The artists-in-residence staying in Marquette, courtesy of Evolve MQT, greet the public at the “Seat At The Table” event on Wednesday at Ampersand Coworking. From left are Julie Renee Benda, Rachel Smith and Christopher D. Thompson. (Journal photo by Christie Bleck)

MARQUETTE — The three people who will spend three months in a creative residency in Marquette courtesy of Evolve MQT range from a photographer to a writer to an artist.

Evolve MQT hosted the “Seat At The Table” event on Wednesday evening at Ampersand Coworking, located at 132 W. Washington St. in Marquette, to allow the public to meet its newest class of creatives: photographer Christopher D. Thompson, writer Rachel Smith and artist Julie Renee Benda.

Evolve MQT is an assembly of creatives powered by the Marquette Chamber of Commerce interested in the economic growth of the city’s creative class and making creative industries welcome in the Upper Peninsula.

The three artists-in-residence will stay for three months, having been in town already for about three weeks, at One Marquette Place, situated by Lake Superior at 401 S. Lakeshore Blvd.

Escanaba artist Ryan Brayak, who introduced the artists, said the official funding for the project came from the Michigan Film and Digital Media Office.

Thompson’s work has appeared in The New York Times, RollingStone.com, Outside, Runner’s World and other publications. The Cincinnati native, who earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, most recently was based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

An avid snowboarder, Thompson displayed some of his photographs at the event, many of which were snow-related.

Although the snow might be abating in the Marquette region, Thompson still has plenty of subjects to shoot, including a portrait project involving Marquette residents that will be part of his stay.

“Having the peace of mind and space to work already has been helpful,” Thompson said.

Smith, whose writing has appeared in The Atlantic and other publications, was a 2013-15 Wallace Stegner Fellow in Fiction at Stanford University where she now teaches in the Continuing Studies program. She lives in the North Cascades.

“I was a child who always wanted to be a writer but didn’t have the courage to start until I was well out of college,” Smith said.

She also has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the Elizabeth George Foundation in support of her story collection-in-progress, “Maybe Love is Something Different,” on which she will work while staying in Marquette.

Smith obviously couldn’t read all her works on Wednesday, but she did read a scene from one story whose genesis was a student who drank from a can of Coke left in the principal’s office. Unfortunately, the can instead was filled with weed killer, which killed him.

The family invited the principal to lunch six or seven months later to express its forgiveness.

“Not that it was his fault, but it’s an effective closure for them,” Smith said.

Benda, who lives in Minneapolis but grew up outside Houghton, is a trained printmaker who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point after studying biology and studio art. She also holds a master of fine arts degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Some of her projects have been on the unusual side, including the creation of a plant library where people could check out plants for the day.

Other works are “A Brief History of Agriculture” and “Bee Real Bee Everywhere,” which is public art created as pollinator “sky rises” for St. Paul, Minnesota.

She said a researcher at the University of Minnesota checks on the bees to get information and data on whether the structures are useful.

“The purpose of this project is to get information on whether or not manmade bee or pollinator habitats were actually effective, and then how could you design something so that it was sculptural, beautiful and could be integrated into the city architecture, somewhat like a lamp post or a stop sign,” Benda said.

She looks forward to being exposed to other artists and disciplines.

“To me, it’s not something you get a chance to do very often,” she said.

Smith said she will be influenced by the local weather.

“I’m going to write a story about the cold snap,” Smith said, eliciting laughter from the audience.

The artists’ work can be followed in their Instagram pages.

For more information on Evolve MQT, visit its Facebook page.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.