Terradise Environmental Arts Residency 2023
About Terradise Nature Center
Terradise Nature Center — located on the historic homestead of pioneering Marion County 20th-century naturalists, poets, & local historians Trella & Ray Romine along the Whetstone (Olentangy) River just outside of Caledonia, Ohio — is one of Marion County’s fastest-growing cultural heritage tourism & outdoor destinations. Envisioned as a way to open Trella & Ray’s enchanting home “on a hill, in a woods, by a river” to all of Marion & Morrow County, & to share the Romines’ tireless conservation, arts, & local history/heritage preservation work with the community, Terradise operates as a 501(c)(3) organization, & features rentals of the historic Romine Homestead (featuring the Romines’ photography collection & naturalist library), open hikes & visits along Terradise’s beautiful five acres directly along a historic fishing bend in the Olentangy River (locally known as the “Whetstone,”), & a suite of award-winning environmental education, community conservation, & outdoor environmental sensing experiences. We serve the bi-county area of North-Central Ohio: Marion & Morrow Counties, along the Olentangy River’s flow.
Terradise Nature Center’s mission is “to inform and engage our communities in their history, heritage and resources.” We operate exclusively for educational & recreational purposes: to educate Marion & Morrow Counties (& surrounding communities) about both natural & cultural heritage and resources — including the primary resource of our five beautiful acres of nature preserve — and, in service to that purpose, to study, conserve (including through native plant propagation), & build programming to activate the natural surroundings of the Terradise Nature Preserve, the Olentangy River, and associated wetlands and forest, for the bi-county community.
Although Terradise Nature Center is a nature center, our mission mandates us to work towards the preservation of Marion County’s natural and cultural heritage. This vision grows out of the work of Terradise’s founders — Marion County poet and conservationist Ray Romine, and Marion County photographer, filmmaker, local historian, conservationist, and florist Trella Romine, who together built what became the Romine Residence on our bend in the Whetstone (Olentangy) River in 1953. They named this piece of ground “Terradise”: meaning “heaven on earth.” From the 1950s through the early 2010’s, Terradise became an important site for the rise of both the local history movement in Marion County, and the nascent prairie conservation and native plant restoration movement in North-Central Ohio. Despite these busy organizing lives, the Romines were also artists; and their commitment to the importance of the arts and environments is reflected in Terradise’s dual mission.
About this Residency
Terradise Nature Center is excited to expand our arts programming in the next five years by mobilizing our beautiful six-acre nature preserve as location and muse for local art-making. We have already begun to launch arts programming under our Cultural Heritage Programming suite, which includes Terradise’s efforts to preserve and present the photography, filmmaking, and poetry of Terradise founders Trella & Ray Romine, alongside OAC ArtSTART-funded Terradise Ambient: Environmental Soundscapes Along the Olentangy soundscape project, and an annual nature photography contest leading to an annual Terradise calendar.
Our Terradise Environmental Arts Residency — entering its second year in 2023 — was originally made possible through the once-in-a-lifetime support of a Community Projects Grant from the Ohio Arts Council’s Arts Resiliency Initiative: designed to kickstart COVID-19 recovery in Ohio communities through direct funds to artists. Thanks to the support from an Ohio Arts Council ArtsNEXT grant for FY2023, we will be able to bring back the TEAR Residency in 2023, to provide month-long paid residencies to eight new artists from Marion & Morrow County.
Two artists will be “artists-in-residence” each month – one artist from Marion County and one from Morrow County — across March, April, May, & June 2023. We interpret “from” loosely – to mean anyone living in, working in, or ancestrally from either county. (See our application for more details.)
We’re seeking artists in all genres — from photography to painting to theatre to music to folk/traditional arts to poetry to foodways to woodcarving to dance to film/video/media arts! Artists from historically-marginalized communities are especially encouraged to apply. Our residencies are “non-residential” (i.e., no housing will be provided); but you will be expected to visit Terradise Nature Center and/or Terradise Nature Preserve (across the river, managed by Marion County Parks District) at least three times during your residency. You will not be expected to collaborate or meet up with the other artist; although you’re welcome to if you’d like.
Your tasks will be to:
- Visit Terradise, & explore & enjoy our property, & this important stretch of the Olentangy
- Explore Terradise’s history, mission, & landscape – including the history & legacies of founders Trella & Ray Romine, and/or their poetry, photography, & writings
- Produce original artwork in any genre inspired by the Terradise Nature Center or Terradise Nature Preserve properties, our mission, our history, Trella & Ray Romine’s artwork, lives, or archives, or our stretch of the Olentangy!
