News Alumni: UMassD’s Rosie Amato ’22 lands residency at Arrowmont School of Arts & Craft

Amato will join four other artists for an eleven-month program that strengthens their creative talents in Gatlinburg, TN.

UMass Dartmouth alumna Rosie Amato ’22 was selected to participate in an art residency at Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft, a Tennessee stronghold for emerging artists seeking a contemporary arts education. Located on thirteen acres of land, Arrowmont’s artists-in-residency program presents Amato and others with opportunities to grow as artists, teachers, and professionals in the industry.

In June 2023, Amato will join the Arrowmont community to work on her professional development as a metalsmith and collaborate with countrywide artists. Comprised of workshop lectures and paid teaching positions, Arrowmont’s residency program also features three exhibitions, perfect opportunities for rising artists to show off their hard work and earn critical feedback from industry experts. She will also assist with instructing young pupils in ArtReach, an adolescent art education program, and have a private studio to find inspiration to create new artwork.

Amato was chosen based on her impressive college portfolio and her potential to make an impact within the arts industry. In 2018, she made the trek from the frozen city of St. Paul, MN to the sunny SouthCoast in conquest of an artistic adventure. While a student at UMass Dartmouth, she studied jewelry/metals and sculpture at the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“I devise fragmented and abstracted narratives centered around small hand-modeled figures cast in silver and bronze,” Amato said about her unique artwork. The metal figures she constructs are both objects and beings, telling an authentic story of girlhood and womanhood through her personal lens. Her pieces establish a deeper connection to the wearer by transforming their body into a site for storytelling. “My jewelry offers a shared moment of imagination between the wearer and viewer.”

After graduating from UMass Dartmouth, she worked as a studio assistant at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina, helping art instructors uphold school standards for optimal studio functionality. Amato was also a 2022 Windgate-Lamar Fellowship nominee, one of many graduating college seniors that demonstrated exceptional skill in arts and craft. Her promising future in the arts industry nearly awarded her $15,000, the largest financial award for art students in the nation.

“While at UMass Dartmouth, I knew that being an artist meant being part of a competitive industry,” Amato commented about her student experience that led her to this opportunity. “I took a professional practice class during my senior year and the course gave me the tools I needed to search for professional opportunities in the art industry, like this residency at Arrowmont.

“I learned that success is self-produced,” Amato continued, “and I have to work hard to isolate my best pieces and build the career of my dreams.”

To see more of Amato’s artwork, please visit her website.