Fire Island Artist Residency announces the 2012 application cycle
www.fireislandartistresidency.org
“We live at an unusual moment, when queer and trans sensibilities are flourishing in a way I have not seen since the ‘70s. It’s important to seize this moment and create opportunities that give safe and nourishing space to this phenomenon, to counteract the environment of distrust and even persecution that remains our everyday lot, despite our many advances. FIAR does this in spades.” —AA Bronson
“Clothing is optional. Talent and vision are not.” —Evan J. Garza
Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR), the first artist-in-residency program in the United States exclusively for GLBT emerging artists, is now accepting applications for its 2012 Summer Residency Program to take place in Cherry Grove, an historic GLBT community of Fire Island, New York. Selections for 2012 residents will be made by esteemed jurors Dan Cameron, Senior Curator, Orange County Museum of Art, and by co-founder of Gran Fury and celebrated contemporary artist Marlene McCarty.
Emerging queer artists from across the U.S. working in contemporary visual arts are encouraged to apply by May 4, 2012. Visit www.fireislandartistresidency.org to apply.
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
2012 FIAR Application deadline: May 4, 2012
Program dates: July 21–August 19, 2012
Application fee: 25 USD
FIAR will provide free live/work space to five selected artists-in-residence, who will work, relax, and immerse themselves in the Fire Island community, during which time they will be visited by a handful of prestigious and renowned visiting artists who will commune with residents and provide support and feedback throughout the duration of program. Communal dinners and salons with visiting artists, and presentations by each about their work, provide unique opportunities for residents to learn from accomplished contemporary artists and discuss issues of theory, practice, identity, art history, and queerness.
Visiting artists for the 2012 FIAR Summer Program will include several renowned and celebrated contemporary practitioners, including: Nayland Blake, AA Bronson, Taylor Davis, Jim Hodges, Jack Pierson, and Mary Ellen Strom.
The 2012 residency will be the second FIAR summer program to take place in Cherry Grove and the first to span four weeks. Co-founded in 2011 by artist and educator Chris Bogia, and curator and writer Evan J. Garza, Fire Island Artist Residency first inaugurated its program in August of 2011 with five emerging artists – Travis Boyer, Ryan Brewer, Elijah Burgher, A.K. Burns, and Katherine Hubbard – who converted a modest beach house into a makeshift live/work space for a two-week residency, and joined a historic group of gay, lesbian, transgendered, and queer artists who have contributed to the legacy of art-making in this deeply unique beach environment.
Fire Island Artist Residency is currently processing its incorporation and 501c3 status, and is fiscally sponsored by Visual AIDS, New York. The 2012 FIAR Summer Program is also made possible by the generous support of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York and the generosity of individual donors. Visit www.fireislandartistresidency.org/support for more information.
ABOUT FIRE ISLAND ARTIST RESIDENCY
Founded in 2011 by Chris Bogia and Evan J. Garza, Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR) is a nonprofit organization that seeks to bring the best gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered emerging contemporary artists to Fire Island, a place long-steeped in GLBT history, to create, commune, and contribute to the location’s rich artistic history. FIAR offers live/work spaces for artists who will participate in a summer residency while immersed in the Fire Island community.
FIAR is dedicated to artists engaged in contemporary creative practices. Leading innovators in contemporary art will serve as mentors, living alongside participants and providing them with one-on-one studio visits. These guests will also share their experiences with the community through lectures that are open to the public. In this way, FIAR hopes to bring both new creative perspectives and prestigious art professionals together in this extraordinary location to foster the creation — and preservation — of queerness in contemporary art.
Fire Island Artist Residency
www.fireislandartistresidency.org
Twitter: @FIARnewyork