What in the world is an artist residency? Have any of you out there ever done an artist residency? I know we have gotten a number of questions over the last two years from artists all over the world that're asking questions about how do I get into an artist residency? What is an artist residency? Will an artist residency help my career? There's so many questions on a regular basis.
Speaker 1:So today I'm flying solo Ty Nathan Clark here as Nathan Turborg is working steadily in his studio back in Minneapolis. I am here in my faux studio in my garage while my new studio is being built. I know we talked about that last week a little bit, so we are making do with our time as I'm waiting for my new space to be finished and the loud construction that's going on every day until sundown. So I'm here with you today to talk about artist residency, so we're going to go on a really deep dive into this subject. That is certainly a part, should be a part and can be a part of your artist life and career. So if you have ever wondered what exactly is an artist residency, are residencies worth it for your art career, what types of residencies exist out there and how do you actually land one, or what do I even do during a residency? Well, stick around, listen up, because I'm going to cover all of these topics and more in this episode.
Speaker 1:Let's start with the basics. What actually is an artist residency? Well, it's actually a program that's designed to give artists like you time, space and freedom to just solely focus on your work, often in a brand new environment, away from the day-to-day distractions of your usual life. That could be somewhere in your city, it could be in your county, it could be in another state or country, often in a brand new environment, away from the day-to-day distractions of your usual life. It's trying to take you somewhere new, a place that leaves all the distractions that you have at home in your studio, with your regular life, and bring you into a new climate, a new culture, a new place, a new location, a new space, all those things. So it's just giving you that opportunity to bring new life and new experimentation and new ideas into your practice. And so residencies are usually hosted by organizations like galleries, museums, nonprofits, universities or even private patrons that would be providing for you, the artist, a studio, possible living quarters, shared or just for you. Sometimes they'll cover meals and food. Possibly there are stipends or scholarships that help pay for your food or your supplies, or even travel reimbursements, depending on the specific residency, and in return, artists might be asked to contribute to the community through talks or lectures. Open studios where you allow the community to come in and see what you're working on. Maybe you work with a local school or art programs and do classes for them in your studio during your time. Some offer exhibitions, some just simply ask you to share in the creative process, and part of this most times is the artist also if there is some type of stipend, fellowship or scholarship involved, leaving a work of art behind from what you've created as a donation to that collection. So, in short, a residency is an invitation for you, the artist, to come explore, experiment and evolve and grow in your work. It's a great place to do that.
Speaker 1:Let's take a quick look at the history of artist residencies. They're not a modern invention. Their roots date back for centuries. Ancient courts in China, egypt and India actually supported artists who lived and worked in the royal households. That's how you get so many of the incredible ancient imagery and artistry that has existed in these massive mausoleums or king's courts or emperor's palaces and things. A lot of times those were supported artists that lived there and created those things for those households. And then, in the 16th century, art academies like the Accademia del Designo in Florence started doing residencies, and doing it within the academy itself for artists. And then move on to the 17th century and the French Prix de Rome gave artists scholarships to refine their craft in Italy. So they sent them over to Italy to refine their craft in Rome. And then, if you move forward a couple centuries to the 19th century, rural artists colonies like Vorpsfeld in Germany allowed creatives to gather, collaborate and draw inspiration from nature. And then in the 1960s, groups like the UK's Artist Placement Group were embedding artists directly into industries and institutions. And then, in modern culture, a global boom in modern residencies just exploded, designed not just for making art but also for cross-cultural exchange and community engagement. That is the type of residency that most of you will end up taking part in, especially in the early stages of applying for residencies and actually getting accepted into them.
