Are you an artist in search of a venue to display your work?

If so, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources might have an interesting program for you, one that will place you in a wilderness setting.

The Porcupine Mountains Artist-in-Residence program is seeking a handful of artists, including performing artists, writers, composers and others.

Here’s the way this initiative works. As many as six artists will journey to the Porcupine Mountains State Park in the western Upper Peninsula for up to three weeks beginning in May.

They would stay for free at a specially designated cabin, constructed more than 15 years ago for this purpose. The idea is to commune with nature during the creation of art, thereby allowing nature to collaborate in the creation process.

In a year’s time after the stay at the cabin, the artists would create a minimum of one piece of art that would be displayed at the park’s visitor center.

An overall fundraising goal would be to build a permanent display site within the park.

Artists in the past have principally come from the Great Lakes Basin but a number hailed from outside the country.

Interested in the program, which was developed by a volunteer group called Friends of the Porkies?

Application materials for the Porcupine Mountains Artist-in-Residence Program can be found at the Friends of the Porkies webpage at Porkies.org/Artist-in-Residence.

Applications for the 2024-25 season must be received by Feb. 14.

This is an outstanding program that we highly recommend local artists seriously consider getting involved with.