BLM Canyon Country District Artist in Residence 2026

The Bureau of Land Management's Canyon Country District Artist in Residence program is a public-lands residency hosted at the Moab Field Office in Utah — the gateway to public lands surrounding Arches National Park, Canyonlands, and the wider Colorado Plateau red rock country. The residency is funded in partnership with the Canyonlands Natural History Association.

Residencies run between September 11 and October 31, 2026, with the selected artist choosing a 2- to 4-week window within that range. The setup is unusually rugged: residents stay at a BLM campsite for the duration of the residency and use the Moab Field Office for drinking water and showers. There is no formal indoor housing or studio.

Stipend is $125 per week, paid by the Canyonlands Natural History Association. Eligibility is open to visual artists working in any medium suitable for digital reproduction — photography, painting, printmaking, sculpture, video. The selected artist makes work that represents the Canyon Country District; the BLM may suggest specific areas or themes within the field office boundaries.

The selection panel includes BLM and Canyonlands Natural History Association staff, who evaluate portfolio, résumé, community engagement proposal, and application responses. There is no application fee. The 2026 deadline is June 1; selections announced by July 15.