Speaker 1:Here's the big question. Here's the one that we get all the time why should I apply to an artist residency, and should I even be applying? Artist residencies offer a range of personal and professional benefits. They're broad, they're all over the map and we'll talk about those in a minute. And I would say, does a residency help your career? Well, there are specific residencies that will absolutely help your career, and then there are a whole heap of residencies that will help your growth as an artist. I would never look at a residency as a stepping stone for you as an artist to get into galleries and to get into museums and things, because those residencies are really, really small. That's a short list, but there's a massive list of residencies that are out there for you to apply to, to go, actually grow in your work, be around other artists and take risks in a new place, in a new environment Something that Nathan and I talk about all the time. That risk-taking and that risk-making and experimenting Sometimes it's really hard to do in your own studio and it's a whole lot easier to do in a new place, a new location with new people, new sites and sounds. And so here's a few of the benefits that a residency could offer you.
Speaker 1:Like I said, creative growth, that gift of uninterrupted time and space right, we all know what that means. Interrupted time and space right, we all know what that means. It can take your practice from concept to completion. Having time that is not interrupted by your everyday life, back at home, in another studio, in another place, it just opens up a freedom. It's almost as if time doesn't exist. In those moments, you don't have to be somewhere, go somewhere, take care of this thing, you're just working. You're just doing things. Also, I truly believe residencies will bring you a new perspective. I've lived all over the world, I've traveled all over the world, I've done residencies all over the world. There's nothing greater than working in an unfamiliar environment. I just think it just opens up so many things and opens up our imagination and shifts us, shifts our creative mindset, into this new space. I mean, if you're international in a place you've never been before, you're going to have new foods, new smells, new languages, new views of nature. I mean, all of that stuff will absolutely work its way in and give you new perspectives within your work. It happens every time.
Speaker 1:Here's a big one, here's a massive one, something we always talk about. The importance of networking as an artist. Right, we know we need to build our network, we need to know other artists, we need to know other people in the art world, and this is a great great piece of most residencies is that you may be working with other artists there. So there are plenty of residencies that have five artists there at a time, 10 artists there at a time, three artists at a time. You're able to network and get to know artists from other cultures and other communities in your time away you just can't beat that and curators, gallerists, collectors, sometimes critics depending on the level of the residency, you may have a mentor that is available to you for the entire time of your residency that will spend time with you outside of the studio or inside of the studio critiquing work, talking about work, talking about that art world journey. I mean that's priceless Sometimes, those moments that build your network that lasts forever.
Speaker 1:Experimentation Sometimes you have access to specialized equipment and, like I said, mentorship that can help you learn new skills and techniques. There are residencies that have mid-career artists connected them who are either alumni or they're connected to the network within that residency and they offer their time to come work with the artists hands-on in the studio, trying to learn something, getting that help. I mean just knowledge and wisdom that you won't get on your own. Professional recognition when I talked about that small, short list of the big residencies. Getting a spot in a prestigious residency looks absolutely fabulous on your CV and it will open doors for future opportunities. If you get into one of the big ones, it will do something. You're connected to an alumni group. That is pretty true to the other alumni who have been a part of that residency. But oftentimes those programs will have visiting curators and gallerists and authors, writers, critics that are coming in during the time in the residency just to look at who's next. Who can I offer a spot on my roster? Who can I bring in? Who can I write about? So just know that the big residencies on the shortlist can absolutely help you.
Speaker 1:Personal transformation, as a writer, jhumpa Lahiri once said about her residency experience. I left with the certainty that I'm a writer with a commitment to the creative life that I've never since questioned or doubted. I'm telling you, when you go into another culture and you're there just making art and really feeling at one with that culture and the language and the sites and the sounds and the tastes and all that stuff, there's this constant certainty that exists around you, that really fills into your soul. I am an artist, I am doing this, I am in it. I've just committed a month of my time, three months of my time, six months of my time, whatever to just making art. It really does fill you up with that feeling of I am an artist. I am doing this.
Speaker 1:One other thing is a lot of residencies will have an exhibition at the end and, even if they don't offer an exhibition at the end, ask if you can have an exhibition at the end If it's connected to a gallery or has a space. Maybe they're connected to a cafe or somebody who has a space locally. You just added another line on your resume, so you already added the residency itself on your resume, and then you end up adding an exhibition as well, possibly in another country. That's fantastic. You just got an international exhibition on your resume. So, like we say all the time, you want to continue to fill your resume with exhibitions, solo or group exhibitions. You want those lines to fill.
