Acadia National Park Selects 13 Participants for Artist-in-Residence Program's 30th Year

Thirteen artists will visit Acadia National Park during the 30th anniversary of its Artist-in-Residence program in 2023.

Highlights among the selections this year include a trio of singers and composers, a producer of digital animations, and artists who create pigments from local soils and plants and paper from invasive plants. Others expect to lead visitors in a public outreach activity that involves water quality sampling techniques.

Nationwide, more than 50 National Park Service sites host artist residency programs. At Acadia, most residencies span 14 nights of park-provided housing. Year round "Resident Artist" opportunities are also available for participants who have a home or seasonal residence within commuting distance of the park. All participants are asked to lead one public outreach activity and to donate one finished artwork to the program collection for public display in gallery spaces and an online catalog on the park website.

Starting this year, all of the program's operating costs are covered fully by donations derived from the sales proceeds at America’s National Parks® stores throughout the park.

Shirley Beccue, of Bar Harbor, now retired, led the creation of Acadia's Artist-in-Residence program in 1993 and managed it for the next 12 years as assistant chief for the Division of Interpretation. At the request of the superintendent at that time, Beccue said she reached out to Rocky Mountain National Park and other sites for advice about starting a program. She said a number of local artists had already begun inquiring about residency opportunities at Acadia.

"Having an artist in the park was part of Acadia's story, so it was a natural fit like it was in many of the parks out west," Beccue said in a video interview posted on the park website. "I'm glad to be a small part of that, and I'm glad it continues."

This year the program received 169 applications in three categories: visual art, writing, and at-large, which includes such disciplines as music composition, dance, indigenous arts, and emerging technologies. Three separate panels with 12 total jurors – drawn from past program participants, community members, subject matter experts, and park staff – reviewed applications on behalf of the superintendent. The next open call for applications for residency opportunities in 2024 will be from July 1 to Sept 30, 2023.

Learn more at go.nps.gov/AcadiaArt

Resident Artists

• Visual Art: Mischa Ostberg, of Ellsworth, ME
• Writing: Hollie Adams of Bangor, ME

Visual Art

• Jacqueline Weaver and Michael Cunningham, of Forest Park, IL
• Rachel Singel, of Louisville, KY
• Natalia Torres del Valle, of Hillsborough, NC
• Mallory Zondag, of Schenectady, NY

Writing

• Adelheid Fischer, of Phoenix, AZ
• Jason Myers, of Houston, TX

At-Large

• C. Sweet-Coll, of Los Angeles, CA
• Heartwood, of Minneapolis, MN