The Visions from the New California Award seeks to celebrate, support and promote the work of outstanding California visual artists from geographically and ethnically diverse communities.
—Please note applications closed on May 16th, 2008—
Funded by the The James Irvine Foundation, the purpose of the award is to identify and serve highly talented, yet under-recognized, visual artists who represent the new California demographic. The six selected artists will receive a one-month residency at one of the participating residency programs* and a $4000 stipend to use as they choose. Each artist’s residency experience and creative results will be documented in a widely distributed publication designed to assist the careers of the award recipients as well as publicize artist residency opportunities available to all artists. One of the project’s aims is for a greater number of diverse artists to apply to and attend residency programs in California and ultimately across the US.
Participating residencies:
18th Street Arts Center / Santa Monica
Djerassi Resident Artists Program / Woodside
Exploratorium / San Francisco
Headlands Center for the Arts / Sausalito
Kala Art Institute / Berkeley
The Sally and Don Lucas Artists Program at Montalvo / Saratoga
Download application materials:
application form
checklist
participating programs
Download the most recent Visions from the New California publication
Eligibility: Applicants must be permanent California residents who are not currently students. The program seeks to promote visual artists who are under-served, under-recognized or under-represented in the mainstream and thus have not had extensive solo exhibitions at galleries or museums or have not received any major grants or fellowships for individual artists. Applicants should display artistic excellence and be committed to an artistic career. Individuals who have completed residencies at participating CA Visions sites are ineligible as are those who have been awarded more than one previous residency elsewhere. The program aims to recognize artists who represent the racial/ethnic demographic mix of California, who live throughout the state (particularly beyond the San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan areas) and who work in a range of visual art media.
Review Process: Application and work samples will be viewed by a prestigious panel of artists and art professionals from California as well as representatives from each of the six artist residency programs.
Application Deadline: May 16, 2008. All materials and supporting documents must be postmarked by May 16th. Please do not send certified or Return Receipt Requested. A postcard will be sent notifying you of receipt of application.
Send to:
Visions from the New California
Djerassi Resident Artists Program
2325 Bear Gulch Road
Woodside, CA 94062
Notification: All applicants will be notified no later than August 1, 2008.
(Photos of 2005-06 artists-in-residence – top photo: Mooshka; above from left: Andaleeb Firdosy, Daniel Lavitt, Midori Harima, Ricardo Rivera, Taraneh Hemami)
Visions from the New California will recognize and support 18 California visual artists by 2009. The 2007 artists in residence include:
Bihn Dahn, photographer, San Jose
Sergio De La Torre, filmmaker/photographer, Oakland
John Leaños, new media artist, San Francisco
Yoon Lee, painter, San Francisco
Sarah Perry, sculptor, Acton
Lauren Woods, filmmaker/documentarian, San Francisco
"…We are far more cognizant of the powerful effect the whole program has not only on the artists who are ultimately awarded residencies, but also on all the artists who are recognized and participate in the process," said Dennis O’Leary, Executive Director of Djerassi Resident Artists Program and Trustee of the Alliance of Artists Communities. "The awareness of the significance of residencies on an artist’s career has been profound."
Based in Providence, RI, the Alliance of Artists Communities is the only national network of artists’ communities, colonies and residency programs, with 250 members worldwide. The Alliance contributes to the nation’s cultural vitality by giving a collective voice to artists’ communities, promoting successful practices in the field, and advocating for creative environments that support the work of today’s artists. The Alliance represents programs that support artists in all disciplines, believing that collaboration and exchange that cross traditional boundaries furthers our culture’s progress. For more information on this project, contact the Alliance.
Alliance of Artists Communities
255 South Main Street
Providence, RI 02903
Phone: (401) 351-4320
Fax: (401) 351-4507
Email: aac@artistcommunities.org