BLM and Friends of Black Rock-High Rock Select Artists for 2018 Artist-in-Residence Program
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GERLACH, Nev. -- The Winnemucca District, Bureau of Land Management, along with partner organization Friends of Black Rock-High Rock have selected Teal Francis and Clairissa Stephens to complete two week residencies for the 2018 Artist-in-Residence (AiR) program celebrating the Black Rock Desert High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area (NCA). The artists will complete their residencies this spring in May or June.
Teal Francis is a printmaker based in Reno, NV. She works mostly in woodcut and silkscreen prints - hand-drawing, carving, and printing her imagery. Her artwork focuses on animals and landscapes. She is interested in “investigating humans’ reactions through the use of personified Western animals”. She hopes her artwork will “be a way for us as humans to reevaluate our own relationship with the land – how we use and appreciate it, and how it influences and affects us”.
Clairissa Stephens is visual artist including painting and drawing techniques from Oregon City, OR. Her artwork “explores water as a valuable resource, its relationship to climate change in the dry lakes of the Great Basin, and visualizes hydrological data”. She looks forward to spending time during her residency “to explore the landscape, collect information, and do plein air drawings and paintings”. She aims to “draw connections between the science, history, and personal experience of the landscape using site-referential materials”.
The AiR program promotes awareness through art of the exceptional places protected within the BLM’s National Conservation Lands. The program provides an opportunity for learning and dialogue about the value of preserving public lands. It will engage and inform an audience through public programs by participants, and will provide time for artists to pursue their work. We are excited to host Teal and Clairissa, and we believe their artwork will promote public appreciation of the landscape, raise awareness of its unique and fragile nature, and inspire conduct that helps to preserve its resources.
Further information is available at www.blackrockdesert.org/about-
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.