An Ecology of Exchange is a 3.5-week self-funded residency in Joshua Tree, California for writers, poets, musicians, choreographers, dance artists, and artists working in ephemeral, performance, or video installation forms. We also welcome journalists, scientists, and researchers with an active creative practice.
This September, three residents from different disciplines share two houses in the high desert, with private sleeping space, shared living areas, and a dedicated movement studio. There is no required collaborative project or theme. Instead, the residency creates conditions for cross-pollination: the possibility that one person's way of seeing may alter another's way of working.
The 3.5-week arc moves from an opening welcome gathering, through informal mid-residency exchange, to a closing Cross-Pollination Session where residents reflect on how their practices have influenced one another. Where possible, we connect residents with the local arts community through a journalist, gallery, school, or radio program.
As a longtime Joshua Tree resident, our founder created this program to close the gap between visiting artists and the community that calls this place home, and to offer the kind of interdisciplinary exchange that shaped her own career as a choreographer and movement-based artist.
$1,200 per resident. Three resident spots per session. LGBTQ+ artists and applicants of all backgrounds are especially welcome.
Residency Eligibility
Residency Experience Summary
Application Information
Who Should Apply
We welcome emerging, mid-career, and established practitioners with an active creative practice.
We are particularly interested in:
- Writers and poets
- Music composers and sound artists
- Choreographers and dance artists
- Performance artists
- Visual artists
- Video and installation artists
- Interdisciplinary artists
- Artists working with landscape, ecology, embodiment, perception, or place
- Researchers, scientists, and journalists with an active artistic practice
You do not need to identify your work as “environmental art” to apply.
We are interested in artists who are curious about how the body and the earth can both be understood as landscapes — and who are willing to let their thinking be influenced by other disciplines, other practices, and the desert itself.
Cost
$1,200 per resident for the full 3.5-week September session.
The fee covers residency housing, shared amenities, access to the movement studio, and the residency's programming and community connections.
Residents are responsible for travel, meals, materials, and personal expenses.
Because this is a self-funded residency, there is no stipend however we do provide welcome dinner and passes to local activities like pools, parks and events (seasonal subject to availability). We also provide opportunities to share work with journalists, art galleries and higher EDU campuses - developing visibility and new contacts for further opportunities.
Why a Self-Funded Residency?
The residency is intentionally designed as a small, accessible alternative to highly competitive fully funded programs.
The $1,200 fee allows the residency to offer a carefully structured three-and-a-half-week experience in Joshua Tree while keeping the cohort small and the environment personal.
The aim is simple: give artists meaningful time, space, and proximity to other ways of thinking.
We are currently seeking sponsorship for grant funds for all artists, if we aquire those we will apply funds evenly to each resident.