Visitor Center Artist Camp is a near-wilderness artist residency site in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We seek to combine wilderness living and resourcefulness with a contemporary art making practice and a conversation around self-sufficiency and collaboration.
Our goal is to promote creativity and ingenuity through sculpture and building workshops focused on local materials and accessible practices, and to encourage new perspectives through do-it-yourself practices, collaborative design, and a discussion of sustainability in art and in life.

Using simple tools and mostly handmade equipment, we dig our own clay from the ground, hand-process it, and fire it on site. We source local sand, clay, and recycled aluminum to make molds and cast metal sculpture. We work with local homesteader, saw mill operator and timber-framing expert Mel Seeger – who built his own sawmill from a Mac truck! – and from whom resident artists can learn milling, building, and a variety of homesteading techniques.

This year we have Two Residency Sessions!

Session One (July 21st – 28th, 2017) is for Independent Projects (writing, painting, music, etc), as well as a Sustainable Building Workshop, for those interested in learning collaborative and co-creative building and homesteading techniques from VCAC staff and local barn-builder, Mel Seeger. We will be designing and building a structure for use during our Symposium workshops.

Session Two (July 29th – August 12th, 2017) is our Sustainable Practices Symposium, with workshops in Local Clay Processing, Recycled Aluminum Casting, and a Self-Provisioning Woodworking workshop. You can also choose to do an Independent Project during the Symposium, that embraces the VCAC’s rugged setting and adventurous attitude. Special programming during our Sustainable Practices Symposium also includes artist presentations, slide lectures, a group art exhibition at the local school, and special presentations from our first international visiting artist from Finland, Mari Mathlin, as well as a tour of Seeger’s Sawmill, and trips to waterfalls, lakes, and beautiful hiking trails in the Ottawa National Forest.

Applications will be reviewed in the order received. Space is limited and preference will be given to early applicants.

Apply by June 25th, at www.visitorcenterartistcamp.org
For more info contact Amy at [email protected]