Portrait artist Kehinde Wiley set to launch a new art residency program in Senegal

Kehinde Wiley, the genius artist behind the Obama portrait, announced on Tuesday that he is launching Black Rock Senegal, a new multi-disciplinary artist residency in Dakar, Senegal.

Kehinde wiley on TIME 100 list [TIME Magazine] Pulse Nigeria

On Instagram, he said: "Thrilled to be opening BLACK ROCK SENEGAL artists residency this spring and to invite other artists to share my new space in Dakar. #blackrocksenegal @blackrocksenegal."

The inaugural year of Black Rock will run from June 2019 through February 2020. The residency is to be open to artists, filmmakers, and writers, and selected residents will live and work on-site for between one and three month intervals.

The residency will provide them with room, board, individual studio space and a stipend.

The Black Rock Senegal compound includes three single-occupancy apartments with adjacent studio spaces for visiting artists, as well as a residence and studio for its founder, Kehinde Wiley.

During their stay, residents will be introduced to local artists, artisans, and arts organizations in and around Dakar as well as in other regions of Senegal.

Black Rock seeks to support new artistic creation by promoting conversations and collaborations that are multigenerational, cross-cultural, international, and cross-disciplinary. Black Rock takes its physical location as a point of departure to incite change in the global discourse around Africa in the context of creative evolution.

Applications for the first year of Black Rock are due on April 15, 2019 and will be reviewed and chosen by a committee. The residency’s inaugural group of artists will be announced in early May.