Open Call for Artists!
If you are a visual artist who is in the beginning or mid stages of your career, with a goal to make art your business, the Arts Warehouse would love to have you join their resident program!
The Arts Warehouse is accepting applications from July 1, 2021 to August 15, 2021 and should have five studio spaces available for five budding artists, depending on the vacant studios at the time of review. Not only will artists in the resident program have the opportunity to share space with other like-minded artists, they will also have the opportunity for greater exposure and marketing that the Arts Warehouse provides.
“I’m looking forward to a mix-up of the energy in the studio hallways, hopefully with new mediums being used, and work styles that we don’t yet have,” said Grace Gdaniec, Arts Warehouse manager. “The artists naturally develop a cooperative community so I think the more creative juices flowing, the better. It would also be great to have artists with different experiences as far as schooling, other residencies, or business experience. It’s exciting when the hallways feel full and busy.”
The resident program is a minimum of one year and a maximum of four years. As an arts incubator, it is important to encourage the artists to grow during their residency, with a goal of branching out on their own after the four-year term, said Gdaniec.
There is a review process at the end of each year term where the artist meets with the Arts Warehouse team to determine if continuation is in the best interest or appropriate for the artist based on the previous year. That meeting includes reviewing goals met, creating an updated business plan, discussing future goals, and more.
The current vacancies are due to changes with resident artists over the last year. The resident studio artist application timeline has been re-written during this closure. Beginning this year, new applications will only be accepted July 1 through August 15 of each year, with accepted artists being notified by September 15 and a move-in date of October 1. There may be some years with no studio vacancies, and the application window may remain closed, so the time to take advantage of this opportunity is now!
“This is the first year that we are accepting applications not on a rolling basis, and only during this designated time period annually,” Gdaniec said. “Many of the current and past residents have hit milestones and goals that they had set for themselves, whether more sales, exhibitions, or perhaps number of Instagram followers to build their client base.”
Visual artists broadly include filmmakers, photographers, sculptors, etc. The studios are rented at $2 per square foot in order to be affordable for beginning artists. The accepted applicant will have access to their studio 24/7, along with exposure from daily visitors, access to special events, workshops and business development workshops.
There are no exact requirements that an artist must have, but the application does ask for a portfolio of current or recent work, a letter of interest for having a studio at Arts Warehouse, and a business plan that might outline achievable goals that would be positively impacted by the studio space and opportunities here. No formal school or training is required.
All artists who feel like this opportunity will be a great fit are encouraged to apply! The application is all digital and submitted through an online portal on artswarehouse.org.
