ROCKLAND — The Georges River Land Trust and K2 Family Foundation have announced a new partnership to offer an artist-in-residence program to begin in summer 2013, offering professional visual artists, performing artists and writers the opportunity to pursue their artistic disciplines while being inspired by the Georges River Watershed's extraordinary landscapes.

"The K2 Family Foundation has sponsored an artist-in-residence program in Vermont for the last six years," said Margot Kelley, a trustee at the Foundation. "We are thrilled to help bring this opportunity for artistic creativity here to the midcoast, especially because it reinforces the connection between art and conservation of our beautiful landscapes."

During the residency, the artist will have access to many of the Land Trust's holdings as a resource for creating new site-inspired or site-specific work. Artists are asked to make themselves available to the public during their residency in a variety of ways. Depending upon the artist's medium, such visitor contact might include a guided walk, workshop, hands-on participation in a project, etc. Formal public presentations will consolidate the artist's relationship to the community and celebrate the efforts being undertaken by both the artist and the Land Trust. Documentation of the project will memorialize the artist's experience.

"One of the Land Trust's goals over the next five years is to increase public awareness of the lands protected through our members' support," said Gail Presley, executive director of Georges River Land Trust. "This program will open a whole new way to experience the St. George River and its watershed through the senses of the artist."

The application period for the artist-in-residence program runs from Nov. 1, 2012 to Jan. 1, 2013. Information on the program and an application are available at www.k2ff.org or www.grlt.org/air.