Michigan State University’s College of Arts and Letters will be prominently represented this year in the Farmscapes to Forests: Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research Artists-in-Residence Program. The 2025 cohort includes an assistant professor, a postdoctoral research associate, and a recent graduate — all from MSU’s College of Arts and Letters. They will be joined by an artist from New York, completing the 2025 residency group at MSU’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners, Michigan.
Launched in 2022 to foster collaborations between art and science, this marks the fourth year of the program and the first time MSU faculty and alumni have been selected. Previously, the program typically selected one artist per year, with only one exception.
“We have always wanted to grow the program to be more like a cohort model of artists because, when the artists come to KBS, they’re really joining a community of scientists,” said Elizabeth Schultheis, Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Long-Term Ecological Research, or LTER, program at KBS. “We thought if there was a community of artists to support each other, that would be a great way to expand the program.”
The 2025 Artists-in-Residence are:
- Mikayla Thompson, a poet with Cherokee Nation descent who graduated from MSU in December 2023 with a B.A. in linguistics and a minor in indigenous studies. Her residency will take place June 2-9, 2025.
- Blaire Morseau, a beadwork artist who is a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, a 1855 Professor at MSU, assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Religious Studies, and affiliate faculty in American Indian and Indigenous Studies. Her residency is scheduled for June 15-19, 2025.
- Marika Jaeger, a self-taught New York-based artist who divides her time between environmental research at Stanford University and painting. Her residency is scheduled for July 3-10, 2025.
- Olivia Furman, whose primary mediums include multimedia and digital collage, ceramics, quilting and the written and spoken word, is a post-doctoral scholar and research associate in MSU’s Department of African American and African Studies and an assistant project director of the Quilt Index’s Black Diaspora Quilt History Project at MSU. Furman’s residency will take place July 28-Aug. 1, 2025.
“This was our most competitive year with a ton of applicants,” Schultheis said. “The most important criterion was that applicants had to explain why they thought KBS was a place that would help develop their art, their artistic expression, or why this residency would be impactful for them.”
The KBS Artists-in-Residence Program, which was started by Gretel Van Wieren, professor of religious studies at MSU, in collaboration with Schultheis and KBS LTER Science Coordinator Nameer Baker, offers artists, working in any genre, a one-week immersion at KBS where they collaborate with scientists, students and teachers, linked by their mutual passion for observing the world around them and their desire to understand and replicate the patterns present throughout nature.
During this week-long residency, artists become acquainted with KBS and the research taking place at LTER and the field station. They have opportunities to spend time in the field and to participate in lab activities, research, and observation. They also are given the opportunity to return to KBS throughout the summer, if desired.
The program culminates with a return visit and public exhibition when they share their work and experience with the KBS community.
The 2024 Artist-in-Residence, Erica Bradshaw, who is a Kalamazoo-area author, illustrator and muralist, is scheduled for her residency exhibition, titled “Now and Then: An Artist’s Reflection on a Century of Research,” on July 18, 2025, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary’s Overlook Building, 12685 East C Ave., Augusta, Michigan. At this time, Bradshaw will share pieces inspired by her time spent interacting with the people and habitats at KBS.
For more information on the KBS Artists-in-Residence Program, visit the KBS LTER website.
This story was originally published on the College of Arts and Letters website.