Visual Arts Center of New Jersey to Launch Artist-in-Residence Program

The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey (VACNJ) will launch its newest rendition of its Artist-in-Residence program on March 9, 2026, with artist and Master Gardener Gabriella D'Italia. During her residency, D'Italia will use studio space at the Art Center to explore the intersection of her artistic and gardening practices.

Work created throughout the residency will be presented in the Art Center's community gallery, while her gardening projects—centered on local pollinators and native plants—will take shape across the Art Center's grounds. Public programs will be offered in conjunction with the residency.

“We are thrilled to welcome Gabriella as part of our Artist-in-Residence program,” said Jordan Horton, VACNJ Curator. “Her multidisciplinary practice will be instructive for our program. We look forward to seeing what artists like Gabriella can achieve here for their own practice and their work alongside the public.”

This residency program will run through June 7, 2026.

About Gabriella D'Italia

Gabriella D'Italia is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and Master Gardener who believes that true stories lie at the horizon between spirit and body, vision and the material world. D'Italia received her B.A. in Philosophy and the History of Science and Mathematics through the Great Books program at St. John's College. She resided in Boston and Maine where for two decades she held leadership roles in nationally recognized fine craft organizations, taught courses on creativity and worked in costume design and quilting. She holds an MFA in Intermedia from the University of Maine, Orono.

D'Italia's relationship with the materials of everyday living is explored throughout her book, Getting Dressed in the Dark: An Artist's Way Home (Unsolicited Press, 2025), an artist's memoir that traces her way home after a personal crisis. Her memoir explores personal and cultural inheritance, as well as how meaning is made in an increasingly polarized climate.