International Residencies Program in the Visual Arts

Deadline

1 April

Program Description

The International Residencies Program in the Visual Arts supports professional visual and fine craft artists, and independent critics and curators. Residencies are for individuals who wish to pursue creative work and networking opportunities abroad. Grants contribute toward subsistence, travel, production costs, accommodation and residency fees for professional Canadian artists to participate in an international residency.

Description of Residencies

La Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (www.citedesartsparis.net)

La Cité Internationale des Arts is located in the heart of Paris, at 18 rue de l’Hôtel de Ville. Here, two studios are available to Canadian artists. Each is a furnished bachelor apartment, including studio (approximately 22 square metres).

Six residencies are awarded for a period of four months each. The schedule for residencies following the program deadline is January to April, May to August, and September to December.

International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York (www.iscp-nyc.org)

Located at 1040 Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn, the International Studio & Curatorial Program provides studio facilities and living accommodation. It promotes career development by facilitating exposure to and connection with the New York art community. Studio visits from national and international visitors and field trips are regularly scheduled. In addition, residents participate in an open studio event.

Two residencies are awarded for a period of six months each. The schedule for residencies following the program deadline is September to February, and March to August.

Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (www.bethanien.de)

Located in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, the Künstlerhaus Bethanien offers studios, gallery space and various workshops for wood, metal and synthetic materials, as well as video and digital media. The studio is also a furnished bachelor apartment (approximately 75 square metres). In addition to these facilities, the Künstlerhaus Bethanien provides artists with organizational and technical assistance, promotion and networking on an international level.

One residency is awarded for a period of 12 months, which results in the completion of a project that is presented to the public. The schedule for residency following the program deadline is November to October.

SPACE, London (www.spacestudios.org.uk)

SPACE, set up in 1968 by artist Bridget Riley, provides 450 studios and is London’s first and largest studio organization. SPACE has converted a former college site into a multi-use artists’ resource centre and studio complex called the Triangle. Situated in the heart of the artistic community in East London, the area is home to many contemporary art spaces and organizations.

Two residencies are awarded for a period of six months each. The schedule for residencies following the program deadline is September to February, and March to August.

Artspace, Australia (www.artspace.org.au)

Artspace is a leading international residency-based contemporary art centre, housed in the historic Gunnery Building in Woolloomooloo fronting Sydney Harbour. Committed to the development of new ideas and practices in contemporary art and culture, since the early 1980s Artspace has been building a critical context for Australian and international artists, curators and writers. This new component is a pilot exchange between Artspace (Sydney) and the Darling Foundry (Montreal).

One residency is awarded for a period of three months. The schedule for residency following the program deadline is April to June.

Parramatta Artists Studios, Australia (www.parracity.nsw.gov.au)

Aboriginal International Residency Exchange Between Canada and Australia is a pilot exchange supported by a partnership of the Canada Council for the Arts (Visual Arts Section and Aboriginal Arts Office), the Darling Foundry (Montreal), Parramatta Artists Studios (Sydney) and the New South Wales Government through Arts NSW. This exchange is intended to increase the international profile of Canadian Aboriginal artists and to provide mutual cultural, artistic and intellectual exchange with visiting Australian Aboriginal artists.

Canadian Aboriginal artists are defined as First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists.

Launched in September 2006, the Parramatta Artists Studios is progressing to the fore of contemporary artistic production. Located in the centre of Parramatta, in the heart of Western Sydney, it offers non-residential and residential studio space to emerging and established contemporary artists, fine craft practitioners and creative industry professionals to support the development of their practice. Activities at the Studios revolve around making, learning about and sharing contemporary arts in all their forms.

One residency is awarded to an Aboriginal visual artist for a period of three months. The schedule for residency following the program deadline is October to December.

