In Residence

An exhibition featuring work by 2025/26 Artists-in-Residence Katie Fee, Sayako Hiroi, and Ivo Makianich

August 19 - September 16 in the Wedge Gallery

Closing Reception: September 16, 6 - 8 PM (RSVP Appreciated)

Artists' Talk: September 9, 5 - 6 PM (RSVP Appreciated)

IN RESIDENCE

“A year ago I had no studio, and without one, I was effectively unable to work. Umbrella Arts gave me a room, and that single material fact changed the work more than any decision I made.” - Sayako Hiroi

Showcasing a selection of work from our 2025/26 Artists-in-Residence cohort, Katie Fee, Sayako Hiroi, and Ivo Makianich, In Residence explores the development of their artistic processes over the past year, examining what takes shape when you have the ability to provide your art practice a home.

The space and time made possible by the Umbrella Arts residency gave each artist the freedom to develop their art organically, without the pressure to arrive at a result. For Ivo Makianich, this meant researching color theory and experimenting with a shift from exclusively black-and-white works to a return to color for the first time in years. Ceramicist Katie Fee continued to experiment with soda firing. Utilizing the kilns at Umbrella Arts, Fee explored the tension between the artist’s intent versus the variability inherent in the firing process. Sayako Hiroi returned to oil painting, layering and revising her work in a manner that allowed relationships to take form across her individual paintings, resulting in a cohesive series.

Drawing on the tensions between presence and absence, the physicality of the artist’s studio, and Umbrella Arts’ commitment to community, In Residence is a cumulative celebration of the cohort’s work that demonstrates the rediscovery and reclamation of their art.

“More than anything, Umbrella Arts gave me the time, space, and freedom to allow my practice to change on its own terms.” - Ivo Makianich

If you are interested in purchasing artwork please email VisualArts@theUmbrellaArts.org

THE ARTISTS

Katie Fee
Katie Fee is a potter, studio manager, and material enthusiast in the Boston area, recently from Chicago, Illinois. Fee earned her B.A. in Studio Art and Geology from the College of William & Mary and her MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics. Fee has zig-zagged across the country to participate in art communities, wood kilns, and projects- including time at UMass, Dartmouth, Mudflat Art Center, The Morean Center for Clay, Peters Valley School of Craft, Lillstreet Art Center, and TGS, LLC.

Fee grew up on her grandparents’ farm, and is inspired by memories of working, cooking, and exploring the landscape of wetland South Carolina. She also draws inspiration from her undergraduate Geology Studies and lived experience in landscape. She loves that ceramics marries seemingly separate worlds: simultaneously grounding us in the action of the earth, enhancing the architecture of our daily lives, and connecting us to our ancestors.

Take 5 with Ceramics Artist-in-Residence Katie Fee

Sayako Hiroi
Sayako Hiroi is a Japanese visual artist based in Boston, working across painting and traditional kintsugi. Her practice responds to silence and erasure, and to the unseen traces of presence, drawing from feminist ethics and Japanese visual archives. She holds an MFA in Fine Arts from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and a BA in Ethics from Keio University in Tokyo, and has been an artist-in-residence at institutions including the Vermont Studio Center.

Take 5 with Visual Arts Artist-in-Residence Sayako Hiroi

Ivo Makianich
Ivo Makianich is a painter and educator whose work explores the relationship between time, space, and memory through a reductive, time-bound painting process. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and raised in California, he later moved to New England. He holds a B.A. in Studio Art from California State University, Long Beach, an M.A. in Art from Eastern Illinois University, and an M.F.A. in Painting from Boston University.

Makianich teaches in the Rhode Island School of Design’s Summer Pre-College program and the Fine Arts Department at St. Paul’s School. He has also taught at Boston University and Eastern Illinois University. His work has been exhibited nationally across the United States and has earned recognition including the Academy Scholar Award from the New York Academy of Art’s Summer Undergraduate Residency Program and the King-Mertz Research/Creative Activity College Award of Excellence.

Take 5 with Visual Arts Artist-in-Residence Ivo Makianich