Migration in Changing Climates Fellowship

PLAYA, PRAx and Spring Creek Project are partnering to offer Migration in Changing Climates, a new interdisciplinary fellowship.

This fellowship invites applicants working in writing, ethics and philosophy, visual art, performing arts, sound and multidisciplinary genres to propose projects that engage migration as an ecological, cultural, ethical and imaginative force reshaping where and how life can move. Fellowship projects will explore ecologies of migration in the Pacific Northwest and Great Basin, including human and other-than-human lives. The fellowship will begin with an orientation at PLAYA, with a case study of migration in the high desert of Lake County, Oregon.

PLAYA is located on the Pacific Flyway, a critical migratory corridor where millions of birds depend on a chain of desert lakes, wetlands, scrub and uplands for survival. From American Avocet to Wilson’s Phalarope to Pronghorn and Mule Deer, here along the northern edge of the Great Basin, movement has been a constant. Over the past seventy years, shrinking wetlands, intensifying drought, habitat fragmentation and rising temperatures have upset an age-old balance. Migratory corridors used for millennia have been disrupted, leading to diminished resources and increased challenges.

The year-long program will bring eight selected fellows together to develop creative projects that engage with the living dynamics of migration—of birds, mammals, plants, and/or people—across landscapes undergoing rapid change in the Pacific Northwest and Great Basin. This program seeks projects that are attentive to place, grounded in observation and inquiry, and open to evoking dialogue—work that can hold complexity, uncertainty, and wonder in a world on the move. Fellows are invited to explore questions such as:

• How do migratory beings navigate changing climates, fragmented landscapes, and disrupted habitats?
• What happens when traditional migration routes no longer function?
• What are the ethical, cultural, and emotional dimensions of migration?
• What might migration by other animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms teach humans about resilience, vulnerability, and belonging?
• What responsibilities arise when human-driven changes force displacement across species?

As a cohort, during the four-night (October 1–5, 2026) orientation and residency at PLAYA on the edge of Summer Lake, fellows will connect with scientists and land stewards who have expertise in migration. They will come together for field excursions, expert presentations, and informal conversations over dinner to share knowledge, perspectives, and inspiration.

After the program orientation, fellows will schedule an individual residency at PLAYA to deepen and expand their creative work about migration over the next year. With the help of PRAx and PLAYA, fellows will also connect with research and researchers that might inform this work. The fellowship will culminate with public programming at PRAx at Oregon State University, where work will be presented between September 2028 and June 2028.

PLAYA, Spring Creek Project and PRAx bring a tradition of integrating the arts, humanities, and sciences to illuminate environmental changes and ethical relationships to the natural world. Together these programs offer a setting where creative inquiry, ecological knowledge, and lived experience can meet—supporting work that helps imagine new ways of understanding migration, not only as a biological process, but as a shared story of survival, adaptation, and interdependence.

Requirements

The Migration in Changing Climates Fellowship is open to both established and emerging artists working in any medium or genre (visual, music/sound, literary, journalism, video, interdisciplinary, new media, etc.). A work trajectory that addresses environmental issues or involves place-based inquiry is expected.

Individual and collaborative applications of up to two people are welcome. If applying collaboratively, each person in the collaboration must apply individually and include the name of the collaborator in the space provided. Applicants must be able to participate in the full five-day cohort residency at PLAYA (October 1–5, 2026) and commit to engaging in the year-long fellowship program (October 2026–November 2027). Applicants must be based in the US and at least 18 years old at the time of application.

PLAYA encourages applications from individuals whose work is informed by lived experience, cultural knowledge, or long-term engagement with place, including Indigenous, rural, and historically underrepresented communities.

Application Instructions

Applications are due May 15, 2026. The deadline for the two required reference forms is May 31. References should be selected based on who can speak to your ability to function in a remote, self-directed environment and in community with others. If you have questions about the application process, contact residencies.prax@oregonstate.edu.