- Your work can make direct use of Terradise (photography, incorporating materials, sound/film recording, performance/installation), or can be inspired by this land & our mission!
All resident artists will be asked to conduct a one-hour public program, workshop, or artists’ talk (as a part of a larger, jointly-hosted two-hour public event with your fellow monthly artist) outdoors at Terradise or remotely on Zoom, at the conclusion of their residency.
For TEAR 2023, Terradise Nature Center will be offering stipends of up to $1,000 to support one-month residencies, with the potential for small materials stipends to also be available to cover some supplies! We reserve the right to adjust stipend amounts & number of artists based on number of applicants.
Download a 1-page flyer about the TEAR 2023 Residency here:
https://terradise.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/TEAR-FLYER-2023.pdf
Download/view the Terradise Environmental Arts Residency 2023 Information Sessions Slide Deck:
TEAR 2023 INFO SESSIONS SLIDE DECK
Watch the recordings from our December 2022 information sessions:
Applications are available online, at this form, as well as in paper hard copy at post offices across Marion & Morrow County (coming soon). All applications are due in by February 1st, 2023 at 11:59PM. Paper applications must be postmarked by that date to count.
Application Help
Thanks to the generous support of the Ohio Arts Council, Terradise Nature Center is proud to offer technical assistance to support community artists in applying to our Terradise Environmental Arts Residency for 2023.
In December 2022, Terradise Nature Center offered two live Zoom information sessions with information about our residency & application process, with time for questions & answers. We encouraged all artists interested in applying & with internet or mobile phone access to attend these sessions; thank you to attendees! Info sessions were held on the following dates/times; click the link to access the YouTube recording of each session!
- Info Session #1: Tuesday, Dec. 13th, 7PM
- Info Session #2: Sunday, Dec. 18th, Noon
TEAR Information Session Slide Deck: TEAR 2023 INFO SESSIONS SLIDE DECK (opens as a downloadable PDF)
Session were recorded for interested parties who were unable to attend, & are available (along with the presentation slides) via the links above!
We are also offering Zoom office hours for application help, technical support, brainstorming, or draft review, by request — just contact us to arrange — or at the following arranged times:
- Sunday, Jan 8th, 12-4
- Tuesday, Jan. 17th, 5-8PM
ZOOM MEETING ID: 398 406 1515 || PASSWORD: TERRADISE!
Office hours can be used to workshop application narratives, get live help navigating the application, or to discuss your residency project or portfolio. We are also more than happy to help you with selection or preparation of work samples: including exporting to compatible file formats. “In person” office hours can also be made available on-site at the Terradise Nature Center Office upon request: including for artists who need our support photographing & documenting your work.
Fifteen total hours of technical support is available on a first-come first-served basis. Artists needing support or wishing for a draft review are encouraged to contact TEAR Coordinator Jess Lamar Reece Holler at terradisenaturecenter at gmail dot com with “TEAR Residency 2023” in the subject line to arrange for a time to talk.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here is a running list of questions we’ve received about our Terradise Environmental Arts Residency program! We’ll update the list as questions come in! Keep the excellent questions coming, & thank you for your interest in our residency!
You are also encouraged to contact the TEAR program directly with questions, or for application help. We are happy to be able to offer extended technical assistance, draft application reviews, & support to make the application process more accessible to Marion & Morrow County artists for 2023. We will be offering two live Zoom information sessions about the TEAR 2023 residency & application process in December 2022, & will be offering Zoom office hours in January, or by request.
— the Terradise Nature Center Board of Directors
QUESTION: “I don’t currently live in Marion or Morrow Counties; but I am from there or work there — can I still apply!”
If you are an Ohio artist … the short answer is: YES! Our application intentionally defines relationship to county broadly; & gives you space to lay out your connection. While we expect all of our artists — to honor the spirit of the grant — to either be from (personally or ancestrally), live in, or work in Marion County, we are curious to hear you define your own relationship to either or both of the two counties we serve.
