Artist-In-Residence Programs

 

 

Creating and Sharing - Program Overview

For over a century, artists have played an important role in the formation, preservation, and enjoyment of national parks by producing creative records of these unique areas. Their interpretation of the landscape through many types of media connects people to these special places. Many national parks across the country offer artist-in-residence programs. These programs are an essential part of the preservation and protection of these public lands.

In 2007, Great Basin National Park created the Darwin Lambert Artist-in-Residence Program in honor of the late Darwin Lambert. Lambert was a proponent for the creation of Great Basin National Park and the author of Great Basin Drama: The Story of a National Park. This program offers one artist the opportunity to live and work in Great Basin National Park for two to three weeks each year and typically occurs in September or October.

More recently, the Great Basin National Park Foundation has partnered with the University of Nevada, Reno to introduce a second Artist-in-Residence Program. This program offers one artist a camping residency, and typically occurs in the summer months.

Both residencies last two to three weeks each year, and are open to artists and writers working in all creative media (visual art, performance art, film, writing, poetry, etc.)

In exchange for two to three weeks of free housing and/or camping, artists are required to:

1. Present one 60-minute public program for every one & a half weeks of their stay. The content and style of the program is left up to the artist, although it should be interactive.
2. Donate one original piece of work to the park's permanent museum collection within a year of their residency. We are currently accepting digital artwork in lieu of physical pieces.

Pieces donated to the program collection are included in an online catalog on the park website, and displayed on a rotating basis in public spaces in park visitor centers.

 

"Range to Basin" from the 2014 Artist in Residence

Susan Klein

Application & Selection Process

Darwin Lambert Artist-in-Residence

NOTE: The Darwin Lambert application process is being reworked. We encourage applicants to use either of the methods described in the guidelines below, and all applications received in either format will be honored. We hope to have a new selection process implemented by early 2023.

The deadline for submission is March 1st, 2023.

Method 1: Follow these guidelines to apply.
Method 2: In progress...
The selection of the 2023 Darwin Lambert Artist-in-Residence will be made by May 1.

Great Basin National Park Foundation/University of Nevada Reno Artist-in-Residence

Please apply through the University of Nevada, Reno website.

In order to apply, you must reside in the Western United States (Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and Arizona)
The selection of the 2023 GBNPF/UNR Artist-in-Residence will be made by April 1.

Selection Process for Both Residencies

• Selections of participating artists are made anonymously, on the basis of merit and understanding of the mission of the National Park Service and Great Basin National Park. Selections will be made without regard to race, religion, sex, disability, marital status, or age. Only submitted materials will be judged.
• All applications are reviewed by jury panels of past program participants, subject matter experts, local community members, and park staff.
• Once all available residencies are accepted, remaining applicants are notified of the outcome of their submissions via email.
• By 5/01/2023, a press release will be published announcing the names and backgrounds of selected Artists-in-Residence.

For questions regarding the Darwin Lambert Artist-in-Residence, please contact Rebecca Gordon by email or by phone at [phone]. For questions regarding the Great Basin National Park Foundation/University of Nevada, Reno Residency, direct questions to Tamara Scronce ([e-mail]), Director, School of the Arts, at the University of Nevada, Reno.

 

Housing & Compensation

Darwin Lambert Artist-in-Residence

Selected artists are given rent-free, furnished housing within the park for the duration of their two to four week residency. Housing includes utilities such as gas & electric. Internet service is unavailable and there is no public WiFi available within the park. Cell service is also limited and varies between carriers. Housing will include a private bedroom or studio, though living spaces, bathrooms, and kitchens may be shared. Washers and dryers are available in the park to use. Kitchen includes major appliances (refrigerator, stove, sink) and some very basic utensils and dishes. The selected artist is responsible for bringing everything else they may need. Pets and smoking are not allowed within provided housing.

Great Basin National Park Foundation/Univeristy of Nevada Reno Artist-in-Residence

This residency includes a $500 honorarium and a full set of camping equipment that may be checked out from the park. A campsite within one of Great Basin National Park's campgrounds will be provided free-of-cost. Please be aware that internet service is unavailable and there is no public WiFi available within the park. Cell service is also limited and varies between carriers.

Participants in either Artist-in-Residence program are considered part of the Volunteer-in-Parks program. Participants are at liberty to use online fundraising campaigns to help cover costs associated with their residencies, but they may not brand, promote, or imply endorsement of such activities by the National Park Service, Great Basin National Park, the Great Basin National Park Foundation, or the Artist-in-Residence program.

Donations for the Artist-in-Residence Programs may be sent to:
Artist-in-Residence
Great Basin National Park Foundation
P.O. Box 181
Baker, NV 89311

 

2013 Artist in Residence Submission

Bain Butcher

About Great Basin National Park

Great Basin National Park protects an over 77,000 acre section of the sacred, beautiful, diverse Great Basin. Within the bounds of the park exist the oldest living organisms on earth - Bristlecone Pines, some of the darkest night skies in the contiguous United States, spectacular caves like the 2.2 mile Lehman Caves, dozens of species of wildlife, mountain streams and springs, Wheeler Peak - a 13,063 foot tall behemoth surrounded by 11-12,000 foot peaks, and more. The incredible diversity of this park lends itself to artists of all mediums and inspirations, with opportunities for solitude, chance encounters, memorable landscapes, and deep connections to heritage & human history.

Great Basin National Park was first established as a small, square mile national monument centered on Lehman Caves in 1922. Lehman Caves National Monument was first administered by the Forest Service before coming under the purview of the National Park Service in the 1930s. In 1986, the significantly larger Great Basin National Park was established to become Nevada's first and only National Park.

With the diversity comes extreme remoteness. While the town of Baker, NV lies only 6 miles from the park entrance, services are limited to restaurants, one gas station, lodging, and a mechanic. The nearest full-service communities with groceries, hardware stores, etc. are found 70-100 miles away in Ely, NV or Delta, UT. There is no public transportation available to travel to these communities, so a vehicle is absolutely necessary.

 

Stained Glass from the 2008 Artist in Residence on display in the Great Basin Visitor Center

Kay Malouff

Display and Disposition of Artwork

To the fullest extent possible, all artworks donated to the program are to be cataloged online and displayed in public gallery spaces within the park and beyond. Each donation must be accompanied by a brief statement that either describes how the piece reflects the artist’s experience of Great Basin, or articulates what new insight and perspective for visitors the artist hopes to convey through the piece.

While artists retain ownership of copyright for their donated pieces, they are asked to grant permission for limited ongoing use to the park and its formal partners for program promotion, public outreach, and development of sales items in park bookstores, with proceeds benefiting program operational costs.

Physical pieces donated to the program are not intended to be stored indefinitely. Eventually, all physical artworks retire from the program collection by being offered without cost to other public entities, nonprofits, and park partners. Artists are highly encouraged to express preferences and to participate directly in this outplacement process. Final curatorial choices about which pieces remain active in the program collection are made internally, and will be based primarily on the ongoing interpretive capacity of each piece, and the purpose it serves park visitors in the larger collection, and operational needs.