2026 Wrangell Mountains Artist Residency

The Wrangell Mountains Center (WMC) is a nonprofit organization connecting people with wildlands through art, science, and education in Alaska. The Wrangell Mountains Residency Program supports visual artists of all genres, performers, and writers. The residency provides unrestricted work time and space in McCarthy, Alaska, near Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Applicants from diverse backgrounds with creative and inquisitive minds are invited to consider how they might engage with the local ecology, community, or history.

The residency combines rugged Alaskan small town life with access to one of North America's most dynamic natural landscapes. Located near ice-capped mountains, the Kennicott River, McCarthy Creek, and the terminus of the Kennicott and Root Glaciers, the area serves as an outdoor laboratory for study in ecology, glaciology, and geology. McCarthy was established during the copper mining period in the early 20th century and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. The WMC campus includes the Old Hardware Store (built in 1911) and Porphyry Place, a homestead property modeling off-the-grid technologies.

The two-week residency is scheduled for June 28 to July 12, 2026, hosting two artists in a single cohort. The WMC provides room and board, a simple workspace, and can help coordinate transportation between McCarthy and Anchorage. There is no stipend available. Residents are responsible for travel to and from Alaska if out of state. During the residency, artists will be asked to share their experience through demonstration, talk, reading, performance, workshop, or other means. Field Studies students will be on campus during the second week, and artists are invited to participate and share their work.

Each resident receives a furnished living and work space with access to common areas and a fully stocked kitchen with staff-prepared meals (primarily vegetarian). The remote location has limited access to goods and services; participants should bring all necessary research materials and art supplies. Limited wi-fi internet and solar-powered device charging are available. McCarthy has no electrical grid, no flush toilets, and significant mosquito populations during summer. Temperatures range from 70-90°F in mid-summer to -50°F in mid-winter. Entry fee is $25. Selection is based on artistic merit, importance of the landscape and community to the artist's work, need or benefit to the artist, proposed community engagement plans, feasibility, and diversity of backgrounds and disciplines. Selections will be announced by April 1, 2026.