Even if you’re a teenager.

Applications for Isle Royale National Park’s 2022 Teen Artist Exploration are being accepted through Feb. 16, the National Park Service announced. This artistic endeavor is geared to all aspiring teen artists who want to develop their art through experiencing wilderness, and is open to all visual and performing artists, writers and composers ages 13 to 18 at time of participation.

Elisha Houle, the 2016 teen artist, reminisced about her time on the island.

“Isle Royale and the Teen Artist Exploration has opened my life to so many amazing things,” she was quoted as saying. “My art has taken on a new dynamic; I appreciate so much more the wild and natural ways of life the island showed me.”

Yoon, right, and mentor Bonnie Loukus, sketch on the rocks of Isle Royale’s Lake Superior shoreline. (Photos courtesy of National Park Service)

Isle Royale is a remote island wilderness in the middle of Lake Superior, accessible only by ferry, seaplane or private watercraft, the NP

Over the course of a week, two selected teen artists will explore their art and the island, hike and backpack along wave-washed shores, canoe quiet bays of Lake Superior or sketch wildlife among the boreal forest, the NPS said. A mentor will provide coaching during the artistic and wilderness exploration.

Interested artists must be available for at least one of the potential summer time periods: June 24-29 or July 22-27.

This year’s program is a six-day, five-night camping experience in the Rock Harbor area. Park rangers and the program mentor will assist with ferry transportation, campground reservations and camping equipment, according to the NPS. A legal guardian must accompany a teen artist age 17 or younger.

The NPS indicated that the Isle Royale Teen Artist Exploration Program is designed to be a camping experience. A designated campsite will be provided in Rock Harbor during the program’s duration. The NPS stressed that participations must be comfortable camping for five nights.

On the first and last day of the program, selected artists and their families, up to four people total, will receive complimentary transportation to and from the island provided on Ranger III, a 165-foot ship operating from Houghton.

Teens and their families must bring daily supplies, artistic materials in coordination with the mentor and, the NPS said, “an attitude of adventure.”

The Isle Royale and Keweenaw Parks Association and the Copper Country Community Arts Council are program sponsors. Also, the selected artists are required to donate to the park a piece of artwork representative of their stay on Isle Royale. To view the online submission process, visit the Teen Artist Exploration website at www.nps.gov/isro/getinvolved/teen-artist.htm. To be considered, all application components must be digitally received by 11:59 p.m. Feb. 16. Entries received after that day will not be considered. Notification to all applicants will be made by May 1.

For further information, visit the park’s website, call 906-482-0984, or email isro_parkinfo@nps.gov.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.