Saturday October 10, 2026 | 2:00 – 4:00pm
Location: RU House at Colonels Row, Building #404B on Governors Island (map)
Ferry information | Video directions
Free Workshop
Limited to 12 participants. If you require any accessibility accommodations, please let us know at info@residencyunlimited.org when you RSVP and we will be happy to assist.
RSVP required.
This workshop, led by Margrethe Aanestad (2021 RU alum), offers a gentle introduction to the tactile qualities of paper and ink. The class does not require any previous knowledge. Participants will explore the unique characteristics of different types of paper, and different colours of ink, and combining ink and water. There will be an option to also use leaves and flowers as tools to make imprints of those, to achieve floral expressions that reflects the organic forms of nature.
This initiative is part of a series of 20 workshops designed to provide post residency support to RU’s local alumni artists. Curated by alum curator Hayley Ferber, the workshops are centered on the theme of creative engagement with the natural environment, inviting participants to explore processes of reuse, observation, material experimentation, and collective making.
About
Born in Stavanger, Norway, Margrethe Aanestad lives and works between New York City and Stavanger. She studied fine arts at Rogaland Art College and holds a BA in Art and Cultural Studies from the University of Stavanger. Working primarily in drawing, painting, and sculpture, she subtly references landscape and the celestial sphere while remaining wholly non-representational.
Aanestad was participating in the RU residency program for three months in 2021. Her work has been exhibited widely across the U.S. and Europe, including solo and duo shows at Dimensions Variable, Miami; Kunsthall Stavanger; and Tiger Strikes Asteroid, NYC, as well as group exhibitions at Scandinavia House and Yi Gallery in New York, among numerous institutions in Norway. Her work is held in private collections internationally and in public commissions including the Stavanger New University Hospital, the University of Stavanger, and NYU’s Clive Davis Institute. In 2011, she co-founded the artist-run gallery Prosjektrom Normanns in Stavanger, co-directing it until its closing in 2020. Aanestad is in artist partnership with Dimensions Variable in Miami.
In addition to her studio work, Margrethe is a seasoned Teaching Artist with over a decade of experience as tutor and leading art workshops for children, teens and adults. She has taught in a wide range of settings—from art colleges and cultural institutions to public schools and independent initiatives—consistently fostering creativity, experimentation, and personal expression through hands-on art-making.
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
In-kind support is provided by Materials for the Arts.
RU is grateful for the partnership with Governors Island Arts.
