Bernheim Arboretum Artist in Residence Opportunity

Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest

The Artist in Residence Program

Background Information
Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest is a private, non-profit educational and recreational nature preserve located 20 minutes from the Louisville airport in Kentucky. Bernheim, founded in 1929 by philanthropist Isaac Wolfe Bernheim, opened to the public in 1950. More than 250,000 visitors connect with nature annually, by enjoying over 32 miles of hiking trails, a Canopy Tree Walk, a Children’s Play Garden, year-round educational programs and special events. Bernheim, steward to 14,500 acres of natural forest, includes a nationally recognized, 600-acre arboretum designed by the landscape architecture firm of Frederick Law Olmsted.

Bernheim has won numerous awards for sustainability initiatives including LEED® Platinum for the Visitor Center, which was the first Platinum award in Kentucky and surrounding five-state region. Bernheim continues to be guided by founder I.W. Bernheim’s vision, which described creating visitor experiences that connect them with nature through various art experiences.

Please visit www.bernheim.org to learn more about the variety and depth of programs offered.

About the Program
The Artist in Residence Program is available to all visual artists in any medium. Applicants may be emerging or established artists on a regional, national or international level. Bernheim will provide living quarters and studio space for the recipient in exchange for a sculpture or artwork, a site-specific sculpture or temporary installation or project as a donation to the Bernheim.

The residency must include some form of public engagement. Artists are encouraged to submit proposals that include suggested forms of public engagement that reinforce Bernheim’s mission of “connecting people with nature” and extending that mission with communities within and beyond Bernheim’s physical borders.

Artists are encouraged to use this residency to further investigate, experiment, and explore avenues in their work. Bernheim is most interested in work that furthers expands the artist’s work and our understanding of the relationship between visual art and the natural world.

The recipient is required to live and work at Bernheim for a minimum of six weeks to two months and up to four months. Bernheim will provide comfortable housing in a beautiful wooded setting, plus a honorarium of $2,500.00. Project materials may be provided or funded depending on the proposed project. Travel and other expenses are not included. The recipient will donate one or more pieces produced during the residency to Bernheim for its use. If it is tangible work, it will become part of the Bernheim Art Collection. Recipients will also be asked to interact with the public, which may include but is not limited to participating in interactive works, the development of or the making of the work, workshops and/or lectures, participating in CONNECT, or other Bernheim programs. (Please see www.bernheim.org for descriptions of programs, research and events.) Bernheim and the recipient will reach an agreement together regarding the work to be donated and the proposed public interaction.


Application Procedure
All visual artists (including sculptors, installation artists, multi-media artists, painters, photographers, environmental artists, etc.) are encouraged to apply. Sound and performance artists will be considered – please contact Bernheim. All applications must include: resume, 10 labeled images on a CD, DVD or video with corresponding itemized list, project proposal, artist statement, proposed public interaction, and self addressed stamped envelope with proper postage for return of materials if desired. (Otherwise materials will be recycled).

Applications are accepted annually from November 1st through January 30th of each year. All applicants will receive notification by email in late March.

A panel of professional jurors will select the award recipient based on the quality of the work or proposed project submitted. Support materials such as catalogs, reviews, etc. will be considered, but only as a secondary resource. The goal in all of Bernheim’s activities is to help realize its mission of strengthening the bond between people and nature. Bernheim Artist in Residence is awarded on an annual basis to a talented artist who will work within the forest and/or arboretum to create works that are inspired by and potentially installed in the natural world. The Residency provides the artist an opportunity to advance their work while enhancing awareness of Bernheim’s goals and mission regionally, nationally and internationally.

Please note: Bernheim does not accept electronic submissions at this time.

No original works, or emailed submissions with linked or attached works will be accepted. We will not be responsible for safety of your digital files during shipping, and due to the large volume of submissions, will not be able to return your submissions unless return packaging and postage is supplied. We recommend submitting all materials by certified mail, Federal Express, or UPS Next Day Air, all of which will provide a return receipt.

For further information about the Artist in Residence program contact:
Martha Winans Slaughter at [email protected].

Address all submissions to:

Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest
BERNHEIM ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM
2499 Clermont Road,
Clermont Kentucky 40110


All entrants will receive notification late March.
 

Past Artist in Residence
2012 – Stephen Ausherman - video
2012 –Nichloas Dowgwillo - printmaking
2012 – David Sharpe and Anne Abrons - painting
2011 – Heike Endemann, Germany - sculpture
2011 – Todd Smith, USA - performance/sculpture
2010 – Julie Oldham, USA - sound/performance
2008-09 - Yvonne Mullock, England – mixed media/film
2008 - Artist-in-Residence Retrospective
2006 - Hirumo Saiki, Japan – "Soati" sculpture
2005 - Hideki Kanno, Japan – sound installations
2004 - Carlotta Brunetti, Germany – landscape installations
2003 - Pitiwat Somthai, Thailand – environmental sculpture
2002 - Jerry Bleem, Chicago, IL – sculpture
2001 - Barbara Cooper, Chicago, IL – oils, sculpture
2000 - Tomasz Domanski, Wroclaw, Poland – environmental art
1999 - Ludwika Ogorzelec, Le Bianc-Mesnil, France – environmental art
1998 - Karl Ciesluk, Ottawa, Canada –environmental art
1997 - Catherine Arnold, Chicago, IL – painting
1996 - Laura Von Rosk, Bearsville, NY – painting
1995 - Richard Lohmann, San Francisco, CA – photography
1994 - Sandra DeSando, Brooklyn, NY – drawing
1993 - Madison Cawein, Louisville, KY – painting
1992 - Lynn Geesaman, Minneapolis, MN – photography
1990-91 - Christopher Burkett, Veronia, OR – photography
1989 - Ray Metzger, Philadelphia, PA – photography
1988 - Dick Arentz, Flagstaff, AZ – photography
1987 - Nancy Lloyd, Easton, PA – photography
1986 - Barbara Bosworth, Boston, MA – photography
1985 - Clinton Smith, Spokane, WA – photography
1984 - Frank Hunter, Albany, OH – photography
1983 - David Graham, Richboro, PA – photography
1980-82 - Paul Fields, Louisville, KY – stone sculpture