Submission: January 30, 2017
Registration: January 30, 2017
Language: English
Location: Concept
Prizes: Ten finalists will receive €1,000N
Type: Open
I-Park, dedicated to nurturing artists and the creative process, is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for its 2017 General Residency Program. This multi-disciplinary program is open to architects looking to enrich their creative practice in a retreat-like, collegial setting – in the company of visual artists, music composers, writers and landscape/garden/ecological designers.
Most residencies are 4-weeks in duration, though split (2-week) sessions can occasionally be arranged to accommodate busy career schedules. International applicants are welcome.
Located within a 450-acre nature preserve in rural East Haddam, CT (U.S.), I-Park will be awarding 40 fully-funded residencies in 2017, scheduled between June and November. Fellows are provided with comfortable living quarters in a renovated 1850’s era farmhouse, a private studio and an inspired meal program.
In addition to attentive staff support, shared workshop space and an array of tools, equipment and site materials are available on request. While the typical residency revolves around studio work, those wishing to undertake aesthetic interventions within I-Park’s natural and built environments are encouraged to do so. Some suggestions for how an architect might productively utilize the gift of time, space and fellowship that an I-Park residency bestows can be found.
Key Elements of the Program
- This program is offered free of charge to accepted/invited artists, though there is a $30.00 application fee that helps defray the cost of the selection panels. The only major artists’ expenses are for personal art supplies/materials and transportation to and from the area. A complimentary pickup at a Connecticut airport or bus/train station at the beginning of the session, and a drop-off at the end, is offered.
- The format is self-directed, non-judgmental: you decide what you’re going to work on and when.
- Residents are provided with a private bedroom, a private studio, a meal program as well as shared amenities: artists’ kitchen, Common Area, library, wireless internet.
- I-Park annually convenes 6 independent, discipline-specific selection panels, the composition of which substantially changes each year.
- Application materials are processed through a convenient online submission system.
- I-Park supports mixed-discipline residencies made up of individuals from among the following creative fields:
- Visual Arts, including sculpture, environmental art, installation, photography
- Music Composition/Sound Art
- Architecture
- Creative Writing
- Landscape/Garden/Ecological Design
- Moving Image, including video and film art, new media, documentary, animation, virtual reality
- The typical residency session has a 4-week duration. The 6-7 artists who populate each session arrive together as a group, share the time and space together and, at the end, leave as a group. The 2017 General Residency Program season run from June 12 through November 20
- Application materials are currently available online – with a submission deadline of Monday, January 30, 2017.
Special Features
- an enthusiastic, resourceful staff devoted to providing each artist with a fulfilling, productive and comfortable residency experience
- a quiet, retreat-type environment conducive to the creative process: I-Park is set in a rich, expansive nature preserve with ponds, fields, teaming wetlands, miles of stone walls and a pristine river running through it
- onsite vegetable and spice gardens to enhance the meal program
- support and encouragement to undertake ambitious installations on the grounds – including material, equipment and labor resources for approved projects
- a special focus on ephemeral, site-responsive art representing all 6 of the creative disciplines supported by I-Park – this culminates every other year in a major exhibition of this work, the Site-Responsive Art Biennale
- an OPEN Studios event at the end of each residency session to highlight the individual creative processes of the artists
- international component: approximately a third of the artists come from outside the U.S.
- you’ll gain an inside perspective on I-Park’s special cross-disciplinary and collaborative programs
- a shared workshop space and an abundance of tools, materials and equipment, including an electric kiln
- the Junk Trail: a free/shared resource for recycling the remains of onsite ephemeral installations
- in the Music Studio: an acoustic piano, several digital keyboards and peripheral devices and software for recording, sequencing and sound manipulation – and a collection of percussion and obscure instruments
- chef-prepared dinners, 4 nights per week, that foster artistic, cultural and inter-personal exchanges
- bonfires by the pond, an outdoor shower (in addition to the real ones), an aerial drone and a floating living room