Update for TEAR 2023: For 2023, we have a bit more flexibility to potentially open our applications to artists residing in states other than Ohio with historic or ancestral ties to Marion or Morrow County. We are especially interested in seeing applicants from indigenous artists with historic ties to North-Central Ohio — such as members of the Wyandotte tribes of Oklahoma & Kansas — who hold deep & ongoing relationships with settler-stolen land along the Whetstone River. However, in most situations, we are not set up to provide housing for artists; as such, our priority will still be supporting Ohio artists local to the region who can travel to Terradise; but we encourage all interested artists who are from, living, or working in Marion County to apply. Make a case for yourself, & we’ll be happy to hear it!
Our application question on “County” reads:
Note: You must be a resident of, work in, or be “from” Marion or Morrow Counties to qualify for this residency. We are purposely leaving “from” undefined, given the complex relations many Americans have to place, given realities of settler-colonialism & dispossession. If you feel ancestrally from or connected to Marion or Morrow Counties, even if you grew up elsewhere, we will encourage you to apply. You’ll have a chance to share more about your connection, below!
QUESTION: Is there an age limit for the residency? Can young people or artists under 18 apply?
The short answer — here at Terradise, we take inclusivity seriously: & that means inclusivity to the incredible artists across different age groups that make up our county! We really want to encourage both elders & young people to apply.
Any artist of any age is encouraged to apply, as long as they can commit to the month-long residency, conceive of a mission & purpose for their residency, manage to get themselves to Terradise 3x during the residency, & develop & execute a one-hour public program or event.
We have done outreach for this residency to art, music, & English teachers at Morrow & Marion County high schools, & want to especially encourage high-schoolers to apply; but we would also happily consider applications from middle-school & even possibly elementary-school applicants if they can commit to the terms of the residency & propose a feasible project. We honor the work & vision of young artists, & recognize the dearth of meaningful paid opportunities for young people to be held in practicing & developing their craft. We’re proud to be not only the only artist residency in the region, but a deliberately inclusive residency seeking to provide structured support for new work creation for all people.
We are excited that young people in our Marion & Morrow County communities are already working as & thinking of themselves as artists! That said: for artists under 18, legal guardians will have to consent to the residency & allowing us to provide newsletter & social media coverage of your young person’s residency. If this is an issue or concern for an artist who is not living with their family of origin, please reach out so we can learn more.
We’re happy to talk by email to discuss specific cases! You can contact us at terradisenaturecenter@gmail.
QUESTION: I have a disability & Terradise Nature Center grounds are not fully accessible to me, and/or I am dealing with COVID-19 or other long-term chronic illnesses & don’t know exactly when or if I will be up for the site visits. Can I still apply?
All Terradise Nature Center programs are committed to being accessible to all people. We realize that, by dint of being a nature center, our landscape features may not be fully accessible to all people. Currently, our main trail is not paved; & may present challenges for some wheelchair users & others with assistive mobility devices.
Please contact us with specific accommodation needs & requests, or use your application form to indicate any needs. We would be happy to work with you. While we would like as many artists as possible to visit our property as inspiration and/or material for their residency, we understand that for some artists, a site visit may not be accessible or possible. We would be happy to work with you to envision a more accessible remote residency on a case-by-case basis. We are also open to virtual or digital final program contributions if this makes the residency more accessible to you.
Contact us at terradisenaturecenter@gmail.
QUESTION: We are an artist collective, band, or duo. Are multiple people able to apply as a single entity for one of the two slots available each month?
Answer: Absolutely! We had several bands, groups, & duos successfully apply to the TEAR Residency in 2022, & we were delighted to host a singer-songwriter/musician duo, as well as another solo musician who brought in additional performers for the final public event. Collectives, bands, & duos are encouraged to apply. Please contact us if there is more we can do to help the application fields better accommodate your collective’s situation.
Contact us at terradisenaturecenter@gmail.
QUESTION: I’m not great at or comfortable with writing; or I’m most comfortable in another medium — like audio, or video. Are there alternatives to the “essay” questions?
Answer: We got you! New this year, applicants can choose to submit written responses or upload video or audio responses to our “core” application questions — your artist’s statement, residency vision, & residency purpose. We’ve programmed these fields to accept submissions of common audio & video files. We’ve also allowed JPG, GIF, & PNG submissions if you’d like to draw or design your response; but we do recommend you include some sort of narrative content (whether written, drawn, or spoken), just because these are the core questions we use to determine our TEAR resident artists!
And remember: these questions are not meant to be your work samples. You’ll get the chance to upload (or link) & describe five curated work samples at the end of your application.
Contact us at terradisenaturecenter@gmail.