Speaker 1:Most of us have a real short, small CV. It's tiny. We want to fill those lines every year with different things. All right, how do I apply for an artist residency? Well, no, two artist residency applications are the same. I will tell you that right now they are purposely all have their own application process, and there's a reason for this. They want to make sure that you are paying attention, that you really want to be a part of this program and that you really will be able to fill the time in your residency with a plan. This is how they weed out the people who just want to go hang out somewhere. Most residencies have a certain number of people that accept every year, could be every quarter, could be every year, maybe it's just once a year. It just depends on the level of the residency. Some are open all year. We'll talk about those in a minute.
Speaker 1:So the application process is going to be pretty stringent. There's going to be a lot of different questions that they ask you Artist statement, your bio, why should you be at this residency? What is it about this residency that drew you in? What is your plan for while you're here? And it's going to give you a limit of characters or words for each one. Now they want the people who really want to be there and can really prove that they're going to be able to create throughout their entire time there and be a great alumni for the program as well.
Speaker 1:So, number one be specific when you're filling out your application. Don't be vague when you're filling out your application. Don't be vague. Residency jurors the person who's going to read your application and look at your work. That could be a curator, could be a gallerist, it could be an author, writer, it could be alumni, or it could be the people who run the residency, the jurors. They're the ones selecting. They want to know exactly what you plan to work on during your stay. Don't just write I'm going to paint this, I'm going to sculpt this. No, really lay it out.
Speaker 1:I will be working on a body of work that is titled X and throughout this body of work, I'm experimenting with new ideas. These ideas have been this way in my past work. I'm moving on to the be really specific. If you're Nathan Turbor you're going to talk about while I'm at the residency, I'm going to be scavenging the woods and looking for bits and pieces of found objects that have been discarded and laying in trash bins throughout the city. I'm going to be gathering these things and next I want my work, while I'm here, to also represent the city that I'm in or the countryside where I'm staying. Represent the city that I'm in or the countryside where I'm staying. Explain all of those things in great detail. You want to draw them in. Then, when they look at your work which I'll talk about in a minute because you'll be uploading work they can kind of marry those ideas. Oh, wow, they'd be a great fit for this residency.
Speaker 1:Focus on your work, not just your resume. Your portfolio will speak louder than your CV, okay, so upload your strongest work, whether it's sold before or whether you still have it in the studio. They may ask for five images. They may ask for 10 images. They may ask for 20 images. Make sure that you do all 10, all 20, all five. Don't just do two. When they ask for 10, do 10. Show your strongest work. Don't just do two. When they ask for 10, do 10. Show your strongest work. Don't go back 15 years, don't go back eight years. Show your strongest current work so they have a really good idea of where you're going.
Speaker 1:You're gonna have to explain to them as well why now. Why is this the right moment in time for you, the artist, to embark on this residency? This residency is a great fit for Ty Nathan Clark right now, because he is currently working on this, and the community guidelines that you talk about in your vision statement marry exactly the way I work in the community here and with artists abroad. Also explain why this residency. Focus on them. Do your research. Don't just read it in the little caption that says this is what it's about. Go to the residency website. Look at their past alumni. Look at the type of artists that they're usually accepting into the program. What do they stand for? What is important to them as a residency or as a governing body important to them as a residency or as a governing body? Explain why. Show that jury, why their specific program resonates with your goals as an artist and be community-minded.
Speaker 1:Many residencies are involved with shared spaces or collaborative opportunities with the community. Show how you're open to engaging with their community and the community abroad, and give examples of ways you have done that in the past. I just applied for a residency this week and they asked give us an outline of community engagement ideas that you would do during the residency, because the residents need to give up to four to six hours a week of time to the local art community, so they want to know what types of things would you do to engage with the local community. Okay, here's the most important part. I want you to really listen to this carefully. Follow the guidelines. Follow every guideline, the word count, the materials, the deadlines. Follow them to the letter.
