52 Ways to Use Your VRPS Membership: Week 51, Ideas from Up Above

by Nancy Turnage, VRPS Central Office

An excerpt from:  A Guide to 20 Top Artist Residencies and Retreats Across the United States

http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/763138/a-guide-to-20-top-artist-residencies-and-retreats-across-the-united-states

The path to a successful art career can be a twisting one, but one commonly traveled route is the artist residency.  There are hundreds of residencies out there, ranging from highly prestigious programs that are invitation-only — to more open, or even experimental, retreats.

Big Badlands Overlook by Photographer Rikk Flohr, 2008 Artist in Residence

Among these, who knew that the National Park Service has 42 existing artist-in-residence programs spread throughout the country, ranging from month-long live/work experiences at Weir Farm National Historic Site in Wilton, Connecticut to the former Japanese internment camps of Manzanar National Historic Site in Independence, California!  The NPS has three models of A-I-R programs: "Volunteers-in-Parks" requires artists to volunteer by presenting a program or demonstration for the public; "Partnerships" require a non-for-profit and the park combine to provide the resources for the residency; and the "Paid Staff" option involves hiring artists as seasonal employees to create public works or programming.

One program, from Crater Lake National Park in Oregon cites:

First photograph of Crater Lake by Peter Britt.

Southern Oregon Historical Society

Artists have had a long relationship with this country's national parks and have influenced their development. The Crater Lake Waltz, photography of Peter Britt, traditional art and dance of the Tribal communities, and hand-tinted photographs of Fred Kiser are but a few examples of ways that artists have reached a special place in the hearts of visitors to Crater Lake National Park.

The program provides an opportunity for two eligible artists to spend up to two weeks of the fall, and another two artists for up to two weeks in the winter, at Crater Lake National Park to pursue their particular art form while being surrounded by the awe-inspiring landscape of the park.

Writers, sculptors, photographers, painters, dancers, cinematographers, musicians, composers, and other visual and performing artists are invited to apply for this opportunity to draw upon the multifaceted qualities of the park for inspiration.

All of these artists translate the national park's purpose, as a place of pleasure and preservation, into creations that bring others enjoyment and a deeper understanding of the parks.

The program is held both in the winter and the fall and provides an opportunity for two eligible artists to spend up to two weeks at Crater Lake National Park to pursue their particular art form.  The Crater Lake Science & Learning Center is also planning a public art show to feature the work of the Artists-in-Residence.

Kathy Levine, cast paper project in process 2012

NPS

To learn more about the National Park Service Artists-in-Residence programs, visit:  http://www.nps.gov/getinvolved/artist-in-residence.htm