WATERTOWN – Community members and artists gathered Jan. 8 at the Mosesian Center for the Arts to mark the launch of the organization’s inaugural Artist-in-Residence program, an initiative designed to support emerging and mid-career artists while strengthening ties between creative work and the Watertown community.

The reception introduced the first cohort of artists selected for Winter and Spring 2026 residencies, offering the public an opportunity to meet the residents and learn about the scope of the new program.

According to Executive Director Aliana de la Guardia, artists were chosen through a structured, juried selection process that weighed both artistic merit and community impact. She said evaluators focused not only on what artists could contribute creatively, but also on how Watertown could meaningfully support their work.

“We had a rubric, and the strongest points on the rubric were really what the artists could bring to Watertown, but also what could Watertown give to the artist?” de la Guardia said.

The Winter 2026 cohort includes children’s book author and illustrator Alik Arzoumanian; transdisciplinary artist and creative researcher SaRa Kim; and multidisciplinary artist and designer Shmontray Jaquett. The Spring 2026 residency will feature Julia Csekö, named Emerging Artist at Mosesian Arts, and Lyrical Faith, an award-winning spoken-word poet and educator selected as the program’s first Ignite Fellow.

De la Guardia said the Ignite Fellowship was created to recognize artists whose work is particularly bold and impactful. “The Ignite Fellowship is a special award that we give to someone whose art is really groundbreaking,” she said, noting that the name also reflects the building’s history as part of the former Watertown Arsenal.

That setting, she added, underscores the broader symbolism of the residency program. Once a site of weapons manufacturing, the space now serves as a hub for artistic creation. “I find it poetic that here in the arsenal, where they used to make weapons of mass destruction, we are now creating and inventing wonderful things,” de la Guardia said.

Residencies run for three months and provide artists with 24-hour access to studio space, stipends and professional development opportunities. In addition to studio practice, residents are expected to engage the public through open studios, workshops, talks, performances or other community-based programs. The Ignite Fellowship includes additional funding to support project-related expenses.

De la Guardia said the long-term goal is to build lasting relationships between artists and audiences, following artists over the course of their careers and inviting them back at different stages of their professional development. She added that the program is also intended to expand Mosesian Arts’ profile beyond Watertown and contribute more broadly to the regional arts landscape.

Additional exhibitions, performances and public programs featuring the Artists-in-Residence will be announced throughout 2026.

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