BRONX, NY.- The Bronx Museum of the Arts announced three current artists participating in its International Residency Program: Dulce Gómez (Venezuela); André Komatsu (Brazil); and Belinda (Billie) Zangewa (South Africa).

In collaboration with the Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA), the Bronx Museum will participate in the 3rd Annual Mott Haven Open Artists Studio Tour on Saturday, May 2, 2009 from 12pm – 6pm. Throughout the afternoon, riders of BCA’s Culture Trolley will have the opportunity to visit Bronx artists’ private studios, alternative art spaces in the area, and the Bronx Museum’s new resident artists.

In November 2008, the Bronx Museum launched Fellowships in the Visual Arts Cultural Exchange Program, an international residency and training program for emerging artists from selected countries in Latin America and Africa. Through this initiative, the Museum will host a total of eight fellows during a two-year period. The first resident, Reymond Romero of Caracas, Venezuela, completed his residency in December 2008.

Funded by a major grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Visual Arts Cultural Exchange Program will bring artists from Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa, Senegal and Egypt to live and work in the Bronx for a two-month period. Planned to coincide with the fall and spring sessions of the Museum’s noted Artist in the Marketplace Program (AIM), the Visual Arts Cultural Exchange Program will provide each artist with studio space at the Museum and living quarters in the Bronx. Artists will have the opportunity to produce new work, receive professional development counseling from leading arts managers and professionals, interact with their peers and meet informally with artists and cultural practitioners in the Bronx and throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Artists in the International Residency Program are chosen competitively, with applications and work samples reviewed by a revolving group of panelists, specialized in contemporary art and the countries from which the artists are selected. The Residency Program is assisted financially by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State under the authority of the Fulbright Hays Act of 1961, as amended.

The 3rd Annual Mott Haven Open Artists Studio Tour will commence at 12pm. The Culture Trolley will pick up passengers at Longwood Art Gallery @ Hostos (450 Grand Concourse, near the 149 St-Grand Concourse station). The studio tour is hosted by the Bronx Council on the Art’s new Bronx Culture Trolley Saturdays, and all events and trolley rides are free and open to the public. Tour maps with participating artists, a list of events, and trolley route will be available soon online at www.bronxarts.org and at all locations on the tour.

Dulce Gomez studied at “Cristóbal Rojas” School of Visual Arts. Her work has been shown in exhibitions in both Latin America and the United States. Dulce has been working with different media throughout her career, such as assemblages, paintings, collages and installations. She is currently working on a site-specific project in her studio at the Museum, using objects as varied as a clothes rack and board affixed to the studio walls.

André Komatsu studied at Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado – FAAP – BRAZIL. In his work he searches for different forms of man´s performance in the world, the way we deal with the urban space and the established powers. He works in many different forms and has been creating a range of work in the studio, from drawings to sculpture, and installation.

Belinda (Billie) Zangewa studied at Rhodes University, in Grahamstown, South Africa. Her work has been shown internationally. She has recently been working in silk collage, representing dramatic situations as well as cities and landscapes. Her work is storytelling where the land/cityscapes situate the story which then unfolds in dramatic situations.

Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) marks The Bronx Museum of the Arts' ongoing commitment to provide professional development opportunities to emerging artists in the greater New York metropolitan area. AIM comprises a twelve-week seminar program offered annually in the fall and the spring. Classes meet on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m. Enrollment is limited to 18 artists per session. The program culminates with an annual group exhibition and accompanying publication.

AIM sessions provide information, instruction, and professional guidance by addressing areas of practical concern to artists, such as curatorial practice, copyright law, exhibition and public art opportunities, gallery representation, grants writing, income taxes, and marketing. A core set of workshops is annually enhanced by a number of guest speakers including artists, critics, curators, dealers, lawyers, and tax experts.

AIM is generously supported by the Jerome Foundation, Helena Rubinstein Foundation, The Greenwall Foundation, Dedalus Foundation, and Deborah and Chris Buck.