2017 LOWER RARITAN WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP RESIDENT ARTIST

WITH FUNDING FROM THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS

To submit, applicant should send resume with references, portfolio, artist statement, and cover letter to coLAB Arts’ producing director, Dan Swern at dan@colab-arts.org by Friday, March 31, 2017.

POSITION SUMMARY:

coLAB Arts is looking to hire a trained and experienced artist, not discipline-specific, for a nine month residency with local partner environmental advocacy organization, Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership (LRWP) in 2017. This individual should have a passion for community engagement and creating local impact through their work.

This is a part-time position, consisting of 20 hours per week, both in office, and in the field. Salary will be set at $300 per week. The position is administered by coLAB Arts, and managed by coLAB Arts’ Producing Director and LRWP’s Executive Director.

POSITION DESCRIPTION:

Candidate will be responsible for coordinating and participating in existing creative engagement projects between coLAB Arts and LRWP, and developing new ones, including:

1. Watershed Sculpture Project – New public sculpture works are commissioned and created from refuse collected during local stream clean ups with the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership. These sculptures create greater awareness of our watershed and the need for community involvement to restore its health.

2. Trash Troubadour – Stream clean ups are treated as spaces for creative and cultural festivals. Candidate will coordinate musicians, storytellers, performers, and visual artists to create these varied and unique experiences.

3. Rail-Arts-River – A creative placemaking initiative that looks at how wayfinding and creative engagement can reconnect urban communities with their respective water sources. This project particularly looks at communities with large transit hubs.

Candidate will support promotional activities for LRWP and coLAB Arts, including creating materials for distribution and display, social media coordination, and providing tabling presence at events.

Candidate will coordinate community outreach efforts around creative engagement and environmental advocacy, to build capacity regarding community participation and awareness.

Candidate will serve as a teaching artist for participating school residencies.

APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS:

Applicant should have a portfolio of new work, with recent professional credits indicating continuous production. Applicant doesn’t have to have a background in a specific creative discipline, but should have experience in creating organized and spontaneous creative events and happenings.

Applicant should have demonstrated experience with community engagement and community organizing, and will be expected to lead workshops, classes, and outreach events.

Applicant should have strong writing and communication skills, as a large part of the position will be coordinating creative engagement and advocacy-based events.

Additional Requirements:

- BFA or BA degree

- 3 – 5 years professional experience, or MFA degree

- Experience with Microsoft Office, Google Drive, Social Media management

- Driver’s License

Other Skills:

- bilingual in English and Spanish is a plus

- Graphic design experience with Indesign or Adobe Creative Cloud, or a comparable graphic image program is a plus

MANAGING ORGANIZATION, coLAB Arts:

VISION: coLAB Arts’ vision is to create more livable, sustainable, and exciting environments through art.

MISSION: coLAB Arts engages artists, social advocates, and communities to create transformative new work. coLAB Arts facilitates creative conversation through innovative programs and artist infrastructure, connects artists with community partners and mentors, and executes productions that challenge perceptions and inspire action.

PARTNER/SERVICE ORGANIZATION, Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership:

VISION: Restoring the Raritan River through science and stewardship, and making the Lower Raritan Watershed a center for water innovation and an example of successful restoration.

MISSION: The mission of the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership is to restore, enhance, and conserve, the natural resources of “New Jersey Watershed Management Area 9” (the Lower Raritan Watershed) through science-based stewardship, education and innovation.