Jerry Manson Residency

Flatbed  selects one locally based artist a year for their Jerry Manson Residency. This residency is in honor of Gerald Manson, who served as Flatbed’s Master Printer of editioning from 1990 - 2002 and Master Printer Emeritus from 2002 until 2019. Manson was a proponent of lifelong learning. He founded the Third Coast Press in Austin in the early 1980s after studying printmaking with Ken Hale, Lee Chesney and Tim High at the University of Texas. In 1990 he became a partner with Katherine Brimberry and Mark L. Smith at Flatbed Press.  Manson editioned most of the prints published by Flatbed in the 1990s which included works by Kelly Fearing, Luis Jimenez, Terry Allen, Dan Rizzie, James Surls, Melissa Miller, Larry Scholder, Sandria Hu, Dan Allison, Spencer Fidler, Billy Hassell, Patrick Wadley and many others. His high degree of craftsmanship with the editioning process is a legacy that he left for Flatbed. This residency was established to give local artists access to our printmaking studio along with technical and financial support. Flatbed seeks artists for this residency who have a printmaking practice or who use printmaking techniques as a part of their practice.

The Jerry Manson Residency gives an artist access as a “key-holder” to the Community Shop for three months. Key-Holder access to the facility is official after the artist has training for and orientation to the equipment. The artist will also have designated storage areas and a flat file in the Community Shop. The artist with the Jerry Manson Residency will be given a stipend of $500 for paper, ink, or supplies that will be used during the residency.

The resident artist will be able to create a body of work using the resources of the Community Shop.  Depending on the agreement, the artist can also exhibit the work created during the residency through Flatbed Center’s Gallery.

In exchange, Flatbed asks that three works from the residency be gifted to the program. The sale of these works will help fund future Manson residencies.

Currently Flatbed is accepting applications for 2025 Deadline for 2025 applications is December 20th, 2024. Months for the residency will be scheduled by the artist with Flatbed.

2025 Jerry Manson Residency Recipient

Flatbed welcomed Colleen Blackard to Flatbed for the 2025 Jerry Manson Residency in February. After a decade in Brooklyn, Colleen Blackard recently returned home to Austin, TX. She received her MFA in Studio Art at The University of Texas in Austin in 2024, and her BA from Hampshire College, MA in 2009. She is the recipient of international residencies and fellowships such as Atelierhaus Hilmsen in Germany, Cill Rialaig in Ireland, and Jentel in Wyoming. She received the Pollock-Krasner Grant in 2017 and the Dorothy LaSelle Travel Fellowship in 2024. Her work has been exhibited internationally in galleries such as ACA Galleries and Owen James Gallery in NYC, Mönchskirche Gallery in Germany, ISSO Gallery in Tokyo, Foltz Fine Art in Houston, and SPRING/BREAK Art Show. In 2021, her solo exhibition at Redbud Gallery, Houston, was awarded “Top 5 shows in Texas” by Glasstire.

At Flatbed, she plans to create a series of work responding to her recent travels through Tuscany last summer to discover the space that emerges when combining her memories and the history embedded in these sites with the will of the press. Look for a Colleen’s show in early 2026 at Flatbed!

2024 Jerry Manson Residency Recipient

2023 Jerry Manson Residency Recipient

2022 Jerry Manson Residency Recipient