Residency Program

Aimed exclusively at mid-career artists, this three-year, free-of-cost program isn’t just about creating a body of work. We augment our resident’s portfolio with both connections intra-program and to the community itself. As our residents build their physical body of work, we work to help them foster relationships with collectors, patrons, and art professionals in the creative community.

“Studios Inc is a welcome addition to the landscape of contemporary art practice. In the grand tradition of the non-profit studio and exhibition spaces of the 1960’s and 1970’s, it offers an alternative to artists in an art world increasingly dominated by a market mentality. It affords mid-career artists the most precious of gifts: the space and solitude necessary for the cultivation of serious art.”
— James Meyer, National Gallery of Art: Associate Curator of Modern Art

Benefits

  • Fenced-in lot available for outdoor installations, performances or workspace

  • Wood shop

  • Length of residency shall be for a period not to exceed 3 years.

  • Each resident artist is assigned a studio of between 750 and 3,000 square feet.

  • Each resident artist commits to a solo show in The Studios Inc Exhibition Space

  • Resident artists gain more public recognition for their work and broader access to collectors.

  • Resident artist’s work included in our annual exhibition.

  • The Studios Patron Program, provides the opportunity for a heightened level of dialogue between resident artist and patron through studio visits and exhibitions.  In addition to funding an artist’s studio, Patrons are encouraged to cultivate relationships with the artists to learn more about the creative process and to provide additional career advancement assistance.

Qualifications

  • A willingness to support program objectives by maintaining a strong studio presence, maximizing use of available facilities to create significant work, contributing to a collegial creative atmosphere, and participating in studio community activities.

  • A strong desire to produce art as demonstrated by a solid track record.

  • A focus on his or her unique definition of their “next level” of professional achievement.

  • Must reside in the Greater Kansas City area (Jackson, Platte, and Clay counties in MO and Johnson, Wyandotte, and Douglas counties in Kansas) now or be willing to relocate to live in the Kansas City area for the duration of the residency.  If applying as a non-resident, please include a short statement regarding of your intention to relocate to the area.

  • Must be a mid-career artist (an artist with at least seven years experience since undergraduate studies or professional equivalent).  Mid-career is a flexible category, defined partly by age, partly by time on the job, but they have one thing in common: their work has developed over time and maintained its presence for a number of years as evidenced by regional or national recognition through publication or public presentation. Beyond our quantitative measure of seven years experience after undergraduate studies, it is a qualitative measure where an artist has a body of work that has a fully developed language or style.

Requirements

  • Artists must sign an annual lease documenting their occupancy requirements.

  • Artists also provide all supplies, equipment, and insurance for their studio space.

  • Artists are asked to gift two significant works annually, which Studios uses to secure program funding through the Patron and studio.gallery programs.

  • Artists shall maintain residence in the Greater Kansas City area for the duration of their residency.

  • Artists must maintain a strong studio presence, maximizing use of available facilities to create significant work.

Application Process

Phase I

Studios Inc Director will submit the call for artists as per guidelines on the studiosinc.org website beginning August 15, 2022. The submission window close on October 15, 2022. Studios Inc management will screen the applications to ensure all meet the eligibility requirements for the program; those applications that do not will be set aside.

Phase II

Studios Inc Director will convene a Selection Panel. The Selection Panel will be comprised of seven (7) voting individuals; at least two (2) of whom will be female, with the Studios Inc Director serving as a non-voting facilitator and adviser.  The panel will be composed of:

  • Two (2) Studios Inc Board Members

  • Four (4) Invited members from the regional arts community

  • One (1) Existing Studios Inc. resident artist (preference to be given to an artist about to leave)

Prior to the meeting, Studios Inc Director will prepare copies of the qualified applications and will distribute those electronically to the Selection Panel at least one week prior to the initial selection meeting. The Selection Panel will then meet to review the proposals of the artists who have applied for membership in the program, and who meet all eligibility requirements. The panel will view images of the work submitted by the applicants and will conduct a frank and open discussion about each applicant, with the ultimate goal being to narrow the list of possible studio recipients to no less than twice the number of available open studios. For example, if there are two available studio slots for a given year, the Selection Panel will initially select no less than four finalists, but no more than three times the number of available studios. This will provide at least one primary recipient and one alternate for each available studio slot. At the end of this initial process, Studios Inc Director will notify the list of remaining applicants that they have been moved on to the second round of the process, and will also inform those not included.

Phase III

Studios Inc Director will arrange with the Selection Panel several times during the Phase where the Selection Panel can have a deeper dive with each finalist artist. The format will consist of a studio visit and formal presentation by each selected applicant. Alternatively, a selected artist can opt to make a formal presentation at the Studios Inc administrative offices. Regardless of method, these presentation or studio visits will last no longer than 30 minutes. The time frame for these presentations will be constrained, so the Selection Panel should be committed to devote two Saturdays to this process. The ultimate time commitment will be defined by the number of artists to present.

Phase IV

(within two weeks of conclusion of Phase III): The Selection Panel will reconvene to discuss the studio visits held during over the previous phase and to determine the final order of the applicants. Ideally, this Phase will occur immediately following the final artist presentations, but should be held absolutely no later than two weeks from the conclusion of the final presentations. The outcome of this meeting will be the formal selection of an artist for each available studio, plus an equal number of alternate artists in case the primary is unavailable to utilize the studio. Once these final selections are made, Studios Inc Director will notify both the selected artists and those not selected of the outcome of the selection process.