UNM art professor selected for prestigious MacDowell summer residency

University of New Mexico art professor Jessamyn Lovell has been selected for a summer residency at the MacDowell in Peterborough, N.H., one of the nation's most competitive artist residency programs.

Lovell will be in residence from June 7 through July 9, living and working in a private cottage equipped with a darkroom on the historic MacDowell campus. The program provides artists uninterrupted time and space to focus on creative work in a collaborative environment alongside other selected fellows.

More than 2,000 artists apply annually across disciplines including visual arts, writing, music and film. Lovell was selected based on her recent project How to Become Invisible, a body of work that explores her unusual dual life as both an artist and a licensed private investigator.

"The works in this proposal use varying approaches to understanding the many aspects of my work as a private investigator," Lovell wrote in her application. "There are studio self-portraits taken digitally with handwritten annotations added to indicate the minute details that go into each disguise."

Lovell's project incorporates photography, video, writing and performance to examine issues of identity, surveillance and privacy. Self-portraits depict the disguises she uses while conducting investigations, while landscape photographs document locations encountered during surveillance work.

The work is part of Lovell's broader ongoing project exploring what she describes as "do-it-yourself private investigation," which transforms personal investigative experiences into contemporary art.

Lovell said the residency will allow her to focus on editing and sequencing the work as she prepares for future exhibitions and publications.

A monograph of the project is scheduled for publication in late 2026, and the work is expected to appear in a series of exhibitions beginning in 2027.

Founded in 1907, MacDowell has hosted thousands of artists whose work has shaped American cultural life. Residents live and work independently in studios across the wooded campus while participating in a broader creative community.

Lovell joins a long list of artists, writers and composers who have developed significant creative projects during their time at the residency.

For more information visit macdowell.org.