The Des Moines-based Alex Brown Foundation has announced its first artist residencies, which will begin this summer. Painter and printmaker Vamba Bility will be the first resident. Other residents will include multimedia artist Justin Sterling, sculptor David Craig, painter Emmy Thelander, charcoal and pastel artists Alina Perez and Arel Lisette Peckler, installation artist Christopher K. Ho, painter Suzanne Wright, and mixed-media artist Catherine Reinhart. The foundation was established to honor painter, zine maker and musician Alex Brown, who died in January 2020 from an aneurysm. The foundation is working in partnership with Des Moines nonprofit Mainframe Studios to offer the residencies, which are open to artists of any career stage and working in media of all kinds. Each residency is flexible in regard to length, ranging from four weeks to one year, according to the artist’s preference, and includes a monthly $1,000 stipend plus airfare to and from Des Moines. Participating artists are offered the use of Brown’s 1,400-square-foot studio in Mainframe, a converted 1970s telecom building near downtown.