In 2022, White Bear Center for the Arts was chosen as an NEA Big Read grant recipient for the first time. The NEA Big Read programming planned by WBCA will bring together residents from around White Bear Lake and the surrounding region to explore one book: The Bear by Andrew Krivak. This programming invites participants to investigate how bear stories, images, and folktales have shaped community, cultural, and personal identity.
As part of Big Read: White Bear Lake, White Bear Center for the Arts is requesting qualifications from local and regional artists and researchers for the Big Read Arts and Research Program. This program invites selected Artists and Scholars to embark on a four-month long investigation of “the bear.” Participants can explore the bear as a cultural symbol, a subject of stories and folktales, a community identifier, a local animal, or any other course of inquiry they wish to pursue.
Two Artists and two Scholars will be selected to participate in the Arts and Research Program. Artists are invited to submit an art project proposal that details how they will incorporate the bear into an art piece or community project over the course of the Arts and Research period. Scholars are invited to pitch a research proposal describing what aspect of ‘the bear’ they intend to research in-depth during the Arts and Research period.
Selected Artists and Scholars will receive a $250 stipend to support their work. They will also have access to archives at the White Bear Lake Area Historical Society.
Applications close on September 15th, 2022. Recipients will be announced early November 2022. Artists and Scholars will pursue their project/research over the following months, and present their finished projects at a panel discussion at White Bear Center for the Arts in March, 2022.
This application leaves space for a wide variety of projects and interpretations of ‘the bear.’ Applicants are invited to take a range of approaches, however, research and/or projects that explore cultural identity, ancestral heritage or cross-cultural intersections in relationship to the bear are particularly encouraged. If you would like to apply as both an Artist and a Scholar you are welcome to apply twice: please submit a separate application for each.
Send any questions to: kparkman@whitebeararts.org