“We live at an unusual moment, when queer and trans sensibilities are flourishing in a way I have not seen since the ‘70s. It’s important to seize this moment and create opportunities that give safe and nourishing space to this phenomenon, to counteract the environment of distrust and even persecution that remains our everyday lot, despite our many advances. FIAR does this in spades.”
—AA Bronson

Location: Fire Island, New York, United States

Mission: Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR) is an organization founded in 2011 that seeks to bring the best gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered emerging contemporary artists to Fire Island, a place long-steeped in GLBT history, to create, commune, and contribute to the location’s rich artistic history. FIAR will offer live/work spaces for selected artists who will participate in a summer residency while immersed in the Fire Island community.

FIAR is dedicated to artists engaged in contemporary creative practices. Leading innovators in contemporary art serve as mentors, living alongside participants and providing them with one-on-one studio visits. These guests also share their experiences with the community through intimate and public lectures and salons. In this way, FIAR hopes to bring both new creative perspectives and prestigious art professionals together in this extraordinary location to foster the creation — and preservation — of queerness in contemporary art.

Located off the south shore of Long Island, a few hours travel from New York City, Fire Island is the home of two historically prominent LGBT communities, Cherry Grove and The Pines. The older of the two, and the home of FIAR, Cherry Grove has evolved from a bohemian theater retreat in the early 1900s to a thriving resort for the LGBT community at large.

Fire Island is the birthplace and inspiration for countless works of art, literature, choreography, and music, and has been host to queer visionaries like Robert Mapplethorpe, Frank O’Hara, Tennessee Williams, W.H. Auden, Edmund White and countless others. Throughout their many changes, Cherry Grove and the Pines have preserved the integrity of the dunes and beaches that have defined this intimate, remote location. There are no roads on Fire Island; raised wooden walkways and footpaths provide a network of paths from homes to beaches to tiny enclaves of shops, restaurants, hotels and bars. Miles of clothing optional beaches and historic woods provide places to explore the richness of this setting and make for exciting places to unwind, and the bars, town centers, and community halls provide plenty of options for meeting locals and visitors from the city.

Cost: FIAR provides free room and board and stipends for all meals and a $25 Application Fee

Number of Artists: Up to 5 at a time

Accommodations: Private live/work space on the island, and stipends for meals

Length of Stay: 1 Month

Demographic: National artists. Emerging LGBT/QUEER artists working in contemporary art.

Benefits: In addition to our five residents, FIAR is host to many exciting visitors. Leading figures in contemporary art serve as mentors, providing residents with one-on-one studio visits and support. These visiting artists also share their experiences with the community through public lectures and discussions at the Cherry Grove Fire Department. In this way, FIAR hopes to bring both new creative perspectives and prestigious art professionals together in this extraordinary location to foster the creation — and preservation — of queer art-making in contemporary art.

Deadline: April 1, 2013

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