Buckham Fine Arts Project is pleased to announce it is accepting submissions for its fourth Writer In Residence!

BFAP: Writer In Residence

Buckham Fine Arts Project launched its Writer In Residence project in early 2021 to engage contemporary literary arts and Flint’s Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) community. The Resident Writer produces written components responding to each exhibition. This collaboration provides an opportunity for the writer to engage with their interest in visual art and gain exposure for their literary work, while engaging Flint’s BIPOC community in a meaningful way.  BFAP is actively seeking to grow deeper ties within our community. Compositions will be compiled with exhibition programming in a publication at the season’s end, September 2024.

A single literary artist will be selected for the 2023 - 2024 residency. They will receive an honorarium of $2,200  exemplifying BFAP’s commitment to supporting contemporary arts in our community.

“There is so much creative energy in Flint and Buckham is always looking to support artists while providing opportunities to engage with sometimes challenging contemporary art and experience new ways of looking and thinking,” shared Michele Leclaire, Buckham's Executive Director.

 2023-2024 Writer in Residence

Details:

• Call is for BIPOC literary artists. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Must be a Genesee County resident, City of Flint preferred.
• Artist must be 18 years of age or older
• Submit to following link: https://forms.gle/hNMVLpSbbzhjLehx5
• Required for submission:
  • Letter of Intent describing your interests in collaborating with BFAP and visual arts.
  • Current CV or resume
  • Original writing sample(s)
• Submissions must be made by September 2, 2023.
• A short list of artists will be interviewed prior to award of residency.
• All applicants will be notified by October 7, 2023
• The selected literary artist will receive an honorarium totaling $2,200 and membership to the Buckham Arts Collective for the period of the residency including invitations to engage with Buckham’s artist community.
• The selected literary artist is expected to attend exhibitions in person, schedule provided, and create 22 written compositions to Buckham Gallery’s presented exhibitions.
• Participate in six events during the residency period.

2023-2024 WIR Review Panel:

Bob Campbell
Bob Campbell is a local writer who was born and raised in Flint. His debut novel, Motown Man, was published in November 2020 by Urban Farmhouse Press. Bob's creative nonfiction, essays and novel excerpts have appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Belt Magazine, Forge Literary Magazine, Hypertext Magazine, All Write in Sin City (podcast) and Gravel Magazine. Bob was a staff writer for the Flint Journal, Lexington Herald-Leader and Detroit Free Press. He was an electrician at AC Spark Plug for seven years before moving into journalism. He is currently manager of marketing and communications for Mott Community College. He was selected as BFAP's third Writer in Residence, serving from October 2022 - September 2023.

Babak Elahi
Babak Elahi is Dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts at Kettering University.  He holds a PhD in American literature from the University of Rochester.  His essays on American literature, the Iranian diaspora, documentary film, Iranian literature, and sartorial cultures have appeared in The International Journal of Fashion Studies, Afterimage, Cultural Studies, and other journals and anthologies.  His Persian-to-English translation of Hafez Khiavi’s short story “The Moon Shone on the Grave” was published in the anthology Shades of Truth: Iranian Short Fiction of the Fifth Generation (Mazda, 2019).  He is the author of The Fabric of American Literary Realism: Readymade Clothing, Social Mobility, and Assimilation (McFarland, 2009).

Michele Leclaire
Michele Leclaire has served Buckham Fine Arts Project as Executive Director (2020) and Exhibition Director since 2018. As Executive Director, she grows Buckham's organizational capacity and community impact by leveraging the talent and enthusiasm of the Board of Directors and artist collective to bring challenging, contemporary art to downtown Flint. This includes the development of new programming such as the Cider & Slides events to provide our community with opportunities to deeply engage with contemporary artistic practice and BFAP’s Writer In Residence program. Leclaire earned an MFA in painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2006.


BFAP: Writer In Residence Submission period is now open!


SEEKING SPONSORS
Do you have a business? Buckham Fine Arts Project is currently looking for sponsors to help us publish the third BFAP: Writer In Residence book, featuring Bob Campbell. WIR Sponsors will be featured in the printed publication, Buckham Gallery's website, frequently mentioned on social media, and other ways to show our gratitude. Please contact Katie at kcotton@buckhamgallery.org for more details.