Artist-in-residence

"Writer in residence" redirects here. For the American Poets Laureate, see List of U.S. states' Poets Laureate.

Artist-in-residence programs and other residency opportunities exist to invite artists, academicians, curators, and all manner of creative people for a time and space away from their usual environment and obligations. They provide a time of reflection, research, presentation and/or production. They also allow an individual to explore his/her practice within another community; meeting new people, using new materials, experiencing life in a new location. Art residencies emphasize the importance of meaningful and multi-layered cultural exchange and immersion into another culture.

Some residency programs are incorporated within larger institutions. Other organisations exist solely to support residential exchange programs. Residencies can be a part of museums, universities, galleries, studio spaces, theaters, artist-run spaces, municipalities, governmental offices, and even festivals. They can be seasonal, ongoing, or tied to a particular one-time event. They exist in urban spaces, rural villages, container ships and deep in nature. Hundreds of such opportunities and organisations exist throughout the world.

There is no single model, and the expectations and requirements vary greatly. The relationship between the resident and the host is often an important aspect of a residency program. Sometimes residents become quite involved in a community - giving presentations, workshops, or collaborating with local artists or the general public. At other times, they are quite secluded, with ample time to focus and investigate their own practice.

Residency programs utilize a wide range of financial models. In some situations, residents must finance their own stay, finding funding and support from their own countries and networks. There are also residency programs that provide part or all of the required finances to invited guests.

The application processes also vary widely; not all programs organise an open call for applications. Some opportunities are by invitation only, or are offered through special partnerships with other institutions, funding bodies, or organisations.

Many times a residency experience is only the beginning of a longer relationship. Residents often return to complete a project they started, to begin a new collaboration, or participate in an exhibition, panel or workshop.

Residency profiles

No two artist-in-residence programs are the same. Each program has its own background and atmosphere. Some focus on only one discipline of the arts, most offer facilities for any discipline: visual arts, literature, music, performing arts, architecture, design, dance. Working periods differ enormously: from two weeks to six months or sometimes even a year. There are also a lot of differences in financial resources, housing and studio facilities, application procedures, selection procedures, coaching and exhibiting.

Conditions and selections

Many residential art centers lay down the terms guest artists have to comply with, such as an exhibition at the end of the period or a project, achieved by collaboration with other artists or cooperation with the public. However, many centers offer unconditional hospitality: the artist is free to use the residency for his or her own purposes, without any obligation towards the host.

Application

Most residential arts centers offer an application procedure which is open to artists from all nations, with or without deadlines. Usually artists are requested to send in documentation, a curriculum vitae, a motivation and if necessary a project proposal. Each institute has its own policy of adjudication. Participation is planned a long time in advance, usually six months, sometimes years ahead.

Funding

Operating an artist-in-residence program costs money. Some residency programs cover all costs for the artist, some offering stipends, others don't cover any costs at all. It is not unusual that residential art centers cover the costs only partially, which may make it necessary for the artist to find additional funding. In some countries artists can apply for subsidy at state governed bodies. There are some international beneficiary funding schemes, most important of which is the Unesco-Aschberg residency funding scheme.

History of artist-in-residence programs

Artist-in-residence programs have a history that stretches back much further than is often thought. Artist-in-residence programs have not appeared out of the blue. The phenomenon has been part of the international art world for over a century. Lydia Shackleton was an early artist in residence in 1884 in Dublin.[1]

