presenting organization, and Landmarks, the university’s public art program. A comprehensive visual and performing arts college, degree concentrations from the B.A. to Ph.D. are offered in classical music and composition to acting, dance and scenic design to studio art and arts education, as well as the scholarly study of the arts in a broad range of disciplines.