Through the magic of Twitter, I stumbled on Lucy Bellwood’s amazing comic “Mappin’ the Floor: A Scientific High-Seas Adventure.” It was thrilling. It had adventure. It had science. It told a great story of professional passions and discovery. It was beautiful. It spoke to me, and I fell in love with it

When I saw that Bellwood created her comic as part of an artist-in-residency program I nearly jumped out of my seat. I had the sudden realization that “I could totally do something cool like this!” Unfortunately, I had already missed the deadline for this specific program. But with a little research, I found a wealth of other similar programs to explore!

It turns out many regional and national parks have residency programs. These programs are a way for parks to generate public interest. The parks provide lodging and amazing scenery. The artist agrees to donate art or give a talk about what it’s like to be an artist-in-residence at this park. Artist-in-residencies are more than an opportunity to create art. They are an opportunity to share the mission and the spirit of a place in a way that reaches far outside the park.

They are such a popular form of community outreach that there are plenty to choose from. California alone has seven active residencies (I’ll have links to these at the end.) There are six in Alaska, one in Hawaii, and even one in the Dry Tortugas. For me, the choice was easy. I chose the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is home. It is 15,000 acres on 15 miles of Lake Michigan lakeshore. It’s a rapidly changing place subject to erosion, flooding, fire, and industry. It’s different every time I visit, but it is always beautiful.

 

 

The Application Process

Swooning over a place is one thing, putting down into words exactly what you’re going to do while you’re there is another. As a casual sketch-artist, I haven’t had to write about my work. I’ll post a little process on Instagram here and there, but it’s hardly “application” grade material.

I broke it down into 5 steps.  

 

Step 1: Overcome imposter syndrome.

• “Is my work good enough to apply?”
• “Why would they pick me when there are so many better artists?”
• “What if they pick me and I fail?”

Those are real things I actually said about a dozen times during this process. Everyone feels this way sometimes, especially when out of their element.

Whenever I teach friends how to surf, I try to frame each awkward moment in the learning process as practice. You practice carrying everything to the beach. You practice putting all the gear on. You practice getting out past the waves. Learning to surf is not only riding a wave but all the small steps that get you there. Feeling silly or out of place is one step in many. Focusing on learning makes it more likely you’ll keep going, not matter how much of an imposter you feel you are.

This idea kept me going while staring at that blank application page. Whenever I’d question whether I even deserve to apply I’d tell myself: It’s all practice. I am practicing organizing my ideas. I am practicing talking about my work. I am practicing putting myself out there. And if I fail, that’s practice, too.

 

Step 2: Pick a topic and organize your ideas

The next step was deciding on a topic. “Oohing and ahhing” over how great the dunes are wasn’t going to cut it.  I read through the application to make sure I was considering all the requirements. I had a few ideas that I fleshed out with research.

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is the home of the Theory of Ecological Succession. Henry Chandler Cowles came up with his theory studying the Indiana Dunes. His research focused on how the environment changed from bare sand to thriving forests or wetlands and back again. Cowles contributions to ecology helped scientists see the world not as rigid ecosystems, but as places that change over time.

I wanted to document the changing landscapes that Cowles saw. I wanted to learn about all the plants and animals that contributed to and benefitted from these changes.

 

Step 3: Write, rewrite, and have a good editor (or two)

This was the most laborious part of the process. I started with an outline. For each bullet point, I included notes about what I wanted the reader to take away from that section. I wrote and rewrote three drafts using Google docs to track my work. I put together art samples and described how each of my past works of art related to my plan for this residency.

I didn’t do it alone. I had help from some fantastic writers in my life. They helped me hone my message, tighten up my language, and fix all my typos. I couldn’t have done it without them and they have my eternal gratitude.

To make life a little easier for them, I ran my drafts through automated editing programs. I used Grammarly and Hemmingway, to look for basic grammar and spelling mistakes. Both are free. While the final pass still needed a human touch, these robot-editors helped get the easy fixes out of the way.

 

Step 4: Mail it in and wait.

The application process differs from residency to residency. For the Dunes, I had to physically mail my application in with a USB drive of my work. I mailed it in with three weeks to spare before the deadline, in case the mail took longer than expected.

The application also required I provide a self-addressed stamped envelope. This allowed the judges to return my drive with their decision. If I have one tip for those applying by physical mail: get tracking numbers. I got tracking numbers on both the package there and the package back. It didn’t cost very much and was worth it for my sanity.

 

Step 5: Focus on what you’ve learned

When my self-addressed stamped envelope came back, it included a rejection letter. I wasn’t surprised. This was my first time ever applying. It’s a learning process. I had learned how to apply for a residency and now I was practicing receiving rejection letters. This setback was an opportunity to improve and try again.

