Funding opportunity announcement: Artist Residency

Proposal deadlines

Last Friday in March by 5 p.m., Pacific Time, submitted via InfoReady Review.

Program description

In alignment with Research & Innovation’s Strategic Objective to support world-class research and scholarly and artistic activities, Research & Innovation and the School of the Arts have invested in an Artist Residency program to bring awarded University faculty an immersive, enriching and inspirational experience in the Whittell Forest & Wildlife Area. This funding opportunity provides artists, scholars, educators, journalists, and other creative academic faculty with a unique opportunity for protected time to pursue their research and scholarly activities at the Little Valley Research Station (LVRS) and the Whittell Forest & Wildlife Area (the Forest). This Artist Residency provides one University faculty member per year with a $3,000 stipend to spend one week camping in the Forest or staying at the LVRS.

Located in the Little Valley of the Carson Range along the eastern Sierra Front in Nevada, the 2,650-acres is bordered on the west by the Tahoe Rim and the east by the community of Washoe Valley. This living laboratory of forested mountain land in the Sierra Nevada is dedicated for research, instruction and community outreach. The Forest is remote and primitive, with no electricity or running water. It is only accessible by four-wheel drive vehicles and has limited services. Artists in residence are invited to explore the wildland-urban interface of west Washoe Valley, to investigate the predominately Jeffrey/pine and mixed-conifer forest and meadow system and experience the natural world in a uniquely intimate way. The property has an exquisite meadow system, abundant wildlife (bears, mountain lions, foxes, etc.), and quaking aspen stands.

It is expected that this Residency experience will have a measurable impact on the awardee’s creative, academic, or artistic work. While it is understood that much of that impact is unknown at the time of proposal submission, successful awardees will describe the expected impact this experience could have on their career, their teaching or their creative expression.

It is expected that a funded residency experience results in the production of an academically rigorous piece of artistic or creative work that is relevant to the faculty member’s field. Funded Artists in Residence will be expected to produce a final product of their choosing and present or engage in one public outreach program to share that product with the public and/or campus community. A digital copy of the final product must be supplied to Research & Innovation. The final product and outreach activity must be described in the proposal. The academic rigor and relevance of the proposed product and outreach activity will be a component of the review criteria and monitored in post-award.

While it is understood that the expected outcome, final artistic product or creative work that will be produced will be informed by the residency experience, a successful application will describe products you propose or have produced in the past that may be appropriate outcomes of this residency. The proposal should draw clear connections between your conceptions about this particular experience and your past or future scholarly or creative pursuits.

Important note

Research & Innovation can offer two options for “lodging” during the residency:

  1. Primitive camping on the Whittell Forest & Wildlife Area: For this option, the awardee must feel comfortable in this remote setting. There is no electricity or running water at the campsite, but portable battery chargers and an outhouse are available. Cell reception is available in limited areas, and a georeferenced map will be provided to the awardee so they can navigate to these locations. Additionally, the awardee will be outfitted with a satellite-based emergency response device (e.g., Garmin inReach or SPOT device), and given an overview of field safety protocols. The forest manager will be in regular contact with the awardee through periodic site visits and potable water drops, but the awardee may spend up to 48 without direct human interaction
  2. Lodging at the Little Valley Research Station (LVRS): The newly acquired LVRS affords a more traditional lodging option in which the Artist has access to 38 acres of forest and meadow. The LVRS is equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and high-speed internet. It is not remote and does not allow the artist to disconnect, however we can also support day trips to the Forest on a handful of days to provide this opportunity.

Leadership contacts

Administrative contacts

Award information

Anticipated Funding Amount: Up to $3,000. See budgetary information for details.

The following items will be provided for the awardee’s use on the Forest during the residency:

  • Potable water
  • One flush toilet with a sink
  • Camping equipment provided (if needed)
  • Canvas tent for use as a studio
  • Small worktable and stool
  • Cot
  • Sleeping pads
  • Cooler
  • Camp kitchen (pots, pans, plates, bowls, utensils)
  • Camp stove
  • Camp lanterns

Please note the following items will not be provided as part of the award:

  • Personal sleeping bag, pillow, camp chairs, food and other personal items
  • Food and beverages

Eligibility information

Applicants must be tenure/tenure-track faculty members of the University’s College of Liberal Arts, the College of Education or the Reynolds School of Journalism and have research, creative or scholarly activity as part of their role statement.

Proposal preparation and submission instructions

The application must consist of a proposal, up to five pages, that includes a personal statement/artist statement in which you explain your artistic medium or scholarly pursuit. The proposal should describe the potential impact you hope this Artist Residency will have on your work and the direction of your career. Explain how this unique experience will affect your artistic, musical or literary work, how it will influence your teaching and outreach, or how it will inform your scholarship moving forward.

Include in your proposal a timeline that begins with a potential week-long awarded residency and ends with your final product and outreach activity. Specific deliverables can be described broadly to allow for the residency experience itself to inform the final product. You must include in your timeline an expected date by which you will submit a final report to Research & Innovation on the outcomes of your residency. The timeline will be used by the review committee to evaluate feasibility and commitment.

Applications must be submitted through InfoReady Review.

Artist in Residency proposals must be received by 5 p.m. by the due date in the deadlines section.

Submission questions should be emailed to researchdevelopment@unr.edu.

Budgetary information

A stipend of $3,000 will be awarded for a one-week stay in the Forest as part of the Artist Residency program. No additional funds will be provided for transportation costs, food/beverage or camping supplies.

Review and selection process

Applications will be reviewed in a two-tier process. First, representatives from the units below will review all nominations and make recommendations to the University Research Council and the Research and Grants Committee of the Faculty Senate.

Review process step 1:

Applications will be reviewed and ranked by a panel comprised of representatives from the groups listed below. They will provide individual rankings and combined feedback.

  • One representative from each department associated with the School of the Arts
  • Department of English
  • Reynolds School of Journalism

Additional University faculty may be invited to participate on the review panel for the purpose of broadening the representation of academic disciplines that are represented on the committee.

Review process step 2:

Rankings and comments from step 1, in addition to the applications themselves, will be provided to a second panel comprised of the following:

  • The Director, or appointee, of the Whittell Forest & Wildlife Area
  • The Director of the School of the Arts
  • A representative from Research & Innovation
  • A representative from the University Research Council

Additional University faculty may be invited to participate on the review panel for the purpose of broadening the representation of academic disciplines that are represented on the committee.

Both groups will provide combined comments as a recommendation to the Vice President for Research and Innovation. The Vice President for Research and Innovation will make the final funding decision.

Review criteria

Applications for Artist Residency grants will be reviewed using the following criteria:

  • Intellectual/artistic merit
  • Clarity and presentation
  • Academic rigor and feasibility of outcomes and products described in the proposal.
  • Benefits to the faculty member
  • Potential for future external funding
  • Potential for further interdisciplinary research, creative or scholarly activities

Grant administration information

Notification of the grant

Award notifications of funding will be made by email from the Associate Vice President for Research. Notification of funding will be made to the faculty applicant, their chair, and to the relevant department administrator. Award notifications will be made to the applicants within three weeks of the proposal deadline.

Award conditions

The awardee must provide a one-page outcomes report that includes a digital copy of the deliverable by the date indicated in the proposed timeline. The awardee must notify Research & Innovation of any changes to the proposed timeline well in advance of the anticipated end date.