New Resident Artists Bring Fresh Energy to The Steel Yard

Past Steel Yard fabricator and resident artist Steve Buduo welds a metal sculpture. Photo courtesy of June Scalia.

The Steel Yard is one of the most distinctive art spaces in the region. Located in a series of former industrial buildings that gave way to artful endeavors twenty-plus years ago, the Yard has few peers. Among its programs, the Yard hosts a dynamic residency for artists. In September, a new cohort will enter the studios to craft work in metal, clay, and other media, infusing the venue and the city with their creative visions. In addition to making art, teaching, and connecting, residents take part in cohort-focused exhibitions that present some of the most exciting contemporary art in the area. In conversations with participants and administrators, the promise of the program is underscored in earnest.

The Steel Yard’s distinctive campus remade a former industrial site into an artful oasis. Photo by Michael Rose.

The Steel Yard is one of the organizations that has helped to shape the creative bona fides of its city. Like fellow art institutions AS220 and WaterFire, which predate it, the Steel Yard came into being as artists’ answer to the postindustrial character of Providence in the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s. Founded in 2001, The Yard rehabilitated a brownfield site and is now the center of a neighborhood that has attracted peers like LitArt Writers Club, Binch Press and Queer Archive Work, 50 Sims, Anyhow Studio, Aunty’s House, Make Do Studios, and numerous individual artists. The Steel Yard’s campus has a sort of cloistral quality in which corrugated steel, patinated beams, and weathered brick surround a green hill. Resident artists each have their own enclosed carrels in the organization’s vast studio building which features forges, kilns, jewelry benches, and other tools set within skylit work spaces. It is an unusual and even magical place.

The Yard’s Interim Executive Director Drake Patten says of the residency, “The Steel Yard residency program is a wonderful example of the cross-disciplinary opportunities the Yard has always offered. Residents have the time and opportunity to explore practices that may not have been a part of their background or even their plans. Sometimes this happens within the residency cohort itself and sometimes it develops out of  observation or classes they take, but the exchange of knowledge and skills is really exciting. Our residents also bring our students and faculty their artistic gifts-residents teach classes and workshops while they are with us-an important way they are giving back to our immediate community.”

The Yard’s 2026-2027 residents are Julia Inés Ambros, Enid Corcoran, Naomi Dodds, Katherine Fu, Susanna Kim Koetter, Connie Liu, Celeste Tooth, and David Vuong. Many of the artists are based in Providence while others are joining the program from Baltimore, San Francisco, and Toronto. Gifted makers who focus on sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, and interdisciplinary work, they were selected for the residency by a jury of experts in the field.

Among the new residents, three are impressive recent RISD alums who have established relationships with the Yard working as instructors, in fabrication, or administration. In a place like Providence, where talented graduates often depart in haste to New York or Los Angeles, a residency like the Yard’s is a chance to retain talent. It encourages individuals to give Providence a second look. A number of past residents have put down roots and continue contributing to the city.

Standout work by past resident Nyala Honda from the Yard’s Winter Residents Exhibition 2025. Nyala went on to join the Yard’s staff as Director of Learning and Impact. Photo by Michael Rose.

Julia Inés Ambros earned her BFA in Ceramics with Honors from RISD in 2025, before going on to complete her Master’s in Art and Design Education from the school in 2026. The Yard has already impacted her career and she’s looking forward to how it will continue to influence her art making. She says, “My first visit to the Steel Yard was as a student at RISD, which I remember was on a beautiful, rainy spring day. I was immediately charmed by the site, particularly by how many past Iron-Pour creations tucked in amongst the plants. Since then, I have gotten to know this place in a couple different capacities–as a micro-resident last summer, and as an intern in the education department this past spring. I’m most grateful to the friends and mentors I have met through these experiences at the Steel Yard–it has been a lovely way to connect with more creatives in Providence, and transition out of being a student.”

