Patricia Valian Reser Artist-in-Residence
Location: The Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx)
Annually appointed, the Patricia Valian Reser Artist-in-Residence creates work at PRAx in collaboration with a cohort of 10-14 Oregon State University arts students, who also apply to the program on an annual basis. Artists working in any performance-based medium are invited, from theatre or music or to digital, conceptual, or experimental mediums. A partnership of PRAx and the School of Visual, Performing, and Design Arts, the program especially welcomes artists focused on contemporary impact and those working in areas outside of traditional canons or beyond disciplinary boundaries. The program flexibly accommodates artists at various career stages: emerging artists may benefit from holding a parallel teaching position as visiting professors in the arts at Oregon State University, while established artists unable to relocate to Corvallis for the full year may interact with the student cohort at times and moments suited to the work under development. The only creative expectation is that the residency result in a collaborative work presented at PRAx in which the student cohort plays a significant role.
For 2025-26, PRAx and the OSU School of Visual, Performing, and Design Arts are delighted to announce the Patricia Valian Reser Artist-in-Residence: Pulitzer Prize finalist, percussionist and composer Andy Akiho.
Artist Bio
Andy Akiho is a “trailblazing” (Los Angeles Times) Pulitzer Prize finalist and seven-time Grammy-nominated composer whose bold works unravel intricate and unexpected patterns while challenging the preconceived boundaries of classical music.
A virtuosic steel pannist, Akiho has a deeply physical relationship with composition. Having spent most of his 20s playing steel pan by ear in Trinidad and New York City, Akiho only began writing music at age 28. Since then, he has been commissioned – to take just a few examples — by the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony, and the China Philharmonic. He is the recipient of the Rome Prize and many other awards.
Residency Details
One artist annually in any performance-based medium.
Artists are appointed as year-long residents, with the specific terms customized on a case-by-case basis. Paid teaching opportunities as visiting professors held in parallel to the residency are generally available for interested artists. The major expectations include (1) year-long engagement with a cohort of 10-14 OSU arts students, who are themselves selected by application; (2) the presentation of a collaborative work at PRAx in which the student cohort plays a significant role.
TBA in Winter 2025
Application information will be posted as part of the call in Winter 2025.
Awardees are selected by a committee that includes appointees from PRAx and from the School of Visual, Performing, and Design Arts.
The residency is made possible by a generous endowment from Patricia Valian Reser ’60, ’19 (Hon. Ph.D), and is supported by PRAx, the OSU Foundation, and the School of Visual, Performing, and Design Arts.