Artists in Residence

Is it possible to live fully as both an artist and a mother? Director Katie Jacobs explores this question with depth and nuance in her poignant documentary, Artists in Residence, by following the intertwined lives of three artist-mothers—Lois Dodd, Eleanor Magid and Louise Kruger— who co-create an unorthodox living situation in 1950s Greenwich Village, NYC. The film profiles the three women as they defy the patriarchal constrictions of the mid-century art world to raise children as single mothers. Through extensive archival footage and modern interviews with these tenacious artists and their adult children, Jacobs captures an unromantic yet stirring view of the challenges asked of the artists in their fight to make their work and be recognized for it. At the film’s core is the tender, lifelong friendship of Lois Dodd and Eleanor Magid, now in their 90s, each with their own regrets and triumphs. Lois Dodd captures the heart of this portrait: “How do I want to be remembered? The work, the work, the work. The work is who I am. When I’m gone, that’s all that’s left.”