Speaker 1:Being sloppy and not paying attention is a fast track to rejection. Take this to heart in anything you do. If you apply to a group show, if you apply for a grant, follow the guidelines. If it says a one-page CV, do not upload a two-page PDF. You may have to take stuff out to condense it to one page. You can shrink your font, whatever you need to do. Don't send two pages.
Speaker 1:This is how a lot of places will weed out the big numbers. Residencies don't have 15 or 20 people that apply right. Same thing with group shows and art shows. There aren't just 20 people that apply to group shows. Sometimes there's 200, sometimes there's 2000, depending on the competitiveness or the nature of the call being once a year, twice a year, whatever. So if you don't follow directions, most times your stuff won't even be looked at. Corrections most times your stuff won't even be looked at. It'll just go in the trash and it will save that jury time from going through 200 applications and weeding it down to 140, 150. Make sure word count that says 200 words don't have 400 words. Most will cut it off and won't let you do, but some will just be open, follow it, so you may have to have different iterations of your artist statement, a short version of your bio, all those things. Deadlines Don't apply after the deadline. They all have deadlines. Every single residency, every single show that you apply for has a deadline. Pay attention so that if it's something you really want to apply for, you're not applying the night of or the next day. Here's a big one Labeling your artwork.
Speaker 1:Sometimes in the instructions not all the time, but most times it will give you detail on exactly how they want your file labeled. Okay, normally, if you don't label your files after you upload your photo of your artwork and label up the title and the scale, which I do most of the time Anytime I edit a photograph and it goes into a folder on my computer, it has the title and then it has an underscore and then it has the scale. That way I can find it easily. A lot of times residencies will ask for it to be in the order of last name, first name, title of work. This way, when they're downloading everything, they know where Ty Nathan Clark's paintings are that go with this application. So make sure you pay attention to that. If you do not know how to label your images that are probably 65WZ4.jpg, look it up. Do a quick Google search. It'll show you how to go in there and relabel your artwork so that you are following the directions. Because I'm telling you, if you send, if you upload 20 pieces and there isn't a next page that lets you label each one and it says please label your work like this and you don't do it, going in the trash bin.
Speaker 1:Moving on to the next artist. So follow the guidelines, pay strict attention to everything. I already said this above, but I'm going to say it again research and ask questions before you apply. Understand the residency's mission and offerings and make sure you're a good fit. Why it costs money to apply to residencies? They're usually between 1515 and $45. That's an average Actually, I would say that's the majority is in that range. There are some that are more. There may be specific reasons that they're more. They shouldn't be more, but there are residencies that are more. So just so you know before applying, understand that you're paying.
Speaker 1:Don't apply to something you're not a good fit for. If you're a beginning artist, do not apply to a residency that is accepting mid-career artists you will not get in. Don't waste that money. I know money is thin for a lot of us artists, so, applying to things, we either have it budgeted or it's kind of a risk right, it's really a financial risk for us to do it. So, please, research, understand everything that goes into that residency, from the studio space, from the living quarters. Do they give stipends that they offer things? Do they match financial assistance in any way? Do they have scholarships for those that have financial hardships? Yes, a lot of them do.
Speaker 1:So make sure to research and ask questions. If you don't understand something, send an email and just ask. Reach out to some of the alumni who have been there before. Most residencies link to the artists who have been alumni. Ask questions about it and also practice your interview skills. There's a possibility that you could have to have an interview stage for a residency. They don't all do this. The bigger ones do. If you are a emerging artist or soon to be mid-career artist or even mid-career artist, just know, if it's a big residency, there's probably an interview stage and there may be two or three. There may be a virtual studio visit or a physical studio visit before they accept you. So practice with your friend. Practice with somebody and have them ask you questions. Do a virtual studio visit with another artist. I mean, I think it's a great thing for you to do anyways is practice talking about your work. Set up your studio, have one of your friends come in and ask you questions. You walk around and have work ready to show and talk about the work, just like it's maybe a curator or a residency director or a gallerist doing an interview with you to see if you're a right fit. Once they narrow down, some residencies will take those 200 or 2000, narrow it down to 10, and they're picking five. Practice. It's always great to practice. Okay, choosing the right residency for you.
