Here at OPP, we know that you'd rather spend your time in the studio, not researching ways to get more time in the studio. So we're kicking off a series of posts to get you started. Over the next six months, we'll highlight a variety of residencies, organizing them by type, including studio-only, fully-funded, solitary retreats and media-specific residencies. Keep in mind, this list is by no means exhaustive. It's really just the tip of the iceburg.
And speaking of tips. . . some residencies offer solitude while others offer a more social experience. To get a sense of the culture at residencies you are interested in, follow them on Instagram. Links provided below.
ACRE — Steuben, Wisconsin
Deadline: 11:59 PM CST, March 4, 2018
Application Fee: January 4-12: free; January 13-February 26: $35; February 27-March 4: $50
Length: 2 weeks, 3 sessions
Residency Fee: $1,200
Funding: 15 half-scholarships; numerous full scholarships available. click here for eligibility.
Food: Breakfast is provided each morning in the lodge, available from 8-10am, continental style. Residents eat lunch and dinner communally in a large screened-in outdoor dining hall/kitchen. Prepared by a large team of chefs and assistants, each meal is made from locally-sourced meats, veggies, and dairy. Options for vegans and vegetarians are available upon request, and food is prepared specially for those with other dietary restrictions.
ACRE (Artists’ Cooperative Residency and Exhibitions) is an artist-run non-profit based in Chicago devoted to employing various systems of support for emerging artists and to creating a generative community of cultural producers. ACRE investigates and institutes models designed to help artists develop, present, and discuss their practices by providing forums for idea exchange, interdisciplinary collaboration, and experimental projects. Please note that studios are set up as shared work-spaces. Private work spaces are limited to your apartment. If you are seeking a solitary residency experience or require private accommodations, ACRE may not be the right program for you.
Most residents stay in the sprawling Steuben Lodge, which houses around 40 people and contains a large central area that includes a library with limited wireless internet, breakfast area, computers, printers and scanners for everyone’s use, and more.*
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Vermont Studio Center — Johnson, Vermont
Deadline: February 15th, June 15th, and October 1st
Application Fee: none
Length: 2-4 weeks
Residency Fee: $3,950 for 4 weeks or $2,050 for 2 weeks
Funding: Financial aid is available. Full Fellowships are available and change each deadline. To see what is available at the February 15th deadline. Check here
Food: We serve 3 communal meals a day Monday-Saturday, and brunch and dinner on Sundays. Fresh fruit, hot and cold beverages, and breakfast cereal are available 24 hours a day.
Each month, VSC welcomes over 50 artists and writers from across the country around the world to our historic campus in northern Vermont. Residencies include: a private room in modest, shared housing, 24-hour access to a private studio space in one of our 6 medium-specific studio buildings, a 24-hour Meditation House reserved for group and individual meditation, yoga studio.
VSC's residency format includes six distinguished Visiting Artists and Writers per month. Each Visitor offers a public slide talk or reading, and is available for a private studio visit/writing conference with residents working in their medium/genre. Visiting Writers also offer a craft talk for the writing residents.*
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The Ragdale Foundation — Lake Forest, Illinois
Deadline: 11:59 PM CST, March 4, 2018
Application Fee: January 4-12: Free;January 13-February 26: $35;February 27-March 4: $50
Length: 18-25 days
Residency Fee: 18-day residencies cost $630 and 25-day residencies cost $875
Funding: Financial aid is available on a very limited basis. Applicants may request to apply for financial aid upon acceptance of a residency. Some fellowships available by separate application.
Food: Dinner is provided five nights a week, Monday through Friday. Our chef generally prepares vegetarian meals with meat dishes on the side. The Barnhouse and Ragdale House kitchens are available 24 hours a day and is fully stocked for residents to prepare their own breakfasts and lunches.
