Joshua Tree National Park, in partnership with the Riverside Art Museum, is pleased to announce selections for the 2009-2010 Artist-in-Residence Program (AIR). Four visual artists, a composer, and a video artist were invited to participate in the program’s second year of offering a unique residential opportunity to artists from around the nation. The selected 2009-2010 artists are Michael Teters (painter from Plainville, NJ), Dianne Bennett (mixed media/painter from Ojai, CA), Luke Gullickson (composer from Grand Lake, CO), Lydia Moyer (video artist from Covesville, VA), Michael Shankman (painter from Brooklyn, NY), and Jennifer Kane (painter from Boalsburg, PA).

Each artist-in-residence will be provided with accommodations in the park for up to four weeks to interpret different aspects of Joshua Tree National Park through whatever medium he or she has chosen to use. The residencies will take place during the months of October and November 2009, and March and April 2010. Through partnerships established with other cultural, environmental, and civic agencies within the region, these artists will produce a program, presentation, or exhibit to engage members of the community during the residency.

The jury of five also selected several other artists to participate in the Affiliate Artist program, which encourages one-year projects in the park, but provides no accommodations.

Curt Sauer, superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park, said he was very proud of the work done by park and museum staff to ensure that visiting artists had a positive experience during last year’s inaugural program. Because the Artist-in-Residence Program supports the park’s mission, “we hope to inspire people to experience their parks as places where creative expression is valued, along with the more traditional conservation and recreational values,” said Sauer.

For more information about the Joshua Tree National Park/Riverside Art Museum Artist-in-Residence Program, contact Caryn Davidson, park liaison for the AIR Program, at 760-367-3012 or Lee Tusman, adult education coordinator for the Riverside Art Museum, at 951-684-7111.