Speaker 1:Not all residencies are the same. They are all different All of them. Some offer solitude, others thrive on community interaction. Do you not like solitude? You probably want to do something that has a lot of community. Do you not like community and doing a lot of things with a big group of people? Then you might want something that offers solitude.
Speaker 1:There are some that are self-directed and others that have structured programs. What does self-directed mean? That means you fly in, you get to the space, they show you around. Then you're on your own for the whole month. You're doing everything yourself. There's no mentoring, there's no help. You have a space to stay. You got a place to live, a place to work and it's just you making art, self-directed. You're leading yourself once you're there. Others have structured programs where there may be five artists that are there in the studio and in the apartment and staying there with you, and every morning you meet for breakfast and you talk about work and you go through the things. Then maybe you have studio time and then lunch. Then after studio time there's a mentor or a speaker, somebody that comes in and talks to the group or visits individual studios, and so there's structure and then at the end there's an exhibition and everybody curates the exhibition, as the artist in the residency or somebody else does. So some may have research structures or writing structures. It just depends on the residency. That's why you have to research them and look at them.
Speaker 1:When you're researching, ask yourself, what do I prefer? Do I want rural peace somewhere in the country or mountains, or I want that urban energy, the energy of a city? I'll thrive in the city, but I also love being by the river or the ocean and up in the mountains. Am I seeking community or do I need quiet? Do I just need a couple of weeks of solitude where there's just nobody bothering me, cause I live in the thriving city and I just need to get out? It's going to help my wellbeing. I need that. Do I need financial support? Can I cover this residency? Okay, some residencies have costs Most of them do.
Speaker 1:You're almost always going to have to pay for your travel. If it's one of the major residencies that's on that short list, they may have a travel refund, but most of the time you're going to pay for your travel and then, if you have a place to stay, you're probably gonna have to pay for your food and get your supplies there. Yes, you're gonna have to take your supplies, unless they're in a city and you can buy everything there, but then, once you're done with your work, you're either gonna have to ship your work back home or fly with it. So those are definite major things to think about. Am I willing to self-fund this? Maybe there's an art organization locally near you that will match your funds. You can apply for a grant, possibly with that local art organization.
Speaker 1:Not always, but can I support myself doing this? That's a great question to ask and always, always, double check the fine print about accommodation, equipment and any expectations that the host may have, like those open studio days or artist talks. Okay, so make sure that you're looking at everything. Research, research, research so that you know. Check those terms, check the expectations of the artist. There are some that require you to work two days a week in the garden because they're actually providing your food, and what they expect for you when they're providing the food is for you to work two days a week in the garden because they're actually providing your food, and what they expect for you when they're providing the food is for you to help in the garden or help on the ground, something like that. Everybody has some sort of expectations, especially if they're paying for a portion of you to be a part of their residency.
Speaker 1:So residencies themselves come in multiple sizes. Right? I talked about the different ones that might be run by organizations or galleries or museums. So your basic level residency is going to be fully funded by the artist You're paying for every cent of it. Most of these residencies are open all year long. They're basically like a glorified Airbnb for artists. They can be anywhere. They can be in Greece, on a mountain looking over the ocean. They can be up in Italy and Florence, somewhere in the hills, some maybe the Alps. They could be in New York City, and it's basically you're paying for your own room and board and your own studio and you're self-directed. You're doing it on their own. It's somebody that's providing a place.