QUESTION: I do not speak English, or English is not my first language. How can I learn more about the residency or access the application?
We understand that Marion & Morrow Counties are made up of many different linguistic communities … & that is a part of the beauty of our region! We highly encourage those who speak language besides English as a first or primary language to apply. Although our staff is not fluent in languages other than English, we will employ translation tool to try to communicate with you in your preferred language.
Our application is available, via a GoogleTranslate widget located on the page (location depends on your browser), in most major world languages. If you click to translate the application into another language, all the text will switch to that language.
We also have promotional flyers for the residency with core information available in Spanish, which will be made available at locations around Marion County, & can be delivered digitally by request! Email us at terradisenaturecenter@gmail.
PREGUNTA: No hablo inglés o el inglés no es mi primer idioma. ¿Cómo puedo obtener más información sobre la residencia o acceder a la solicitud?
Entendemos que los condados de Marion y Morrow están formados por muchas comunidades lingüísticas diferentes… ¡y eso es parte de la belleza de nuestra región! Recomendamos encarecidamente a aquellos que hablan un idioma además del inglés como idioma principal o principal que presenten su solicitud. Aunque nuestro personal no domina otros idiomas además del inglés, emplearemos una herramienta de traducción para tratar de comunicarnos con usted en su idioma preferido.
Nuestra aplicación está disponible, a través de un widget de GoogleTranslate ubicado en la página (la ubicación depende de su navegador), en la mayoría de los principales idiomas del mundo. Si hace clic para traducir la aplicación a otro idioma, todo el texto cambiará a ese idioma.
¡También tenemos folletos promocionales para la residencia con información básica disponible en español, que estarán disponibles en ubicaciones alrededor del condado de Marion y se pueden entregar digitalmente a pedido! Envíenos un correo electrónico a [email protected] con cualquier necesidad de acceso/justicia lingüística.
QUESTION: There’s alot to process in the application, & I want to take my time & get ready. Is there a way I can preview the questions ahead of time?
Absolutely. This was our #1 request from the TEAR Residency application process in 2022. While our online application form won’t let you skip past required questions to preview the next sections, we’re making available a PDF copy of the application that includes all application fields & questions; you can use this to preview the application, & to prepare your responses.
QUESTION: Can I save my application & come back?
Yup. Our form has been redesigned this year to allow you to save your application & come back. We always recommend that applicants prepare their responses outside of the application form — in a Word processor or in GoogleDocs, etc. — & then paste your responses in, to avoid any possibility of losing work.
QUESTION: I (or someone I know) am not super comfortable with computers, or don’t have internet access. Is it possible to apply for the Terradise Environmental Arts Residency via a paper application?
Absolutely. We understand that online-only applications can present accessibility barriers to some community members. This year, we have an equivalent paper application available; we’ll distribute this at post offices across Marion & Morrow County. Additional copies can be mailed to you upon request.
The paper application, likewise, will require work samples. We encourage paper applicants to contact us to discuss options. You could mail us, for example, a CD or a flash drive of materials, if you have computer access, & have an audio or multi-media practice. You can also include printed images of your work on any paper; or, for writers, copies of your work. We may have limited ability to preview and upload material from some physical file types (floppy disk, etc.), so we recommend applicants check with us before mailing in a paper application.
All printed applications must be postmarked by the application deadline of February 1st, 2023. Applications can be mailed to:
Terradise Nature Center
Attention: Terradise Environmental Arts Residency (TEAR)
1536 Whetstone River Road North
Caledonia, Ohio 43314
QUESTION: What makes a good work sample?
There’s no one right answer here — part of what we want to see from applicants is the way that you curate & select samples that show off your unique arts practice!
That said, we recognize that different applicants may have had more or less familiarity with preparing work samples, depending on your level of access to arts spaces & training.
Generally, work samples should be high-quality examples of your best work in a genre or genres related to your proposed residency. The file type & what you submit will depend on your practice. If you’re a woodworker, you might upload four videos of finished furniture, as well as a video showing your process; or three photos or work, two designs, & a video of your work foraging for wood in your family’s forest. If you’re a musician, you might send five links to YouTube videos of your work; or upload five files of your music. If you’re a foodways artist, you might include five photos of dishes you commonly make in your family, or a flyer with the menu for your catering practice, or a handwritten recipe. The Terradise Environmental Arts Residency is very deliberately open to a wide range of arts genres & creative practices, so we are prepared to see a wide range of work samples.
