artist in residence program

our beer, your art, together at last

Lost Grove’s Artist in Residence program was created to use something we love (beer) to support something else we love (local art). As Idahoans, we see amazing and talented artists coming up in the Gem State and want to be part of supporting them and showcasing their work.

We decided that our new barrel-aged beer series is the perfect frame for local art. Each year, we will release 5 barrel-aged beers and all 5 labels will have art from the same local artist. 2022 was the first year of our barrel-aged beers and the artist-in-residence program. We were honored to have Miguel Almeida as our artist to kick off this program. Learn more about Miguel and the work he did this year here.

Applications for the 2023 Lost Grove Artist in Residence program are now closed.

Check back in October for 2024 applications!

What is the structure of the artist in residence program?

The selected artist will become a member of the Lost Grove team for the year. The baseline requirement will be to provide artwork for our 5 barrel-aged beers by the given deadlines. We encourage artists to submit work they’ve already created out of respect for the time and effort it takes to make art.

Outside of that, we want to work closely with our artist in residence to identify additional ways for Lost Grove to support their art. Some of these opportunities include:

Displaying and selling art in the Lost Grove taproom
Holding classes or art shows in the brewery
Throwing art-focused events
Participating in Lost Grove events in various creative capacities
And open to other creative ideas!

In addition, Lost Grove will use our social media, emails, events, and blog to share information about the artist with our audience.

What kind of art is accepted for This Program?

If you can think of a creative way to visually display your art on a can, we are open to it! Mediums including digital art, painting, photography, and drawing are all great fits.

But if you are an underwater basket weaver and you can figure out a way to showcase your rad creations on a beer label, we want to see it.

What is the compensation for the artist?

Our artist in residence will be paid $300 for each of the 5 pieces of artwork for the labels ($1,500 over the course of the year). The artist will keep rights to their own work. We just want to pay for the use of their art for 18 months after each bottle is released. The artist will be paid after each piece of art is submitted.

The artwork will be used on the bottles, shared on social media, and can be used to create merchandise related to the beer as well. Artists will retain ownership of their own work. We will just be paying for the rights to display the work on the bottles for as long as they are in circulation (if the bottles were to be re-printed, we would establish fair compensation for a second run) and on related merchandise for 18 months following the beer release.

We do encourage artists to utilize art they’ve already created out of respect for the time and effort that it takes to create art.

For additional projects outside of the 5 labels, we will establish compensation on a case-by-case basis, but will certainly pay the artist for the art and work they create.

In addition to the monetary compensation, artists will have access to reserve the brewery space at no cost to hold events. They will also be regularly featured on our social media, in our email newsletters, and have their information including their name and a link to the blog about their artwork on each of the barrel-aged beers. This blog will introduce the artist and have links to the artist's website and/or social media channels.

What are the program deadlines?

Applications are open now and will remain open through midnight on November 6, 2022.

Our selection committee will meet and then the selected artist for 2023 will be announced in mid-November. Artists will be notified if they have been selected or not prior to the announcement via email.

The deadlines for the beer label artwork will be specified as the dates get closer, however, they will generally be:

Beer Label 1: Due late December 2022
Beer Label 2: Due late February 2023
Beer Label 3: Due early May 2023
Beer Label 4: Due mid-August 2023
Beer Label 5: Due early October 2023

Failure to meet the deadlines for artwork could result in needing to use different art and thus not compensating the artist if we do not use their art.

What is the application process like?

Applicants will be asked a handful of questions and asked to submit up to 3 pieces of artwork. A template of the beer label will be provided so if the artist would like, they can submit their artwork as a mocked-up label. They are also free to submit the artwork without using the template, but should still take a look at the dimensions and scale to ensure their art will work well in that given space.

Lost Grove’s general hiring structure is set up to reduce unconscious bias so the selection committee will not see the artist's names, contact information, or identifying information. The committee will only look at the artwork itself and the answers to the questions.

What format should my submitted art be in?

Take a look at the provided template on the application to check out the dimensions and specs to ensure your artwork will be able to be cropped in a way that maintains the integrity of your work. Please ensure submitted files are high-resolution.

Does my art have to match the names of the beer?

We don’t have the names of our 5 barrel-aged beers settled on just yet. The names of the beers will be released to the artist well in advance of the art deadlines. We will want to work together to ensure the artwork makes sense with the name of the beer. There is also a possibility that your art might inspire the next name of a barrel-aged beer! For the application, focus on submitting art that you think would look excellent on a beer label and we will work through the name together.

How are the specific pieces of art selected?

If you are chosen as our artist in residence, you will work closely with the leadership team at Lost Grove to select which of your pieces of art will be featured on the 5 labels. It will be a collaborative effort to select the pieces that will be the best fit.

Any other artist requirements?

Yes, artists must be 21+ years of age. We are currently prioritizing Idaho artists.

Below label artwork by Miguel Almeida, Lost Grove's 2022 artist-in-residence.