Speaker 1:A lot of times these could be artists who just have extra space. It could be a group of friends who just love art and they've created this space for artists to come and work, but they can't afford to pay for the artists to come. The next level is going to be something that has some type of funding and it's usually connected to an arts organization. It could be a smaller gallery, it could be a curator or an art dealer. It could be an artist who's had a lot of success and they're going to pay for your room stay. They'll give you an apartment or maybe it's a house and they give you a studio to work in. You're covering everything else. You're covering your travel, you're covering your food and your supplies. Another level would be something that is maybe connected to a bigger museum or maybe a bigger arts organization. It could be government funded, depending on the country that has a big arts government subsidy, and so they are connected to different things, and those usually will match travel pay or will give you a stipend, maybe a little bit of money every week to help for food or to reimburse you for travel. Those will usually have an exhibition at the end.
Speaker 1:A lot of those the biggest one out there is going to be a fully funded residency. Every single bit of it is funded by the organization. I'll name a couple of these in the end here they're the big dogs. They're the ones that will absolutely build your career. The network, the community, the mentors, the alumni, the teachers and instructors and the staff. They're all the type of person that has the gusto in the art world that can help take your career another level. Residencies, mentorship, guidance and every form of art world function is a part of those residencies, and they're fantastic. I apply to them all the time. I've never gotten in one yet, but I'm going to apply until I do.
Speaker 1:How in the world do I find these residencies? This was a big question that I had years ago, so I got online and I did my due diligence and research so that I could share it with you today. It took me forever. What I did is I found every little site I could find that had residencies listed. And what did I do? I went through every single one of them, from A to Z, and I created a spreadsheet that had all of the residencies that I would love to get into someday and I made notes.
Speaker 1:Location, length of the residency Residencies can be two weeks, one week a month, three months, six months a year. Plenty of universities and colleges around the world that are doing year-long residencies to be there and you're going to teach classes or you're going to have open studios and you're going to feed into the student network and the student body there and do some instruction and community building. They exist. There are three or residencies out there. A lot of those are research which. There are research residencies out there.
Speaker 1:If you're a curator, if you are an art writer, if you are an art critic, there are residencies for you. Art writer, if you are an art critic, there are residencies for you. There's a residency for everything in the arts sculpture, dance, photography, installation, video, I mean, you name it film. There are residencies out there for everything. You just have to search for them. So, anyways, I made my list and I'm going to share with you right now, my favorite person. There are plenty of great ones out there, but these are my personal favorite resources for finding artists' residencies.
Speaker 1:Okay, artendanet, this is my absolute favorite resource for artists' residencies, so I found it a few years ago. I subscribe. There is a subscription fee. It is not that much monthly. It's really low. But the thing that I love about it, as you can see, you have all the opportunities here listed, so you have competitions, art grants, fellowships, residencies, open calls, public art projects. You can go through and select any one of those. So I'm going to go to residence series here. I'm just going to show you real quick and I can select any field. Right, like I told you here textile art, sound photography, ceramics, graphic literature there's residencies for everything.
Speaker 1:But I love that I can go ahead and look at these residencies from deadline first, which most will have, but I can add them to my agenda so I can save them for later. That's one hard thing with a lot of the other sites is, unless you have a subscription, you can't really save it. So I used to add them to my spreadsheets. I don't want to pay to save any of them, but if I add it to my agenda and I go to my agenda. I can now go through and look at everything that it tells me about this residency, where it is the eligibility for residents of the US. Only it will tell you German-speaking artists, only French-speaking artists. Only It'll tell you the conditions previous alumni documents. You need the address. It's a one-year residency. You get a studio. Rent is free. It gives you all that information. Then you can go to the website and check it out.
Speaker 1:Research Do your research, read all this. Then go through and go to the link and check it out before you apply. Another site that I love TransArtists Great database here. Find your residency database. Here. Find your residency. You can search by theme deadlines, open calls. You can pull up a map, right, and you can view the whole map and look at any region around the world. And then you can go here from A. Like I told you, I've done this. I've gone from A to Z and I've opened up every single one of these and I've looked at them all.