Ragdale annually hosts approximately 200 visual artists, writers, composers, and interdisciplinary artists at all stages of their careers for 18 or 25- day residencies, making it one of the largest interdisciplinary artist communities in the country. Ragdale offers a retreat setting where at any given time, a dozen creative individuals experience uninterrupted time for dedicated work, a supportive environment, family-style dinners, and dynamic artist exchanges within a backdrop of 50 acres of idyllic prairie.*
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The Studios at Mass MOCA — North Adams, Massachussettes
Deadline: The next deadline for general applications will be in July 2018, for fall/winter sessions.
Application Fee: none
Length: 1-8 weeks
Fee: $650/week
Funding: Many participants receive need-based and merit-based financial aid.
For Massachusetts-based artists only: currently accepting applications for a “Financial Wellness” residency session (up to 4 weeks) from November 7, 2018 – December 4, 2018. This subsidized residency opportunity offers a deeply discounted fee and additional professional development programming. Deadline: April 13, 2018, 11:59pm EST. Click here to learn more and apply.
Food: One communal meal per day, in the company of other artists-in-residence.
We offer great studio space and housing, one group meal per day, access to MASS MoCA‘s exhibitions and to Makers’ Mill (a printmaking and fiber arts makerspace located a short walk from the Studios), and one-on-one professional development coaching with the staff of our "Assets for Artists" program. Housing is across the street from the museum, in newly renovated apartments (private bedroom/queen bed + shared kitchen and bath). We offer optional one-on-one artist-focused financial and business coaching through the staff of MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists program, helping artists and writers in all disciplines strengthen the business side of their artistic practice.*
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Anderson Ranch — Snowmass Village, Colorado
Deadline: February 15th
Application Fee: $60
Length: 10 weeks; Fall Term: October 10th – December 20th; Spring Term: February 6th – 17th April
Residency Fee: $1,500
Funding: Four of the 28 residencies are fully funded fellowships awarded by the jury panel. One fully funded residency fellowship is available for an African American artist, made possible by the generous support of an anonymous donor.
Food: Breakfast and 5 dinners per week are provided; vegetarian meals available.
Anderson Ranch’s Artists-in-Residence Program fosters creative, intellectual and professional growth for emerging and established visual artists. Residents have access to world-class facilities and 10 weeks of studio time, free from everyday pressures. Residents can pursue interdisciplinary projects among a community of working artists, and gain feedback from prominent Visiting Artists and Critics. The Ranch setting is specifically crafted to aid artists in the production of their work. The residency is designed to allow artists to take risks and pursue new projects and ideas. Resident artists will be provided housing, studio space and meals. Residencies are offered in ceramics, new media, photography, furniture design, woodworking, painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture. Individual rooms in shared house, separate from studio.*
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The Wassaic Residency Program — Wassaic, New York
Deadline: Applications for our SUMMER Residency Program open December 11th are due January 22nd. Applications for our WINTER Residency Program open May 15th and are due June 19th.
Application Fee: $25
Length: 1-6 months
Fee: Winter: $600 per month, per resident plus $300 security deposit; summer: $900 per month + $200 security deposit
Funding: Fellowships range from $100 – $400 and are awarded based on exclusively on need. We award 1 merit-based fellowships each season. The fellow receives a fully-funded residency for the month awarded. Unlike receiving financial assistance, the merit fellow is not expected to perform work in exchange.
Food: no meals provided.
The Wassaic Residency Program cultivates and supports community for emerging and professional contemporary artists, writers and other creatives. Housed in historic, landmark buildings, the residency program offers nine artists each month the opportunity to live and work in the heart of a rural community. The Wassaic Residency seeks artists working in a diverse range of media who want to produce, explore, challenge, and expand on their current art making practices, while participating in a grass roots, community-based arts organization.
Residents may bring their dog. Dogs require an in-person interview and an additional monthly impact fee of $100 per month. You cannot bring your cat (too many allergies).*
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NEXT UP: Studio-only Residencies across the Nation (a few have a live/work option)
*Italicized text pulled from residency websites or other promotional materials.