A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ARTIST HOUSE
In 2010 artists Tellervo and Oliver Kochta Kalleinen rented a former farmhouse from the Vartiosaari Seura to run a space with affordable artist studios, which became the Artist House. Monika Czyzyk rented an artist studio in 2015 and began managing it in 2021, starting a more holistic relationship with the island. The Vartiosaari Artists ry came into being in the spring of 2022. Currently the house has 15 artist members who are immersed in speculative art practices that point towards deep-time and deep-ecology, where the solace stems from the in-between spaces, the gradients of identity and uncertainty.
Vartiosaari Artists ry has a circle of friends and supporters with whom we have been organising a series of events. One of the most recent public events is an Experimental Clay Workshop run by the Nomadic Kiln Group (Monika Czyzyk, Elina Vainio and Eero Yli Vakkuri). Nomadic Kiln Group’s workshop and its emphasis on co-learning and earthly approaches to all matters serves as a model for how the program’s low-key skill sharing gatherings and activities are organized. Together we have accrued a breathtaking amount of knowledge and understanding, which we will weave into a web of tools, practices, and approaches to support anyone brave enough to abandon their life of delineated and siloed thoughts and practices. Our micro community will take care of the safety of not only people closely related to this place, but also a diverse interspecies community making it a value worth protecting by the city and urban planning officials alike.
Current 2024 Vartiosaari Artist ry studio artists and members
Monika Czyzyk - Chairman of the board for Vartiosaari Artists ry Torsten Zenas Burns - Board Member Gero Grundmann - Board Member Julia Lohmann Synes Elischka Juha Huuskonen
Current 2024 Vartiosaari Artist ry members
Jakub Bobrowksi - Board Member Kai Kosieradzka Eeotu Ahanen Gloria Lauterbach Sara Blosseville Sirja Moberg Mariia Rauramo Oona Jama Sara Lohiniva
2023 - 2024 Residents:
Lenka Cernotova, (Prague, Czech Republic) Mateusz Scibor (Warsaw, Poland) Katarzyna Sobcka (PL/UK) Kärt Ojavee (Tallin, Estonia) Erro Yli Vakkuri (Helsinki, FInland) Carlos Gutiérrez and Tatiana Lopez (La Paz, Bolivia) Alessandro Rolandi (Italy - *Currently based in Bern, Switzerland) Shitou & Mingming (China - *Currently based in Malmo, Sweden)
Special Thanks: The Saastamoinen Foundation / Helsinki, FI *Support for the 2023-2025 Artists House Studio Residency Program
