Wesleyan to Offer Residency for Artists Impacted by 2017 Hurricanes

(by Andy Chatfield)

The Center for the Arts, in collaboration with the College of the Environment, invites an artist or artists from areas affected by the hurricane season of 2017 to campus for a short-term residency in April 2018. Artists working in all disciplines from Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands may propose a project that explores the evolving human relationship to water, and responds to the following questions:

• How can the arts address and respond to the environmental and humanitarian crises wrought by climate change?
• How do we redefine humankind’s evolving relationship to nature, specifically to water?
• What role might the arts play in rebuilding after storms?

“Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts has a history of interdisciplinary programs, integrating the arts across campus,” said Wesleyan President Michael Roth. “This new one-time residency in collaboration with the College of the Environment will have an impact not only on the artist selected for the residency but also allow the Wesleyan community to respond to the environmental and social impact of these natural disasters.”

“The arts allow us to explore issues in ways no other medium does,” said Sarah Curran, director of the Center for the Arts. “The arts have a unique responsibility to help us improve our communities and world where ever we can. In these times of rebuilding after crisis, the arts can play a critical role in community building, envisioning, and imagining how we rebuild, and what we want to become.”

Project Details:
The Center for the Arts seeks to engage an artist in a 7 to 14 day residency in April 2018 on Wesleyan’s campus. Artists may work in any performing arts or visual arts discipline (music, dance, theater, visual arts), or in a practice that crosses disciplines. Artists are invited to create a work that responds to hurricanes and their environmental and social impact. We invite projects that also address environmental issues such as climate change, disaster, and disruption. The proposed project must include an opportunity for the Wesleyan community to interact with the creation of and/or presentation of the work. The project budget includes a $10,000 artist fee and up to $5,000 for travel and materials.

Eligibility:
• Artist must have permanent residency in one of the states or U.S. territories most directly impacted by the hurricane season of 2017 (Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands). If a group of artists, the majority of the group must have residency as described above.
• Artist(s) must be available to travel to Middletown, Connecticut for a 7 to 14 day residency in April 2018 and be able to work within the budget outlined above.
• Artist(s) must be able to provide proof of eligibility to work in the United States.

Required Materials:
• Application form, including project description, resume, three references, and work samples submitted here.

Timeline:
Proposals are due at 11:59 p.m., Friday, Nov. 17, 2017. Decisions will be announced no later than Dec. 15, 2017.
Residency is in April 2018 (dates to be determined in consultation with selected artist).

For additional information, contact Michelle Grove, interim associate director for programs.

“After seeing the scope of this year’s hurricane season, we thought this was a way that we could both address the needs of artists in those areas, while also deepen the conversation on campus about climate change on the human environment,” said Barry Chernoff, director of the College of the Environment, Robert Schumann Professor of Environmental Studies. Chernoff also is chair of the Environmental Studies Program, professor of biology, professor of earth and environmental sciences.