Do you have some artistic flare? A unique way for interpreting what you see? Then you might want to apply for Mesa Verde National Park’s 2014 Artist-in-Residence program.

Applications are being accepted through January 27. Through this program professional writers, composers, and visual and performing artists are offered the opportunity to pursue their particular art form while being surrounded by the inspiring ancient architecture of the Ancestral Pueblo people and the sweeping natural landscape of the park.

The works completed under this program contribute to the public understanding and appreciation of our national parks, create a legacy preserved for future generations, and offer park visitors and the public an opportunity to see our heritage through the eyes and ears of the contributing artists.


The park provides a fully furnished historic residence to selected artists for five two-week periods: May 5 through May 18; May 19 through June 1; September 1 through September 14; September 15 through September 28; and September 29 through October 12, 2014.

Participating artists are to present a public program on the second Thursday of their residency and are to donate to the park a professional digital image of an original piece of work from their residency. Participants provide their own food as well as transportation to and in the park. No stipend is provided.

Full application instructions and program details are available at this site. Submit all application materials and the $20 application fee, postmarked by January 27, to Jan Wright, AIR Coordinator, Mesa Verde Museum Association, P.O. Box 38, Mesa Verde National Park, CO 81330. For more information, please contact Jan Wright at 970-529-4445 or [email protected].

The AIR program is managed by the nonprofit Mesa Verde Museum Association (MVMA), the park’s innovative educational partner that inspires life-long stewardship of the Mesa Verde region’s cultural and natural heritage. Through MVMA’s operation of park bookstores, free or low-cost seminars, workshops, lectures, and special programs, visitors of all ages gain a new, behind-the-scenes understanding of Mesa Verde. Proceeds from all association programs support Mesa Verde National Park.