Call for grad student proposals: ONC ArtScience Fellowship Program

UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) are calling for graduate student applications for the paid 2025 ONC ArtsScience Fellowship program.

Note: the application period closes on December 23, 2024

The ArtScience Fellowship strengthens connections between art and science that broaden and cross-fertilize perspectives and critical discourse on today’s major issues, such as environment, technology, oceans, cultural and biodiversity, and healthy communities. This program is open to all current Fine Arts graduate students who have completed most of their course requirements with practice in any visual, written, musical or performance media, or art historical research. Co-led and sponsored by Fine Arts and ONC, the Artist-in-Residence program receives additional financial support from UVic’s Faculty of Science to a maximum of $14,000.  

About the ArtScience Fellowship

The ArtScience Fellowship (previously known as the ONC Artist-in-Residence program) will ignite cross-disciplinary exchanges, interacting with Fine Arts faculty members and scientists & staff at ONC, as well as with other individuals using ONC’s world-leading ocean facilities. This program is inspired by the ArtScience Manifesto of 2011, and numerous references to this concept in the literature. The Fellow will learn from and engage with the current research, connecting it to their own practice, and to wider societal and cultural aspects, creating work for public presentation at the end of the residency. The Artist will also be invited to contribute as a lead or co-author in scientific conference proceedings and/or journal articles.

The selected Fellow will actively engage with researchers on a variety of ocean science themes that may include:

  • Deep Sea Ecology
  • Seabed-Ocean Exchanges
  • Coastal Ocean Processes
  • Marine Natural Hazards
  • The Ocean Soundscape
  • Arctic Ocean Observing
  • Ocean Big Data

The ONC ArtScience Fellowship program is established to:

  • explore the potential of the arts or alternative cultural practices in the area of the visions, challenges, philosophical, aesthetic, and ethical aspects of the ocean and the impacts humans have on it;
  • add a complementary artistic and creative perspective to ocean science, the societal ramifications of its exploitation, and its cultural aspects;
  • create opportunities for potential new research questions, experimental approaches and knowledge synthesis resulting from interaction between the arts and science; and
  • help envision and communicate the potential long-term impact of ocean changes on humanity. 

2024 resident reflects on their experience

School of Music graduate student Megan Harton held the position in 2024, using their background in music technology to explore the concept of “solastalgia” — emotional distress caused by the disruption of familiar landscapes due to environmental change — through both an installation exhibit and a public talk. By integrating scientific data from ONC’s observatories with different artistic mediums (including video, soundscapes, experimental photography and nostalgic retro iconography), Harton invited visitors to reflect on the impact of climate change, memory and place.

Harton describe their time with ONC as “really positive and enriching . . . it was unlike anything I’ve done before. I’ve done ecologically-themed art, but getting to collaborate with so many people was new — and also people that are industry experts in ocean science, which was very different from who I’ve worked with before.”

In addition to their installation exhibition, Harton had the opportunity to attend two different conferences and present their work at the annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in Washington DC in December 2024. “It’s really been interesting to start to network and make my work known in all these different avenues,” they said. 

Learn more about previous ONC artistic residents Neil Griffin (Writing, 2023), Colin Malloy (School of Music, 2022), Dennis Gupa (Theatre, 2021) and Colton Hash (Visual Arts, 2019).

Advice for future applicants 

Harton’s advice for future applicants includes taking a flexible approach to submitted proposals and entering into the spirit of collaboration.

“The first bit of time, you’re just absorbing so much information about what they’re doing [at ONC], meeting people and making as many connections as you can,” they reflect. “Having a spirit of collaboration and trying to distill ONC’s knowledge through an artistic lens could open up different possibilities that [future applicants] wouldn’t be able to achieve by themselves.” 

“And my original proposal did shift around over the course of four months — there were things that sparked my interest that just didn’t end up making it into the installation — but it wasn’t like I was working from a blueprint to achieve my results.” 

Previous Fine Arts grad students Neil Griffin & Megan Harton at their public talk (above) + Harton’s installation exhibit(below)

Financial provision for the Artist

The residency period can start anytime between 1 February 2025 and 31 October 2025 and last for up to four months. A cost-of-living stipend of $3,500/month will be paid to the selected Fellow, with limited additional funds to support production or materials.

At the conclusion of the residency, the Fellow will plan and deliver a public exhibit and/or event sharing the fruits of the fellowship, which will be promoted by ONC and the Faculty of Fine Arts.

Proposal Submission

Interested applicants are to email ONC at dwowens@oceannetworks.ca with the subject line “Ocean ArtScience Fellowship,” and attach:

  1. the artist’s CV
  2. a concise portfolio of previous relevant artistic work;
  3. a letter of motivation outlining the project proposal for the Fellowship, and
  4. a 500-word project proposal with a separate project-costs budget.

The application period closes on December 23, 2024. Applications will be reviewed by representatives of Fine Arts and Ocean Networks Canada. Artists may be contacted for an interview or to supply further information before a decision is made.

Public Exhibit or Event

At the conclusion of the Fellowship, the Fellow will host a public exhibit or event within a specified budget agreed to during the residency and depending on the type of project to be exhibited. Assistance for marketing and/or ticketing could be made available from other UVic departments (Visual Arts, Theatre, etc.).

About Ocean Networks Canada

Established in 2007 as a strategic initiative of the University of Victoria, ONC operates world-leading ocean observatories for the advancement of science and the benefit of Canada. The observatories collect data on physical, chemical, biological, and geological aspects of the ocean over long time periods, supporting research on complex Earth processes in ways not previously possible. The observatories provide unique scientific and technical capabilities that permit researchers to operate instruments remotely and receive data at their home laboratories anywhere on the globe, in real time. The facilities extend and complement other research platforms and programs, whether currently operating or planned for future deployment. 

The ArtScience Fellowship was initiated by ONC’s late Chief Scientist Kim Juniper, whose leadership and transdisciplinary approaches continue to inspire many in the ArtScience space.

About the Faculty of Fine Arts

With experiential learning at its core, the Faculty of Fine Arts provides the finest training and learning environment for artists, professionals, and students. Through its departments of Art History and Visual Studies, Theatre, Visual Arts, Writing and School of Music, the Faculty of Fine Arts aspires to lead in arts-based research and creative activity and education in local, national, and global contexts by integrating and advancing creation and scholarship in the arts in a dynamic learning environment. As British Columbia’s only Faculty exclusively dedicated to the arts, UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts is an extraordinary platform that supports new discoveries, interdisciplinary and diverse contributions to creativity, and the cultural experiences of the students and communities UVic serves.

With thanks also to the Faculty of Science for their support.