Two Olympic Rowers Chosen as Paris 2024 Olympic Artists-in-Residence

2016 Olympian Grace Latz and 2000 and 2004 Olympian Kelly Salchow MacArthur were chosen by the IOC Olympic Museum to be artists-in-residence for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Four athletes were selected for the Olympian Artists program. The program launched in 2018 as a way for Olympians and Paralympians to creatively share their experiences as athletes and artists on a global platform through community projects and original art. It is exclusively open to Olympians who combine art with sport and engages the local community of the host city around the Paris Olympics. 

Latz and Salchow MacArthur were chosen out of 96 past Olympians and Paralympians from 32 different countries.

Grace Latz worked with the local Montmarte senior citizens to quilt a large-scale tapestry featuring the Olympic rings from recycled and reassembled sport textiles. Weaving some of her own gear – and memories from her days as an elite athlete – into the piece, Latz explored the overlap between individual and shared experiences through her intergenerational project, and themes related to environmental sustainability and art as a form of social practice. This piece will be on display during the Olympic Games at one of their premier hospitality spaces and will eventually be housed in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Kelly Salchow MacArthur, a Michigan State University professor of graphic design, hosted a workshop series creating mixed-media collages with at-risk children living in foster homes in the 10th and 19th districts of Paris. In four workshops over two days, Salchow MacArthur worked with a group of 6-to11-year-olds and a group of adolescents to create collages with the photographs and words that represented Olympic values. The resulting artwork was publicly exhibited in the community centers. Salchow MacArthur also created work for the 2020 Olympics. Her Japanese-style noren curtain panels depicting the Olympic spirit and values were on display in Tokyo.