WHO: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Las Cruces District and the Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks

WHAT: Announce a call to artists to apply for the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument Artist-in-Residence Program The BLM provides housing for the artist during the residency, and the artist will also receive a $1,000 stipend through the Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks group. In return, the artist is responsible for a creative community project, a public event (e.g., tour, demonstration or workshop), and a completed art project to be used to promote the Monument and its anniversary.

WHEN: May 1-31

WHERE: Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Las Cruces District. The 496,00-acre Monument encompasses five scenic mountain ranges – the Robledo, Sierra de las Uvas, Organ, Potrillo and Doña Ana Mountains. The Monument is an iconic landscape to host the BLM Artist-in-Residence Program. The area’s unique geological, biological and cultural resources provide the artist with endless possibilities for self-expression through their lens, painting, sculpture, poetry, music, etc.

WHY: The Artist-in-Residence program educates and promotes the appreciation, protection and preservation of natural and cultural resources on public lands. The residency provides an artist and the public an opportunity to interact and to enhance the understanding of public lands through the unique qualities an artist’s eye can capture. Additionally, the Monument’s long and diverse prehistory has many inspirational points an artist can explore. Scattered Paleo Indian artifacts, including those from the Folsom and Clovis cultures, represent the first people who lived in southern New Mexico. Characters like Geronimo and Billy the Kid roamed the area, the Spanish conquistadors traveled the Camino Real, and westward migrants traveled via the famous Butterfield Stagecoach route. The area’s rich wildlife and hidden desert treasures also provide the artist with numerous dimensions on their approach to depicting the “heart and soul” of the Monument.

HOW: Applications for the May 2024 residency may be completed at the following website: https://organmountainsdesertpeaks.org/artists-in-residence/ and must be received on or before March 22. This year’s theme highlights the 10th Anniversary of the Organ Mountain-Desert Peaks National Monument designation.