VCAC is an Artist Residency site in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, nestled between rural townships, abandoned mines, and the vast wilderness of the Ottawa National Forest. We hold one residency session each summer, hosting artists from around the country for two weeks of camping, exploring, learning, making, and sharing. We live and work communally, sharing daily chores to keep camp running, and we collaborate with the local community, from whom we learn traditional folk arts, sustainable construction, and responsible land management practices.
2022 VCAC Residency Dates: Wednesday July 20th - Saturday August 6th
- Choose a workshop in Wild Clay to immerse yourself in the clay process, learning everything from harvesting and mixing clay bodies by hand with local materials, to firing on-site using electric oxidation kilns or experimental wood-barrel kilns, atmospheric propane kilns, and raku kilns.
- Choose a workshop in Green Woodworking to explore the techniques for shaping fresh-cut, undried timber for uses big and small, using locally harvested materials and working with hand tools. Whether you’re interested in making furniture, carving a spoon, chiseling a sculpture or constructing a cabin— it all begins with building a relationship to place and material.
- OR propose an Independent or Land Arts project that can be supported by our wilderness setting, environmental focus, and adventurous attitude. Independent Artists have created site-specific installations and large-scale land art, textile works, performances, and photographs or paintings inspired by the wilderness landscape and historic mining towns nearby.
Our professional-artist staff is here to provide guidance and to support residents as they create relationships with nature and with one another, and practice art-making in conversation with their environment. From the casual craftsperson to the advanced artist looking to step out of their normal routine, the VCAC is a unique opportunity to connect deeply with materials, process, community, and environment.
Apply at: www.visitorcenterartistcamp.org/apply
Questions? Contact Amy at [email protected]
- Space is limited! We have space for 12 residents in 2022. Rolling Deadline, applications reviewed in order received, until all spaces are filled. Acceptance announcements sent within one week of each submission.
- Submission Deadline: June 1st, 2022. Early Bird Discount: $100 off if you Apply by April 1st, 2022
- You must be at least 21 years of age to attend. Adults of all creative backgrounds, experience levels, and fields of practice are encouraged to apply.
- COVID-19 Considerations: We are requiring COVID-19 Vaccinations for all Residents and Staff in 2022. This small group artist residency allows for social distancing without social isolation. Bring your own tent for camping, eat your chef-prepared meals in our outdoor pavilion, work in the fresh open air, and kick the studio barn doors open!
- Materials and use of tools provided for Wild Clay and Green Woodworking Workshops. All meals, local transportation, and special programming provided to all residents. All residents have access to shop tools and basic supplies, and all accommodations as listed on our website at: www.visitorcenterartistcamp.org/accommodations