 

 

In the spirit of practice

Sure, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get in but in the spirit of practice I went anyway. I thought this would be a great chance to see how well my proposal actually worked in real life.

My family lives in the area near the Dunes so I was fortunate to have a place to stay. Their town is surrounded on all sides by the park. I could do all the things I’d planned to do without the pressure of having to show something for it at the end.

I planned to go out in the field and paint at least once a day. I thought I’d take a few mediums (watercolor, gouache, chalk pastels, and pen and ink) and see where the mood took me. I had a few ideas about what “changing landscapes” I wanted to paint. I wanted to paint erosion-prone areas and areas in recovery. I wanted to paint the main ecosystems including dunes, marshes, grasslands, and forests. I wanted to paint how the dunes change in shadows and sunlight.

 

What I learned

It was a great two weeks. I hiked with my brother almost every day to scout locations in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and the Indiana Dunes State Park. I learned so much from this residency trial run.

A few things that went well

• I got to see parts of the park I’d never been to before
• I made the effort to go out and see parts of the park in different light:
  • early morning, bright sun, warm sunset, etc
• I learned so much about the different ecosystems within the park
• I learned about the different plants that are a part of ecological succession and got to see many in person.
  • “Dune Country: A Hiker’s Guide to the Indiana Dunes” by Glenda Daniel was a great resource.
• I was able to take advantage of park programs like the guided walks
• I had plenty of time to paint

 

Where I struggled

First, I’m not as tough as I’d like to think I am. It was HOT. I didn’t wind up painting on location as much as I’d hoped. I took photos and reference sketches back home and painted when it cooled down. I also realized I am afraid of ticks. I wouldn’t have been quite so hot if I wasn’t wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into my socks. But if I did that, I’d be a walking buffet for ticks so I sweated it out. Everything I wore was UV protecting, insect repelling, and sweat soaked. I washed my painting clothes every night.

The main challenge I faced was lack of focus. A few days in I realized why I didn’t get into the program. My proposal was over ambitious. I’d said to the judges the equivalent of: “I want to paint everything in every medium in every style every day.” I was so caught up in the possibilities of what I could do with this residency, I didn’t get down to specifics. I “oooed and aaahd” but in fancier sounding words. Had I gone with this plan as a resident, I would have been all over the place. There’s no telling what I would have come up with beyond “paintings.” If I had it to do over again, I would have picked one thing to focus on in one medium.

Because of this lack of focus, I took 24 pounds of art supplies with me. That was quite the carry-on. Had I limited myself to one medium, I could have cut that weight by more than half. I only took the chalks out once! The lesson again here is to focus. I don’t need to paint the entire world with every possible medium today. I can do one medium well per visit and save something for the next trip.

I also wish I’d tried to connect with rangers or local naturalists to learn more about specific areas. Had I selected an area of focus,  it would have been easier to find the right person to reach out to.

This is why we practice, to try something new, to learn from it, and do it better next time. I now have volumes to think about for my next trip and plenty of new experiments to try.

 

 

What’s next?

This experience showed me much I love painting dunes. I want to do a series of dune landscapes. I’ve already visited Indiana and New Jersey. Now want to visit dunes in California and Oregon to see how dunes differ from coast to coast. I want to come back to the Indiana Dunes and document how they change season to season and year to year. I don’t need the residency to continue to visit, but I’d like to re-apply once I’ve found the right thing to focus my residency on.

I’ve had so much help through this process and learned so much. If you’re considering applying for a residency and have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m happy to help. My writing skills may still need work, but I can offer encouragement and support.

 

 

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Links to Artist-in-Residencies mentioned above:

California Artist-in-Residencies

• Whiskeytown National Recreation Area – Artist and friend Laurie Wigham did a residency here in the summer of 2017. A few months later, a fire swept through the area, devastating the local landscape. They are continuing the program for 2019, despite the fire damage. It will be interesting to see how the fire impacts this work of this year’s artists.   
• Lassen Volcanic National Park
• Headlands Center for the Arts
• Pinnacles National Park – This residency is on hold for 2018
• Yosemite National Park – This residency is currently by invitation only
• Mojave National Preserve
• Cabrillo National Monument

Alaska Artist-in Residencies

• Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
• Noatak National Preserve
• Kobuk Valley National Park
• Cape Krusenstern National Monument
• Denali National Park & Preserve
• Chilkoot Trail

Michigan Artist-in-Residency

• Good Hart Artist Residency Community partnerships often have artist-in-residencies as well. I received this one from a good friend in Petoskey. Their goal is to celebrate the beauty of Lake Michigan and the artist community of the Good Hart/Petoskey area.

 

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New prints up on Etsy!

I’ve added prints of my Dunes work to my Etsy store and I hope to add more prints of my inktober work and gouache paintings soon. Thank you to all my previous buyers for your continued support.