The Peru Gazette

Grand Isle, VT – The Patrick Leahy Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Artist-in-Residence (AiR) programs. This opportunity will support development of Artist-in-Residence programs in 2025 that recruit artists to use scientific data, cultural trends, or historical facts to interpret natural resources in the Lake Champlain basin.

Proposals for a two-year program will be accepted for up to $40,000. The LCBP anticipates awarding two grants from this opportunity to support work in New York and Vermont. A subsequent RFP will be issued later this summer to solicit proposals for work in Québec.

The projects awarded from this opportunity will support artists to inspire and inform citizens about the lake environment, cultural heritage, or social concerns using a variety of creative media. They will continue the goals of current Artist-in-Residence programs supported by the LCBP.

Current Artists in Residence are working to share untold stories of the Lake Champlain basin and its cultural heritage. Eco-musician Glenn McClure, in collaboration with the Adirondack North Country Association, is developing Watershed Voices, which will create musical works—five choral and instrumental works and three concerts—that celebrate regional biodiversity through sonification of scientific data and human diversity through writings from diverse cultural voices, past and present.

Clemmons Family Farm in Charlotte, Vermont, hosts artists Winosha Steele and William Ransom for an Artist-in-Residence program exploring Black and Indigenous histories in the Lake Champlain basin. Titled UnderWater, UnderGround, the residency program supports the two artists as they learn and create new multigenre works focused on the untold history, cultures, and geography of the Champlain Valley.

Centre Adélard, based in Frelighsburg, Québec, is hosting artist Pascale Théorêt Groulx, whose research will merge artistic and scientific inquiry. The project will culminate in a 20-foot floating dam made of boat canvas with video art elements. The piece will be exhibited during the fall of 2024 in Saint-Armand on the shores of Missisquoi Bay to increase public awareness of the impact of dams on the region’s waterways.

“We are excited to see the culmination of these artists’ work across the Lake Champlain watershed,” said Dr. Eric Howe, Director of the LCBP. “By blending scientific inquiry with artistic media from music to textile and sculpture, they are bringing awareness and interpretation to yet untold stories of people and ecosystems within our region. Their outreach bolsters broad efforts to inform the public and inspire residents and visitors alike to take action for Lake Champlain.”

Applicants will submit full proposals that will be evaluated through a competitive selection process. Grant award recipients will be selected from the pool of full proposals.

Successful applicants will formally start work on their programs in February 2025. The proposal application deadline is August 5, 2024. Details about the Request for Proposals are available on our Grants and RFPs page or by contacting Jim Brangan of the Lake Champlain Basin Program at (802) 372-3213 or jbrangan@lcbp.org.