Artist ↔ Wilderness ↔ Connection Program

What is the Artist ↔ Wilderness ↔ Connection?

The program connects artists with the Flathead National Forest, the Hockaday Museum of Art and area communities. The program consists of the Artist residency, the Forest experience, and the Community extension. In 2003, the Bob Marshall Foundation, Flathead National Forest, Hockaday Museum of Art and Swan Ecosystem Center joined forces to create the Artist-Wilderness-Connection project, an artist-in-residence program that connects artists with the Flathead National Forest, the Hockaday Museum of Art and area communities.
Artists selected for this program include Myni Ferguson, Annick Smith, Karin Connelly, Janet Sullivan, Jane Latus Emmert, Michael Patterson, Carol Poppenga, Sally Hickman, Jane Kleinschmidt, and Bill Knoll.

The Program -- The Artist Residency

The program places professional working artists in various disciplines, media, and styles in remote forest cabins for seven to up to 14 days followed by a public presentation related to the residency experience. Group collaborations will be considered and are welcome to apply.

The Forest/Wilderness Experience

The program experience will focus on the Bob Marshall, Great Bear and Mission Mountain Wilderness Areas, with opportunities for artists to reside in cabins in or near designated wilderness. All cabins in this program are located in the Flathead National Forest in the Condon, Hungry Horse/West Glacier and Spotted Bear vicinity. Some cabins are very private, suggesting solitude, reflection and personal work; other sites offer the experience of working and/or living with Forest Service work crews. The best residency experiences come from plans that allow for the unexpected and are entered into with an open mind.

The Community Extension

A public presentation accompanies each residency. It may include demonstrating art form or techniques to the public. This can include, but is not limited to, a showing, performance, open house, workshop, or training session in which the public or school groups can participate and learn from the artist about the experiences gained through his/her participation in the Artist-In-Residence Program.
The workshops, performances, exhibits, and other experiences communicate the values, processes, features and resources of both the artists and the forest. A variety of community groups may be involved: students, adults, the arts community, civic groups, service groups, etc.
Participants will donate a representative piece of his/her work to the Artist ↔ Wilderness ↔ Connection (AWC) Program with full copyright to reproduce and use the work to promote and benefit the AWC program including using the artwork in any educational or interpretive manner.
Each artist will work with the program administrators to determine what type of a presentation and donation they will provide. Within six weeks after the residency, artists will submit an outline of what they propose to do.
Public presentations and donations will occur within one year after the artist residency.
Wilderness values, natural processes and features, history, wildlife, resource management issues and other topics related to wilderness and wilderness management are used as themes around which artists' visits are organized.
All media of art works will be encouraged, as long as the environment and cabins are left in a natural state.
For guidelines, view this previous Application Form. Notification of accepted and declined applications will be sent by March 21, 2009. Late applications will not be considered.

Hockaday Museum of Art  
302 Second Ave. East, Kalispell, Montana, 59901
(406) 755-5268  -  FAX (406) 755-2023
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