If you are a multi-disciplinary artist (practicing multiple arts traditions or genres), depending on how you’d like to present your work & the focus of your residency, you might choose different kinds of samples. For example: if you’re an outdoorsman who carves knives from native hardwood, but you also play in a bluegrass band, and tan leather & do blacksmithing, you may want to showcase a wide range of work samples showcasing all of those practices, if you are proposing a residency where you develop a range of pieces across your skill set. On the other hand, if you are a ceramicist and a hip-hop dancer, but you’re proposing a residency where you choreograph a new dance number to be staged & set at Terradise Nature Center, then you may or may not want to include images of the mugs & bowls you make. It’s all up to you!
We recognize that curating & selecting work samples — as well as having access to professional recording or photography of your work — is a privilege not everyone has. Because of this, we are excited to be dedicating a portion of our Ohio Arts Council TEAR 2023 support funds this year to providing direct technical assistance to help applicants strengthen their applications. We will have up to fifteen hours of technical assistance available. We have some scheduled “office hour” Zoom calls set up for January, & we can help you choose work to best represent your practice; & we’re even willing to meet with you on-site at Terradise, upon request, to photograph or help you record your work. Because these technical support hours are limited, they will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis!
Please contact Terradise Environmental Arts Residency Coordinator Jess Lamar Reece Holler at [email protected] with the subject heading TEAR 2023: Technical Assistance to request technical assistance.
Application PDFs: Digital Application
By popular request, we are making available — new for 2023 — downloadable PDF versions of our TEAR 2023 application information packet & application questions. You can download these to preview our application questions, or to prepare responses in a word processing and/or audio-visual platform of your choosing.
Clarification & Disclaimer: We are providing these PDFs for reference only, so that applicants can preview the questions, know what to expect, & prepare responses in advance of filling out the online application form. Applicants will still need to click on the “Application” tab & fill out & submit their application form digitally to apply for the residency. Please do not mail in the digital application question PDFs. If you wish to submit a print/mail-in application due to technological challenges, or wish to print one for a neighbor without a computer, please scroll down to “Downloadable Print/Mail-In Application PDF.”
TEAR 2023 1-Page Information Flyer with Zoom Session Links:
https://terradise.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/TEAR-FLYER-2023.pdf
TEAR 2023 Info Packet + Questions (Digital Applicants) PDF:
https://terradise.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/TEAR-2023-INFO-PACKET-DIGITAL-APPLICATION-QUESTIONS.pdf
TEAR 2023 Digital Applicants — Info Packet Only PDF:
https://terradise.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/TEAR-2023-DIGITAL-INFO-PACKET-ONLY.pdf
TEAR 2023 Digital Applicants — Applications Questions Only PDF:
https://terradise.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/TEAR-2023-DIGITAL-APP-QUESTION-ONLY.pdf
Downloadable Print/Mail-In Application PDF
We are also making available the print-only // mail-in application blank. This form is being provided as a courtesy to community members without computer or internet access, or who are not comfortable with our digital application form& feel they could more successfully apply on paper. Because mail-in applications present several possible challenges in terms of work sample submission format, & increase labor for our community selection committee — including scanning & upload of submitted work samples & transcription of handwriting — we prefer that, whenever possible, applicants with adequate access to computers & internet use our digital application form. The PDF of the print application is being provided here as a courtesy for those without easy online access; feel free to print & provide to any artists you know without computer access.
Paper/Mail-In Only Application:
https://terradise.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/PAPER-APPLICATION-FORM-TEAR-2023-FINALIZED-.pdf
Paper application forms must be postmarked by February 1st, & mailed to:
Terradise Nature Center
c/o Terradise Environmental Arts Residency
1536 Whetstone River Road North
Caledonia, Ohio 43314
Contact us a [email protected] or via text at 614.273.5907 with the subject heading TEAR 2023 Application Help for questions on which form is right for you.
The Terradise Environmental Arts Residency 2023 has been made possible by the generous support of an Ohio Arts Council FY2023 ArtsNEXT Grant. Thank you to OAC for supporting community artists in Marion & Morrow Counties — & across Ohio! We appreciate your investment in arts at Terradise!
Terradise Nature Center
1536 Whetstone River Road North
Caledonia, Ohio 43314
Mailing Address:
6404 Coffey St
Cincinnati, OH 45230