Eligibility

Eligible Applicants

General Eligibility Criteria

To apply to the Canada Council for the Arts, you must be a Canadian citizen or have permanent resident status, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. You must also meet the Canada Council’s definition of a professional artist, which is an artist who:

has specialized training in the field (not necessarily in academic institutions)
is recognized as such by his or her peers, and
is committed to devoting more time to artistic activity, if financially feasible.

Note that meeting the eligibility criteria allows you to apply to the program. It does not, however, guarantee that you will receive a grant.

This Canada Council program is accessible to Aboriginal artists and artists of diverse cultural and regional communities of Canada.

Specific Eligibility Criteria

This program requires all applicants to have made a nationally or internationally recognized contribution to their discipline through public presentation of their work outside their province or territory.

In addition to meeting the general eligibility criteria, to meet the definition of a professional visual and fine craft artist you must have:

produced an independent body of work
maintained an independent, professional practice for at least three years after receiving specialized training, and
made at least three public presentations of work in a professional context over a three-year period.

In addition to meeting the general eligibility criteria, to meet the definition of a professional independent critic or curator you must have:

produced an independent body of work after receiving specialized training
made at least three independent public presentations of your work over a three-year period after receiving specialized training, and
written at least three critical texts or reviews that have been published in a professional context.

Professional Context

Artists’ public presentations and exhibitions, both in Canada and abroad, must be in a professional visual arts and fine craft organization or context where the artists’ work is recognized by a professional curator, gallery owner/art dealer or collective of professional artists.

In Canada, to be considered professional, an organization must be a public art gallery, a museum or an artist-run centre that pays a professional fee to participating artists. The condition of paying fees does not apply to commercial galleries or professional venues outside Canada.

The Canada Council for the Arts recognizes that, for contemporary visual and fine craft artists from Aboriginal as well as culturally diverse communities and, in rare cases, artists living in remote areas, the networks for peer recognition and exhibition venues may exist in alternative professional contexts. The acceptance of alternative professional contexts will be determined with the expertise of Aboriginal and culturally diverse communities in the Visual Arts Section and, if necessary, in collaboration with peers in the milieu.

Note: Exhibitions and public presentations in venues that do not have a mandate in the visual arts (such as coffee shops, restaurants and libraries) are not considered to be professional visual arts venues.

Other Restrictions

Students are not eligible.

Educational projects and capital and large equipment costs are not eligible.

Retroactive funding is not available. Grants cannot be used for projects that have already been completed or for expenses already committed before the application deadline.

You may apply for only one Canada Council grant to professional artists program (or to one deadline of that program) in any fiscal year (1 April to 31 March). The Canada Council will also accept a request from you for one travel grant each fiscal year.

You can receive a maximum of two grants to professional artists from the Canada Council in any 48-month period.

All final reports due for previous Canada Council grants must be submitted before the application deadline for this program. If you have not submitted all final reports that are due, your application will not be eligible.

Note: If you are an established professional artist who works in more than one discipline, such as Visual Arts as well as Music, and meets the eligibility criteria as an established artist in both disciplines, you may apply to two different grants to professional artists programs in a fiscal year. You must, however, accept or refuse the first grant offered by the Canada Council within two weeks of the date you are notified of the grant. If you accept the first grant offered, your other application will be withdrawn from competition in that fiscal year.

The Visual Arts Section considers established artists as those at a mature stage in their careers who have created an extensive independent body of work and have made a nationally or internationally recognized contribution to their discipline through public presentation of their work. Established artists must have at least 15 years of exhibitions history in a professional context.

Grant Amount and Eligible Expenses

La Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris

The total grant amount of $21,000 applies to the resident’s expenses, allocated as follows:

travel allowance (to a maximum of $1,500)
residency and accommodation fees for single occupancy ($1,500)
subsistence for four months ($8,000)
production costs ($10,000)

International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York

The total grant amount of $23,500 applies to the resident’s expenses. Residency and accommodation fees, for single occupancy, are paid directly by the Canada Council for the Arts to the International Studio & Curatorial Program.