A new campuswide artist residency, the U-M Artist-in-Residence Award, will launch next year, and the Arts Initiative is looking for nominations of artists who can make a big impact on campus and the community.
Beginning in fall 2024 and biennially thereafter, the Arts Initiative will award one distinguished external artist a yearlong academic residency with strong public components.
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The selected artist will have access to U-M resources and will create new work or further develop in-progress work that advances the missions of the Arts Initiative and U-M’s Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses.
The U-M Artist-in-Residence Award seeks to provide a uniquely valuable experience for an artist to create, grow and impact the world. This program will grow the artist’s interests and engage all three U-M campuses and the region in matters related to artmaking, the impact of art on culture, justice, community building or contemporary issues facing society.
The Arts Initiative hopes this program influences the university’s approach to supporting artists, students and faculty in the future, builds relationships across academic disciplines and creates campuswide demonstrations that illuminate the power of the arts.
“We’re excited to bring an artist to campus who can inspire our whole community — faculty, staff, and especially our students — to think of themselves as artists, who can make creativity a central tool for their research, learning and day-to-day life,” said Mark Clague, the Arts Initiative’s interim executive director. “Seeing possibility is what makes us human and our humanity is more essential than ever.”
The program will create pathways for students to learn from a professional artist and will bring to bear the university ’s vast resources in support of artists’ creativity.
Any U-M faculty or staff member can nominate an external candidate. Self-nominations will not be accepted. Artists of any discipline are eligible.
A review panel will select three potential awardees ranked by preference. The Arts Initiative will formally invite external nominees in order of preference.
Prior to inviting an artist, the Arts Initiative team will work with appropriate units related to the artist’s discipline and interests to confirm each unit’s level of partnership and participation.
One artist will be selected for the award announced in winter 2024.
The Arts Initiative seeks nominations for an artist who:
- Is well-known. Artists nominated should be easily researched online by name and artistic medium.
- Has demonstrated interest and strength in engaging with communities.
- Is open to sharing their artistic process and works-in-progress.
- Will work closely with students, faculty and the overall university community.
- Includes interdisciplinary components in their work.
- Uses their work to address a contemporary challenge facing society.
- Can creatively leverage the university’s resources for experimentation and artistic development.
