News Release

Apply to Become a Summer 2024 Artist-In-Residence at Isle Royale National Park

Explore your art through wilderness.

Garden & Grave, Rebecca Jabs, 2018 Artist-in-Residence, Ink on Essdee Scratchboard, 23" W x 18" H

News Release Date: December 7, 2023

Contact: Chris Amidon, 906-487-7152

HOUGHTON, Mich –  The Isle Royale Artist-in-Residence Program offers writers, composers, and visual and performing artists the opportunity to capture the moods and magic of Isle Royale through artistic expression. Applications for Isle Royale National Park's 2024 Artist-in-Residence Program will be accepted January 2 through February 16, 2024. Each 2 - 3 week residency provides artists the opportunity to become part of a long-established tradition of interpreting national parks through art.

A panel of artistic professionals and a park representative will select the finalists. The selection is based on artistic integrity, ability to reside in a wilderness environment, a willingness to donate a finished piece of artwork inspired on the island, and the artists' ability to relate and interpret the park through their medium. The program is open to all art forms except those that would manipulate or disturb the park’s environment.

The Artist-in-Residence Program is co-sponsored by Isle Royale National Park, Isle Royale and Keweenaw Parks Association, and the Copper Country Community Arts Council. During the residency, artists may share their experience with the public through a presentation or demonstration. Artists are required to donate to the park an art piece that is representative of their Isle Royale residency. In addition, artists will be asked to contribute to the park’s online exhibit. 

Isle Royale is ideally suited for an Artist-in-Residence Program. Wave-washed shores, boreal forests of spruce and fir, miles of ridge and valley topography, island-evolved wildlife, and a variety of arctic disjunct plants inspire the imagination. The island’s cultural history includes prehistoric copper mining, lighthouses, commercial fisheries, and maritime culture. Ninety-nine percent of the island is federally designated Wilderness, and in 1981, the park was designated as a U.S. Biosphere Reserve.

While on the island for the 2 - 3 week residency, artists will be housed in a rustic cabin along a picturesque shoreline. Complimentary transportation to and from the island is provided on Ranger III, a 165-foot ship operating from Houghton, Michigan. 

Visit the park’s Artist-in-Residence website for the online application process: www.nps.gov/isro/getinvolved/artist-in-residence. To be considered, all application components must be digitally received by 11:59 pm ET on February 16, 2024. Entries received after February 16 will not be considered. Notification to all applicants will be made by May 1, 2024. For more information, visit the park’s website, call [phone], or email [e-mail].

Image Credit: Garden & Grave, Rebecca Jabs, 2018 Artist-in-Residence, Ink on Essdee Scratchboard, 23" W x 18" H

www.nps.gov 

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for the 425 parks in the National Park System and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/national park service.