SAUGATUCK, MI: The National Endowment for the Arts awards grant to support Ox-Bow School of Art’s Artist Residency Program.
SAUGATUCK, MICHIGAN – Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency was awarded a $42,000 grant to support the Artist Residency Program on campus. The grant comes from the National Endowment for the Arts’ Grant for Arts Projects (GAP), the organization's most robust grant program. These funds will support Ox-Bow’s variety of Residencies including the keystone Summer Residency and a variety of Fall Residencies.
The grant issued to Ox-Bow is one of over 1,000 that were awarded to other organizations throughout all 50 states. Funding was administered specifically to institutions pursuing “public engagement with the arts and arts education, the integration of the arts with strategies that promote the health and well-being of people and communities, and the improvement of overall capacity and capabilities within the arts sector.” Honored to be awarded under such criteria, Ox-Bow looks forward to continuing to uphold these ideals.
“Ox-Bow is deeply grateful for this substantial support from the NEA which acknowledges not only the work we do, but the importance of artist residencies in sustaining creative practice,” stated Executive Director, Shannon Stratton, “the cultural wealth of any nation depends on supporting artistic research and development, and the artist residency is key to that work.”
Artist residencies are an essential way through which Ox-Bow lives into its mission to connect artists to a network of creative resources, people, and ideas; an energizing natural environment; and rich artistic history and vital future. The grant will provide essential support to Longform 2023, a mentored studio residency that seeks to provide an intensive, creative development experience that will foster deep connections amongst facilitators, visiting artists, and participants. In addition to Longform, Ox-Bow hosts twelve Artists for the Summer Artist Residency Program, providing them with a three-week period to invest in their practice and step away from the demands of the day-to-day. This funding from the NEA helps ensure the continued flourishing of these vital programs, and by extension the flourishing of artists.
Founded in 1910, Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency is an arts-based nonprofit with a rich legacy of empowering and investing in artists. Their year around programming welcomes degree-seeking students, professional artists, and those new to the arts. The 115 acre campus – located alongside and protected by the dunes, forests, and waters of Saugatuck – cultivates a space that does not simply host its residents but enhances their practice. Both its facilities and faculty edify their longstanding mission: to serve as a network of creative resources, people, and ideas amidst an energizing natural environment inspired by its rich artistic history and fueled by the potential of a vital future.
