2025 Grand Canyon Artist in Residence

The Artist in Residence program at Grand Canyon National Park offers artists the opportunity to practice and share their discipline with park visitors through impactful, site-specific, community-engaged work. The program seeks to inspire the community to deepen their knowledge of Grand Canyon National Park and is tied directly to the National Park Service Interpretation and Resource Education goal of inclusive storytelling and Grand Canyon Conservancy's goal to inspire generations of park champions to cherish and support the natural and cultural wonder of Grand Canyon. Contemporary artists focused on site-specific community engagement, social practice, and immersive or interactive artworks are encouraged to apply. The program seeks a variety of voices and strategies for engaging visitors in underrepresented stories about the park.

In 2025, three artists will be selected to live and work on Arizona's South Rim of Grand Canyon. Artists in Residence are expected to deliver an interactive project with programming to guests and/or community during their stay. Residencies range from 3-10 weeks and may be scheduled during February, March, April, June, July, or August, though preferred dates cannot be guaranteed. Provided resources include accommodations (a private one-bedroom apartment with studio space at Verkamp's residence, or ADA-accessible housing if needed), $200 for travel, up to $300 for supplies, $750 stipend per week, backcountry trip support, limited staff support, special access to park roads and trails, and marketing exposure to approximately 850,000 online audience plus PR opportunities. One artist per year is selected for an exhibition at Northern Arizona University School of Art & Design's Beasley Gallery in Flagstaff. Alumni are invited to participate in additional opportunities including proposal reviews, webinars, blog posts, and local exhibitions.

Proposals will be reviewed by a peer panel of alumni, local artists, and curators. Selected artists will be contacted around September 15, 2024, and must provide a verbal commitment within one week. Priority will be given to projects that meaningfully impact the community, are well-researched and specific to Grand Canyon, demonstrate success engaging groups of people, show experience making work for public spaces, and come from historically underrepresented communities. Applications must be complete by July 25, 2024. Proposed projects must engage people and focus on elements of Grand Canyon's environment, history, and/or culture while adhering to Leave No Trace principles, being family-friendly and accessible to global audiences. Artwork about Indigenous culture must be created or co-created by an Indigenous artist or organization. Artists must demonstrate high professionalism and be physically able to work at high altitudes. Instead of an application fee, applicants are asked to make a donation of $1 or more to the Artist in Residence program through Grand Canyon Conservancy; donations must be received between May 15-July 25, 2024.