Looking forward, Julia is excited for all kinds of opportunities that come with this program. She continues, “In the full residency, I’m most looking forward to expanding the materials I work with through skill-sharing between residents and Steel Yard courses. I'm excited to learn more about both small and large scale metals, and bring that learning into a new, more interdisciplinary body of work.”

Cypress Plate by Julia Inés Ambros. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Enid Corcoran earned a BFA in Sculpture from RISD in 2025. She has been the recipient of both an Interlace Fund Project Grant and a Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Make Art Grant, two remarkable milestones for a young artist. For her, The Steel Yard has been an important creative environment and she is excited to experience a new dimension of its offerings. She explains, “The Steel Yard this year has been a key part of my ecosystem as a source of community, a place to teach and learn, and to work as a fabricator. I am excited to participate in a new way through the residency, with the opportunity to bring the full scope of my art practice to the Yard. I’m looking forward to being inspired by my cohort and for a great year of thoughtful making.”

A mixed media work by sculptor Enid Corcoran. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Katherine Fu earned her BFA in Ceramics from RISD with a concentration in Theory and History of Art and Design in 2025 and a MA in Art and Design Education with a focus on craft as pedagogy in art education in 2026. She has exhibited internationally in Taiwan and China and in addition to The Steel Yard, has taught at Project Open Door, The Artist’s Exchange, and Fuller Craft Museum. She describes what the space means to her, saying, “Since I moved to Rhode Island, The Steel Yard has become intertwined into my life in ways both big and small: colorful bike racks, a distinct table at the Audubon Society, the site of my first atmospheric firings and hopefully many to come. It is a place where education of and opportunities in the industrial arts and crafts help us all recognize that the practical, technical, and handmade can equally be personal, fulfilling, and beautiful. I am looking forward to chasing fleeting ideas in tangible directions and feeling simultaneously inspired and intimidated by those in the studio around me.”

A sculptural installation by Katherine Fu. Photo courtesy of the artist.

The benefits of the program, which receives support from the Wingate Foundation and Angell Street Galleries, are rich and varied. For Residency Coordinator MJ Sanqui, the community is one thing that makes it special. MJ reflects that, “Working and learning alongside other artists drives professional and personal growth. The cohort is one of the best benefits of the program.”

For Interim Executive Director Drake Patten, the in-depth format of the residency is another point of pride. Drake says, “I am excited about the length of the residencies- a full year is a true opportunity to be immersed and engaged in practice. My greatest hope is that we can continue to deepen our support of this program, both in how residents are compensated-possibly to include housing-and in how we respond to the unique needs each cohort presents.”

2026-2027 Steel Yard residents Celeste Tooth, Susanna Kim Koetter, Enid Corcoran, Katherine Fu, David Vuong, Naomi Dodds, Julia Inés Ambros, and Connie Liu. Photos courtesy of The Steel Yard.

The Steel Yard is a special place, and the influence of its resident artists extends beyond its walls. As a gallerist and writer based in Providence, I’ve learned a great deal from artists at the Yard over the years. I’ve stood at a freshly stoked forge and watched a blacksmith hammer metal into representational sculpture, I’ve been taught how to cast a minimalist concrete form using foam block insulation in its courtyard on a winter night, I’ve sat nearby while a ceramist gracefully spun a mound of clay into a delicate vase, and I’ve seen the finished product come out of the kiln before being placed generously into my hands as a gift. I’ve frankly been made a better arts professional by Steel Yard residents and my experiences reflect the communal nature of what happens there. It will be exciting to see how the newest cohort of residents engages with these traditions of making, connection, and impact.

The Summer Residents Exhibition featuring current artists from The Steel Yard is on view through August 20, 2026 at Make Do Studios in Providence.

If you’re interested in experiencing The Steel Yard, the organization just listed its latest classes which are open to aspiring artists of all skillsets. Through October 2026, the Yard is also hosting Fab Nights every Friday evening to prepare for its signature Iron Pour event in November. Each week, neighbors will be invited to take part in free artmaking activities.

Learn more about The Steel Yard at www.thesteelyard.org, and consider supporting their work with a donation.

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