2024 Artist-in-Residence Program

Ready for a creative adventure?

Get inspired and make great art in the beautiful Black Rock Desert-NCA. These lands are home to the largest protected portion of the Lassen-Applegate Emigrant Trails and bear witness to Native Peoples dating back  thousands of years. In Black Rock Country you can count on seeing geological wonders like geysers and hot springs, unique wildlife, and dark skies lit by the glow of the milky way.

Experience Fly Ranch, meet a burner or two, learn about some of the great projects happening through the Land Art Generator Initiative, and enjoy the quirky hospitality and character of Gerlach, Nevada.

What is the Black Rock Desert Artist in Residency Program?

The Black Rock Desert Artist in Residence (BRD AiR) Program promotes awareness and appreciation of the Black Rock Desert High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area (Black Rock Desert NCA) through the prism of art. The Artist in Residence Program is a part of the Bureau of Land Management’s support of public lands through residencies in nine western states and in National Parks, Monuments, Conservation and Recreation Areas. 

About The Black Rock National Conservation Area

The Black Rock Desert NCA is one of three in Nevada within the sixty-four National Conservation Lands units administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Each year, over 200,000 visitors travel to the Black Rock Desert NCA’s 1.2 million acres to recreate, travel throughout and hike its 900 miles of rustic roads, experiencing its diverse wildlife, historic emigrant trails and to primitive camp under unfettered dark skies. The best known gateway to this NCA is through Gerlach, Nevada, located about 117 miles north of Reno off Highway 447.