ASTORIA — Astoria artist Sarah Hendrickson has been chosen to be the founding participant in Astoria Visual Arts’ Artist-in-Residence Program.

Hendrickson, an emerging artist, is known locally for her drawings, paintings and sculptures.

She is heavily influenced from growing up in a small town in the heart of the Cascades, where she spent much of her time exploring flora and fauna found in the wild. She continues these explorations via her work, which takes form at the intersection of nature and imagination, where the “real world” collides with the worlds we see and experience with our mind’s eye.

Subjectivity and an absence of dictatorial expression define the parameters — so much so that viewers of the same work often walk away with different, highly personal interpretations of the piece.

“I like to think of my art as falling into the choose-your-own-adventure genre, as oftentimes each viewer of a single piece has a different, yet somehow concrete interpretation of it,” wrote Hendrickson in her application essay. “My work is personal, coming from an unavoidable DNA of memories of real places and real feelings; and dream places and dream feelings.”

During the three-month residency, which runs April 1 through June 30, Hendrickson will be able to work unencumbered in an art studio in the Astoria Downtown Historic District provided by AVA, with Dots ‘N Doodles providing some needed art supplies.

“Sarah was chosen as AVA’s first artist-in-residence based on her creative ability and the artistic quality of the work she submitted. The committee also considered her readiness to engage with and benefit from the residency experience,” said Darren Orange, chairman of the AVA a-i-r Selection Committee.

“The residency attracted a competitive field of very talented artists, so we on the committee had our work cut out for us. But we unanimously agreed that Sarah’s work is distinctive, engaging and worthy of our support and are delighted to offer her this opportunity.”

AVA a-i-r is designed to encourage the creative, intellectual and personal growth of emerging artists. While no exhibition, publication or performance is required of the selected artist, community responsibility includes a weekend open studio event before the end of each AVA a-i-r session.

AVA was founded in 1989 as a nonprofit membership organization to enhance, strengthen and promote the arts in the greater Astoria area. For more information about AVA or to learn about upcoming AVA a-i-r dates and application deadlines, visit astoriavisualarts.org