Mill Hill Visiting Social Practice Artist Residency

Mill Hill: East Macon Arts Village is a creative placemaking initiative of the Macon Arts Alliance in partnership with the Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority, the residents of East Macon's Fort Hawkins Neighborhood, and local stakeholders. The Mill Hill Visiting Social Practice Artist Residency is a three-to-nine-month residency that brings together social practice artists from around the US to work in partnership with residents and local artists as part of an asset mapping and neighborhood cultural planning process. The model envisions building relationships between artists and neighbors as a form of social capital to empower residents to eliminate blight while increasing economic opportunity.

Selected artists will work with local artists to engage the neighborhood in creative projects that will result in a creative assets map and a cultural master plan. Artists will partner with key stakeholders to develop programming that engages residents, families, and youth in the area. Cultural planning consultants will be hired to work with visiting artists in the development of a neighborhood cultural master plan. The program is open to all US-based artists with a history of socially engaged work, especially those with experience working in neighborhoods to build social capacity and social cohesion. Visual artists, writers, architects, designers, performance artists, and urban planners with a history of social practice art are invited to apply.

Qualified applicants must hold a Bachelor's degree or higher in a related field or have equivalent professional experience; have at least two years of experience with a proven history of socially-engaged work demonstrating artistic excellence and merit; have a history of working on projects within a neighborhood context; possess the ability to listen to the community and create work driven by the relevance, assets, and needs of the Fort Hawkins neighborhood; demonstrate a socially-engaged practice that values ongoing collaborations with community partners; be process driven in their approach to community engagement; foster mutual respect between artists, the community, and organizations; show a history of using socially engaged work to inform community planning; be available for at least 3-9 months during 2016 between February and December; and be a US citizen. Selected artists will receive a stipend of $3,500 per month, paid on the first day of each month, along with a housing allowance to live in a renovated home in the Mill Hill: East Macon Arts Village during 2016. Residencies should culminate in the public presentation of one or more arts-based, community building projects. Project funds are available to support these projects. Application fee is $25. Submission deadline: December 31 at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time. Finalists will be notified by February 1, with interviews conducted in early February. Selected artists will be notified by February 15.