Speaker 1:Resartist another great one. You can go ahead and explore open calls here for residencies. You can choose by country. They're in the middle. If you'd like to, it's going to list them all by photo. Another easy way to rule out ones that you may not be interested in.
Speaker 1:If you thought, oh man, this room looks comfortable, I'd love to stay here. You find one that doesn't look too fantastic, you can go ahead and skip that. I also keep all my inventory and artwork archive and they actually have a call and submissions over here on the left ruler guide, on the left side, and they will have a bunch of opportunities and things over here and so I can go to find calls and I can start looking at all the residencies that are listed over here on the left art fairs, competitions, all that stuff. That saying, there are plenty of sites with a lot of fantastic information. So a lot of places to do your research, a lot of places to kind of get a good grip on what residencies are out there. Artendanet is my favorite that I subscribe to. I absolutely love it. I'm probably on it every week, but res artists, trans artists, are fantastic. Artist Communities Alliance is another one. There are numerous out there. All you have to do is look up artist residencies on Google and just scroll through. But I love Artenda. So I just want to give you a little bit of closing advice here before I move on to my final thoughts.
Speaker 1:If you land a residency, I've had a lot of artists in the past say well, what do I do? What's the best way to really get the most out of the residency? And I'll say a few things here. Number one if you're doing a month or three month residency, don't start working the second you get there. A lot of artists will just get their setup and just start working right away.
Speaker 1:I have found for me that if I'm going to a new location, a new country, a new place that I've never been before, I want to feel it. I really want to feel the soul of where I am. I was in a residency with a few of my former mentees last year south of St John's, newfoundland, in a little town called Pooch Cove, right on the coast. And that's one of the things that I advise to everybody Feel free to get your stuff set up, but don't start working right away. Go on some hikes. Go sit by the ocean, spend some time writing and smelling the salt and the ocean air and feeling the wind on your face, watching the white caps crash on the rocks. Take some hikes in the woods. Spend some time just feeling and existing. Let's go eat some local food. Let's do some things as a community before you really start creating Cause I can guarantee you what you think you're going to do and you'll get there with shift.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying your work's totally going to shift, but you may have ideas that completely shift. You want those new experiences to really fill you in a way that it comes out in your work, in the studio while you're there. So spend some time. Spend some time walking alone, solitude and silence, just thinking about where you are. If it's in the city, go cruise the city at its busiest point. Go find the places that are popping and just observe. Sit at a cafe, have a cup of coffee and just watch. If you're in the country, get out in nature. Do some hikes. Go sit amongst the trees, feel everything, feel the grass, feel the trees. Walk barefoot, do something, just feel your surroundings. It will influence your work. So that's my big tip for residencies.
Speaker 1:Also, if you are traveling, I prep. I've been prepping canvas before I go, especially if I'm going to work bigger. I have a snowboard bag and I prep all my canvases and I roll them up. I've brought stretcher bars in the middle of the canvases rolled up. I've bought stretcher bars at places middle of the canvases rolled up. I've bought stretcher bars at places where I've been. I bring a few things that I really need, a few of my brushes and tools that I really want to use that I'm not sure they may have, and then if they have an art supply store there, I'll go get some supplies when I get there, or you can always ship supplies to that location.
Speaker 1:But just know, no matter where you go to a residency, you're going to have to bring work back with you, unless you plan on leaving it all there. Or if you're like my friend Frances Beattie, she does everything that's site-specific. So 90% of the projects that she does at a residency stay there. They're all site-specific and she uses found materials to create them and they either get torn down or they remain where they were, where she created them, on site. Plenty of ways to do what you want to do, but I'm sure that those of you who are painters, you're going to want to bring work back with you. So it's really easy to roll and bring work back with you, unless you want to work small, but you still got to get it back on a plane If you're in Europe or if you're in the US and you have the ability to drive to a residency, that is a great option because you can take everything with you and bring it all back, so things to really think about, and take a lot of pictures when you're there, take video when you're there. You want to remember it, you want to bring it home with you. All right.
