Great Park seeking artists-in-residence

The Orange County Great Park in Irvine has issued an open call for artists in a new residency program designed to help shape the creation of the park in the years to come, a spokesman said Friday.

Four people will be selected to become one of the park’s artists-in-residence. In exchange for free studio space and a six-month stipend, the artists will involve the public in the artistic process and create art to become either a temporary or permanent additions to the park.

“This program fulfills a philosophy embedded in the park master plan called the ‘Living Park,’” said Henry Korn, park program officer of arts, culture and heritage. “It goes beyond landscape and architecture; it’s about people and their experience in park. The arts are seen as away to bring public space alive.”

Artists will be considered from anywhere in the world and from all artistic backgrounds — visual and performing arts, architecture and design, film and cinematography, literature and poetry and others. They can apply through Friday at the park’s website, https://www.ocgp.org.

The artist will be given a $7,500, six-month stipend paid from the Great Park’s Arts, Culture and Heritage $850,000 annual budget.

In exchange, the artists will hold open studio hours in which they will interact with the public and host workshops, seminars and lectures, Korn said.

“I’m really intrigued by the public interaction piece, because so often we talk about the creative process,” said Pat Wayne, Arts Orange County director of programs and education. “For the people of Orange County to get a glimpse of that and be a part of it … to me it is going to provide a richness that I have seen done quite this way before.”

The studios will be on the south side of the Palm Court, Korn said.

Because artists are being looked at from all backgrounds, Korn said that it gives the park a unique opportunity to “cross-pollinate” between all disciplines of arts and education.

Many of the park’s projects, such as the Food and Farm lab, the Historical Timeline and even the sports facilities are opportunities for artists to engage in the public and leave a lasting thumbprint on the park, he said.