Quilt by Carol Watkins

Applications for Mesa Verde's 2016 Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program are now being accepted through December 31, 2015. Writers, composers, visual and performing artists are offered the opportunity to pursue their particular art form while being surrounded by the inspiring ancient architecture of the Ancestral Pueblo people and the sweeping natural landscape of the park. Works completed under this program contribute to the public understanding and appreciation of our national parks, create a legacy preserved for future generations, and offer park visitors and the public an opportunity to see our heritage through the eyes and ears of the contributing artists.

The park provides a fully furnished historic residence to selected artists for five two-week periods: May 2 through May 15; May 16 through May 29; September 5 through September 18; September 19 through October 2; and October 3 through October 16, 2016. Participating artists are to present a public program during their residency and are to donate to the park a professional digital image of an original piece of work representative of their residency. Participants provide their own food as well as transportation to and in the park. No stipend is provided.

Full application instructions and program details are available at www.nps.gov/meve/getinvolved/artists_in_residence.htm. Submit all application materials and the $30 application fee, postmarked by December 31, 2015, to AIR Coordinator, Mesa Verde Museum Association, P.O. Box 38, Mesa Verde National Park, CO 81330. For more information, please contact the MVMA office at 970-529-4445 or info@mesaverde.org.

The AIR program is managed by the nonprofit Mesa Verde Museum Association (MVMA), the park's innovative educational partner that inspires life-long stewardship of the Mesa Verde region's cultural and natural heritage. Through MVMA's operation of park bookstores, free or low-cost seminars, workshops, lectures, and special programs, visitors of all ages gain a new, behind-the-scenes understanding of Mesa Verde. Proceeds from all association programs support Mesa Verde National Park. Learn more at www.mesaverde.org.

This holiday season, give the gift of Mesa Verde! A Mesa Verde Association membership rewards the recipient with monthly e-newsletters full of information and updates about the park, discounts at Mesa Verde Museum Association bookstores in the park and online at www.mesaverde.org, reciprocal discounts at many other national park and other public land visitor center bookstores, and much more. An MVA membership is an investment in the stewardship and preservation of this World Cultural Heritage Site. What could be more meaningful? Call us today at 970-529-4445 to enroll everyone on your gift list!

The Mesa Verde Museum Association (MVMA) announces with regret the resignation of Laurel Rematore, the Executive Director of MVMA since 2008. Ms. Rematore's tenure with the Mesa Verde Museum Association ends December 31, 2015. She will assume the role of Executive Director of Great Smoky Mountains Association on January 4, 2016. MVMA has benefited from her expertise and leadership skills for the past seven years.

Over the course of her tenure as Executive Director, she and MVMA personnel worked with the National Park Service to help design and create a new Visitor and Research Center at the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park. Under Rematore's leadership MVMA also has increased its visibility in Durango as well as maintaining its presence in the Montezuma County communities that surround the park.

With her financial acuity and experience leading through difficult times, Rematore improved MVMA's financial standing and provided membership support to the Mesa Verde Foundation, the park's capital fundraising partner, through a joint membership program aimed at promoting stewardship of the park. Rematore provided solid leadership during the 2013 federal government shutdown. Over the past years, she strengthened MVMA's ties with local community organizations in Montezuma County and expanded visitor services in Cortez by instituting sales of the park's ranger-guided cliff dwelling tour tickets at the Colorado Welcome Center where MVMA maintains a storefront.

MVMA's board of directors thanked Rematore for many years of excellent leadership of the association, noting that she leaves in place a solid partnership with the Park and an organization in a strong financial position to continue its support of the mission of Mesa Verde National Park. The board wishes her success in her new role.

The MVMA board of directors will begin a formal search for her replacement over the course of the next two months. Requests for information may be addressed to Jay Harrison, MVMA's board president, at Harrison@hood.edu or 970-529-4445.