Artist residencies 101

What a residency is

An artist residency gives you time and a place to work away from your usual routine. The host provides some mix of studio space, housing, equipment, technical help and company; you bring a project, or sometimes just a question. Residencies last anywhere from a week to a year, and they range from fully paid to expensive.

The key thing to understand is that “residency” describes a format, not a deal. Two programs with the same name can work in opposite directions financially, so read the terms before you read the brochure.

The main kinds

• Funded residencies. The host pays you a fee or stipend and usually covers housing and studio. These are the most competitive.
• Free but unfunded. Housing and studio cost nothing, but you pay your own travel, food and materials.
• Fee-paying. You pay tuition or a program fee, often with scholarships. You are buying time, facilities, mentorship and a peer group.
• Production residencies. Access to specialized equipment and technicians: print shops, foundries, ceramics kilns, media labs.
• Research residencies. Time to read, explore and experiment without having to finish or exhibit anything.
• Community and municipal residencies. A city, library, school or community organization hosts an artist to work with the public, usually with an honorarium.

What they cost and what they pay: four Canadian examples

Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Its summer 2026 visual arts residency was a six-week, faculty-mentored program for artists at any career stage. The total fee for tuition, a single room and meals was $11,460 per person before scholarships. Every arts participant receives a scholarship covering all tuition and a quarter of meal and room costs, which brought the cost down to about $5,287; Canadian Indigenous participants receive full coverage of tuition, meals and accommodation. Applying cost $65, or $35 for Indigenous applicants.

Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (KIAC). In Dawson City, KIAC has hosted artists since 2001 in partnership with Parks Canada. Residents get free housing and studio space but no stipend, and they cover travel, food and materials. Each resident hosts one public event, such as a talk or open studio. KIAC says its calendar is full until March 2028, so watch for the next call.

Est-Nord-Est. Founded in 1992 on the St. Lawrence, this artist-run centre is devoted entirely to residencies. Each eight-week cycle hosts four visual artists and one writer on visual art, and includes a fee, accommodation, logistical support and access to its technical resources. Its regular call for artists and writers is open until 8 November 2026.

City of Kitchener. Kitchener’s 2027 Artist in Residence is a six-month, part-time residency with a $10,000 honorarium paid in two instalments and up to $2,500 for pre-approved expenses. Applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents with a clear connection to Waterloo Region; the deadline is 3 December 2026.

Artist-run centres across the country run their own residencies too. Browse our list of artist-run centres in Canada and check each centre’s calls.

How to apply

1. Read the mandate. What does the host want from residents: research, production, public engagement, a finished work?
2. Match your project to the place. Explain why this residency, with its facilities, landscape, community or peers, is right for this stage of your work.
3. Write a clear proposal. What you will do, what you need, and what you hope to come away with. Be honest if it is exploratory.
4. Send strong support material. Images or video of recent work, a CV and a short statement. See our artist CV template and artist statement guide.
5. Budget for the whole trip. Travel, food, materials, shipping, lost income, and any fee after scholarships.
6. Plan ahead. Popular programs select a year or more in advance, and deadlines often come months before the residency.

How to pay for it

• The Canada Council for the Arts has an International Residencies component to help artists attend residencies abroad. It has several deadlines a year (in 2026 they were 28 January, 17 June and 21 October), so check its page for the next one before you plan. Its micro-grants support travel for professional development, and its Explore and Create program’s Artistic Creation component funds the creation of new work, which can include time at a residency.
• Provincial and territorial arts councils fund creation projects that can cover residency time, and some fund travel.
• The host’s own scholarships, such as Banff’s standard scholarship and its Indigenous scholarship.
• Municipal arts councils sometimes support local artists’ professional development.

Apply to the residency and the grant in parallel; many funders accept a letter of invitation as part of the application.

Things to check before you go

• What exactly is included, and what is extra: studio, housing, meals, materials, equipment time, technical help.
• Whether you must produce, exhibit or present anything.
• Who owns work made during the residency (it should be you) and whether the host keeps a piece.
• Accessibility of housing and studios. KIAC, for example, notes that its residence is not wheelchair accessible.
• Whether children or partners can come.
• The cancellation and refund policy for any fees.

Treat a fee-paying residency as a purchase. It can be worth it, but it is not an honour you were awarded, and it reads differently on a CV from a funded one.

Finding residencies

TransArtists, run by the Dutch organization DutchCulture, keeps an international residency database with open calls. The Artist Communities Alliance publishes a directory of residency programs, mainly in the United States. Akimbo lists Canadian residencies under its learning listings.

A note for US readers: the US has many residencies, from fully funded fellowships to fee-paying summer programs. The Artist Communities Alliance directory is the usual starting point.