Wrangell Mountains Center Residency - McCarthy, Alaska

The Wrangell Mountains Center (WMC) is a nonprofit organization connecting people with wildlands through art, science, and education in the Wrangell Mountains. The residency program supports artists of all genres, writers, and inquiring minds with a unique and rustic workspace located in McCarthy, Alaska, within the nation's largest national park. The organization invites applicants with creative and inquisitive minds who will both add to and benefit from the interdisciplinary efforts at the community hub and the surrounding Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

McCarthy is a small mountain community located approximately 300 miles east of Anchorage at the end of a 60-mile dirt road. The town was established during the copper mining period in the early 20th century and has been rediscovered as a cultural and natural environment for creative work. The Old Hardware Store (OHS), built in 1911 and now on the National Register of Historic Places, serves as the heart of the WMC where meals are prepared and shared. Residents will have access to private furnished live/work spaces: a 12' x 12' cabin with wood burning stove or a larger studio with propane heater. Studios lack electricity but benefit from long Alaskan summer days; small electronics can be charged via the solar power system at the OHS. Residents have access to common areas and simple, mostly vegetarian meals provided communally.

Four residencies are available in 2018 on the following dates: July 30 – August 13 and August 16 – 30. Program dates for 2019 are June 2 – August 27. Selection is based on artistic excellence, importance of the Wrangell-St. Elias/McCarthy experience to the artist's work, need or benefit to the artist, the artist's proposed plan to connect with the local community, and vision for the residency. Entry fee is $35.00. Work samples may include up to 10 images, 3 audio files, and 3 video files (10 total samples maximum). International applicants are eligible. Selections will be made by April 2018. Participants should come prepared with all necessary research materials and art supplies as they are not available for purchase locally.