Speaker 1:A few final thoughts. Artist residencies are more than a place to just make art. They can be powerful growth accelerators. Whether you're hoping to just push creative boundaries, make some new experiments and changes in your work, build a network or gain life experience, the right residency can be a game changer for your work and for you as an artist. I just want you to know you really need to start with clarity about doing a residency, know your goals, research carefully, apply with purpose and be ready to embrace the unexpected.
Speaker 1:If you're not watching this on YouTube, I do share the screen in this and kind of walk through a few of those websites. You heard me say I'm going to share my screen, so that's what I'm doing on our video. Also, on Spotify, we have video as well. I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions, always send us a DM, you can message us on Instagram, just make art podcasts. You can send us messages on YouTube or you can email us. Whatever you want to do, reach out to us individually or me individually.
Speaker 1:Nathan's working on hopefully getting some residencies soon, in the next year or two. Right, nathan? Maybe you and I should do one. Oh, one more residency I want to mention I totally forgot about this If you want to do just your own residency, if you want to get an Airbnb out in the woods or in a city you really want to travel to, you can do that and call it a residency.
Speaker 1:If you're going to work on work, it's just a self-directed residency. It's another form of self-directed. I've had plenty of artist friends who have done that. They just get an Airbnb somewhere or they have a friend that has a cabin or whatever and they just go out there and they bring all their art supplies and they just go work for a week or two weeks or three weeks and it can go on your resume self-directed residency 2025, Skowogan, massachusetts. Whatever you want to do, that's fine. That totally works.
Speaker 1:All right, I told you I'd name some of the major residencies out there when I talked about that short list. Now these are all over the world. There are residencies all over the world that are massive career builders. Most of our listeners are here in the US, majority of our listeners, although we have listeners, I think, in 170 countries now I mean, that's insane, that astounds me, that floors me. But for those in the US, and even international because you can apply to any of these in the US as well these are the big ones. Skowhagen school of painting and sculpture that's in Skowhagen, maine. I love Maine. Want to do a residency in Maine? Yeah, go the Chinati foundation in Marfa, texas, where I will be participating, actually, at the Marfa invitational coming up in May. So I cannot wait to visit the Chinati foundation when I'm there and see the work and Donald Judd's work and I'm so excited.
Speaker 1:The Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program that's in New York. The McDowell Colony, petersburg, new Hampshire. The Oxbow Artists and Writers Residency that's in Saugatuck, michigan. The Bema Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, nebraska, are a few. Those are a few of them. There are more. I've applied to every single one of those except for the Whitney, multiple, multiple, multiple times. And I've applied to, I think, all of those except for the Whitney this year as well. So they're very competitive, but those are some game changers right there. Those are some game changers. So, anyways, I hope, I hope that you decide to apply to some residencies and if you do and you get accepted, let us know, celebrate it. Let us celebrate it with you. They are one of the most incredible life breathing, storytelling experiences that I've had, and I've done some in the States and I've done some abroad in Europe.
Speaker 1:I'll be in Poland this September with the residency. I'm so excited I'll be there in the hometown of one of my former mentees and one of my closest friends, kasia Krakicka, in Poland, and so I will definitely be dropping down to Berlin while I'm there as well, because I'm pretty sure Berlin Art Week is in the first week that I am in Poland, so I plan on going down that weekend to see some art in Berlin. If you're in Berlin, give me a shout. I'd love to hang out. If you're in Poland, give me a shout. I'm going to be going to Warsaw and Krakow to see some art, for sure, and some galleries, so I would love to hang out with you and grab some coffee or a glass of wine For Nathan Turborg and Ty Nathan Clark. Go make some art. Any questions you have, we'd love to answer them, and thank you for being a part and listening to the Just Make Art podcast. Bye.