Artist's Residency Program At The 18th Street Arts Center

Lita Albuquerque

The 18th Street Arts Center has great exhibitions and programs that provoke public dialogue through contemporary art making.

Their residency program provides a great opportunity for artists in the Los Angeles area or foreign artists from Australia, Eastern Europe, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Eligibility for the International Visiting Artist Program is based on applications through cooperative programs with outside government agencies and private foundations.

18th Street Art Center's is similar to an arts incubator, in that they provide subsidized live and work space for artists. The services to their residents include free administrative and fundraising consultation services; an office equipment co-op and community resources exchange in which residents contribute a service or resource; volunteers; and meeting facilities. In addition, 18th Street's works to bring residents greater public recognition and paid presenting opportunities through programs and events. The combined benefits of the Residency Program helps residents put more of their financial resources and time towards their art practice while working in a stimulating and supportive environment. Since opening in 1988, the program has provided a home to 20 arts organizations and 43 individual artists.

Download the residency program application here.

Public Art Opportunity For Washington Artists

Artist sought to design on-street bicycle parking

Seattle's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) seeks an artist or artist team to design on-street bicycle parking. Artist-designed bicycle parking is a product of the SDOT Art Plan. Bike racks will fill one or two motor vehicle parking spaces on the street. Each car-sized space will accommodate up to eight bikes.

The selected artist will work with SDOT staff to design, fabricate and install bicycle parking at two to four on-street locations. The new program addresses the expanding need for bicycle parking and is part of the city's Bicycle Master Plan, which aims to triple the number of people bicycling in Seattle over 10 years.

Eligibility: Professional artists living in Washington state

Budget: $30,000 for design, fabrication and installation

Deadline: 11 p.m., Monday, April 13, 2009, Pacific time

Guidelines may be found on this page.

Artists looking for studio space

Artist Stephanie Diamond has put together an online listing service for posting and finding studio space. The list is updated weekly and is a great resource.

To be listed:
Send Stephanie an email at listings@stephaniediamond.com with the exact info you would like posted. Please include a header, a description of what you are offering or looking for, and your contact info.

To be added to this list:
http://www.stephaniediamond.com and click on the "Listings Project" button on home page.

The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation

I’ve listed a few residency programs on this blog because I truly believe that residency programs are very rewarding for artists. They give artists the time and space to create new work and sometimes with funding, the costs are near to nothing. And, the other artists and visitors provide a built in interested audience.

The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation is another example of an excellent resource and residency program. Established in 1984, The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation provides high quality studio space and related resources for visual artists. The Space Program provides non-living studio spaces in Brooklyn, New York, where artists may concentrate and create new work.

Marie Walsh Sharpe, a Colorado Springs, CO philanthropist, created the Foundation before her death in 1985 to benefit visual artists. The Foundation’s Artists Advisory Committee: Cynthia Carlson, Chuck Close - emeritus, Janet Fish, Philip Pearlstein, Irving Sandler, Harriet Shorr, and Robert Storr initiated and developed The Space Program in 1991 as a service to artists. In 2006 Phong Bui, Matthew Deleget and Tara Donovan were added to the Artists Advisory Committee.

Strategic Opportunity Stipends (SOS)

Klara Hobza, NYFA Fellow in Cross-Disciplinary / Performative Work, 2007

Strategic Opportunity Stipends (SOS) can benefit visual, performing, literary and other artists with support ranging from $100 to $600 for specific forthcoming projects. SOS is a project of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), working in collaboration with arts councils and cultural organizations across New York State. This program is designed to help individual artists of all disciplines take advantage of unique opportunities that will significantly benefit their work or career development.

The Artists Foundation

The Artists Foundation was founded in Boston in 1973. It primarily works with artists in the Greater Boston area and nearby cities.

"The mission of the Artists Foundation: is to nourish excellence in the arts by enhancing the public role and economic position of artists; to build community among practicing artists and new communication between this vital community and the public; to support access to essential resources for artists in all disciplines, particularly low income and under served artists' access to health care and other social services; and to sponsor exhibitions of art for art's sake as well as innovative uses of art to promote public consideration of issues vital to diverse social, political, and economic groups."

The Foundation does a great job in creating the opportunity for artists to network with other artists in the art community, the general public, as well as private businesses. It strongly supports artists through resources that provide information on health care, job searches, tips for being in the arts and funding opportunities.

Creative Time

David Byrne's installation

Founded in 1974, Creative Time is dedicated to commissioning, producing and presenting progressive public artworks in all media. Based in NY, Creative Time is one of the premiere institutions for producing public art.

Creative Time learns about artists' projects through the following:

1. Through a monthly Open Door program, Creative Time invites artists to apply for an opportunity to share their project ideas in-person. They provide confidential feedback, advice, and guidance.

2. Artists who are not New York City-based, but wish to share projects, may send their proposals to the programming team for review.

3. With Requests For Proposals (RFPs), Creative Time invites artists to submit projects responding to a specific opportunity. These opportunities are announced on our website as they become available.

4. Creative Time also directly approaches artists to cultivate ideas for projects, which are then developed over a period of weeks or years, depending on the needs of the individual project.