1900 First development

The first wave of artist-in-residence programs came at the beginning of the last century. Take The Corporation of Yaddo, founded in 1900 and the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild in 1902, both established in the state of New York. Yaddo was founded by art-loving benefactors. They regarded offering guest studios to individual artists as a new kind of patronage. Woodstock Guild was founded by artists and was run on their own terms: a sense of community was very prominent in this artists’ colony. Both models were typical of a lot of other artist-in-residence programs which were set up during the first decades of the 20th century, both in the United States and Europe. An example in Europe is the artists' colony at the small village of Worpswede near Bremen: founded in 1889 by, amongst others, the artists Heinrich Vogeler and Rainer Maria Rilke. Soon they managed to draw attention to Worpswede internationally. In those times the village even was called 'Weltdorf'. In 1971 the colony was given a new boost with the foundation of Künstlerhäuser Worpswede, which has grown into one of the most renowned international residential art centers. Another European example is the Gregory Fellowships, dating from 1951, funded by the Yorkshire printer Peter Gregory, placed painters, sculptors, poets and musicians in the University of Leeds. The University was, at that time, primarily a technical institution with very little arts activity, and the presence of the artists was intended to humanise the university. The Gregory Fellowships helped to set the typical formal for subsequent artist in residence schemes, with the fellows being free to move around the university as they wished, and not being tied to any one department.

1960 Second development

A new wave of artist-in-residence programs emerged in the 1960s, adding two new models to the ones that already existed. One new model offered artists the opportunity to withdraw temporarily from a society which was considered bourgeois. They preferred to create their own utopia in seclusion. The other new model, on the other hand, tried to contact the public and aimed for social engagement: guest studios in villages and cities served as a base for society change. Quite a number of new foundations elaborated on this new tendency during the seventies and the eighties.

1990 Globalization: new wave

As from the nineties a third wave of residency programs proliferated all over the globe: from Brazil to Taiwan, from Estonia to Zambia, from Japan to Vietnam. Characteristic of this new wave is the rich diversity of residency models: from not required hospitality at one end of the spectrum, to almost commission-like projects at the other end of the spectrum. Because of its global expansion and its seemingly unrestrained popularity, these new artist-in-residence opportunities have attracted more attention in the art world, now also including art writers, critics and curators in residence independently or alongside artists. However, we must not forget that new residency opportunities do have their historical roots. Neither should we forget that the 'old', established programs are still offering their expertise, contacts, advice and support to the new opportunities.

2000 Innovation: artist-run residencies / back to the neighborhoods

Artist in Residence in the Village of the Arts, Bradenton, Florida, USA

Newer models of artist in residence programs include cooperation between local government zoning boards and a more capitalistic approach - see Village of the Arts, a planned, structured artist-in-residence in Bradenton, Florida, USA. In this model, artists live in homes with attached galleries. The home/gallery is located very near to other such residences/galleries creating a "community" of artists. Other models include galleries creating residency programs to support new work, artists opening their houses and studios to international guests, museums and universities creating exchange programs to stimulate their own programming, share resources and expand their networks.

Artist residency networks

Several network organizations exist to bring together residency programs within a region or across the globe.

List of organisations with an active artist in residence program

This list is a selective list of programs affiliated with notable insitutions and programs.


Africa

Cameroon

Morocco

Americas

Bolivia

Brazil

Canada

United States

Artist Gerald Cassidy's home in Santa Fe, circa 1937. Cassidy was a founding member of the Santa Fe art colony in the early 20th century.

Asia

India

Europe

Austria

France

Republic of Ireland

The Netherlands

United Kingdom

Middle East

Israel


References

  1. ↑ Nelson, E. Charles (1998). "A Garden of Bright Images: Art Treasures at Glasnevin" (PDF). Irish Arts Review. pp. 41–51.
  2. ↑ Sustainable Bolivia art residency
  3. ↑ http://www.banffcentre.ca/va/
  4. ↑ Trans artists art colonies, Emma Lake, Saskatchewan Retrieved October 15, 2011
  5. ↑ "About Us". Faculty of Arts, Graduate Programs, English. University of New Brunswick. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  6. 1 2 NY Times, Woodstock Art Colony tells its story Retrieved October 15, 2011
  7. ↑ Pfister Hotel Artist-in-Residence Program
  8. ↑ "Yaddo Artist Colony names new President". The New York Times. February 23, 1992. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
  9. ↑ Quartier 21: Artists in residence program Retrieved September 24, 2012
  10. ↑ Burren College of Art residency
  11. ↑ Shankill Castle residencies
  12. ↑ Temple Bar Gallery and Studios residencies
  13. ↑ Tyrone Guthrie Centre Residencies
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