She takes up her position next year and will create artwork inspired by Dunedin’s natural beauty.
Her residency culminates in an exhibition to be hosted at the historic student hall of residence later in 2025.
Burke said she lived in "the most beautiful room in the Ryburn wing of Knox College this year, while completing a Diploma in Photography and Videography with Otago Polytechnic.
"Knox College, with its beautiful building and grounds, is the perfect environment for creating art. I am so grateful for this incredible opportunity . . . They gave me the best room with the best light in the college. It was so warm and sunny. I lucked in there."
Burke has been painting and exhibiting regularly in Wanaka since she was a student at Holy Family School.
This year, she was runner-up at the Wanaka Arts Council’s Labour Weekend Exhibition, with her piece So Loved.
She enjoyed her one-year diploma studies in Dunedin this year and would get up at 5am so she could paint before attending classes.
But next year, she gets to focus completely on her painting. "This is quite exciting. It is a new position. What I will be doing is just creating paintings, leading up to the end of the year, and I will still be living at Knox College."
"I had been applying for an artist in residence in other areas, but I loved Knox, so I put together a proposal and pitched it to the head and the board accepted it," she said.
"Knox has a lot of art, which is wonderful. It doesn’t have a particular theme ... The architecture is amazing and the grounds are so amazing. I fell in love with the whole college," Burke said.
While artist in residence at Knox, she would also complete a series of greeting cards for the college.
In January, Burke will be exhibiting a new work at the annual Craigs Aspiring Arts Awards in Wanaka.
She also intends to add event and freelance photography to her career in the creative arts.
