The Studios is a unique residency housed in MASS MoCA - one of the world's largest contemporary art museums. The Studios residency hosts artist and writers within the museum’s factory campus and is surrounded by the beautiful Berkshire Mountains. Operated by MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists program, the residency runs year-round and hosts up to 10 artists at a time. Artists of any nationality can apply for stays of 2 or 4 weeks.
We offer 24/7 studio space on MASS MoCA's campus, housing across the street (private rooms in shared apartments), one group meal per day, member-access to MASS MoCA's galleries, access to professional development webinars though our "Assets for Artists" program, and opportunities to share your work with an international cohort of peers as well as museum staff and community members.
The residency program has several different fellowship programs including General Fellowships, and fellowships specifically for Massachusetts-based Artists or Writers, Oregon-Based Visual Artists, Puerto Rican Artists, Black or Indigenous Visual Artists or Writers, and more. For more information, read below.
Residency Eligibility
Residency Experience Summary
Application Information
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR APPLICATION PROCESS HERE
GENERAL APPLICATION:
Most people apply through our general application, which is typically for residencies 3-9 months out from the award date. In our regular application, you can opt to be considered for financial aid or one of our fully funded fellowships. Because our regular application includes financial aid, it is our most competitive option. Artists requesting financial aid typically pay between $0 - $450/wk depending on their needs. This application is also available in Spanish. Deadlines for General Applications are June 8th or November 8th each year. The application will open two months prior to the deadline.
Learn more about our Financial Aid and Fellowships.
EARLY APPLICATION:
Our "Early Application" is for artists who could benefit from additional lead time to plan their stay (9 months - 15 months) and to apply for outside funding from sources such as their university or international or regional arts councils. Artists applying with the Early Application will NOT be considered for MASS MoCA's financial aid budget OR fellowships, so you should only use this particular application if you are planning to fully fund your stay through outside grants or personal funds at our already subsidized rate of $650 per week. Deadline for Early Applications are March 8th and October 8th. Application will open two months prior to deadline.
ALUMNI APPLICATION:
If you’re a Studios at MASS MoCA alum, we’re thrilled that you're interested in coming back! Each application cycle, we have a special, simplified application for you to tell us briefly what you’ve been up to since your prior residency. With this application, you’re only competing against fellow alumni, so while not as competitive as our general application, we only reserve a few alumni spots each season and acceptance is not guaranteed. Alumni are not eligible for residency fellowships or our reduced financial aid and instead pay a standard alumni rate of $400/wk for residencies of 4 weeks, or $450/wk for a 2-week residency. (Note students who have attended a workshop-in-residence are not considered eligible alumni for this opportunity) Alumni apps follow the Early Application timeline.
HOW TO APPLY:
Artists are invited to apply through Assets for Artists’ Submittable page. The application is always free to apply. You can join our mailing list to be kept up-to-date when our next application round opens.
The already subsidized, standard artist residency fee is $650/week (it’s $900+/wk of actual costs), but every artist applying through our regular application can be considered for partial and full need-based financial aid, so don’t let that number deter you! Simply fill out the financial questions at the bottom of your application, and your financial aid package will be sent to you along with your award letter. Unless you receive one of our full-ride fellowships, you will be asked to pay at least some portion of your residency fees.
We offer many full-ride fellowships, often in specific donor-identified categories. Certain fellowships may come with additional travel/material stipends. Our fellowship opportunities change every season, so check back regularly, or join our mailing list to keep updated on what funding opportunities we are offering this year.
Financial Aid being offered this application round:
GENERAL FELLOWSHIPS
FELLOWSHIPS FOR BLACK & INDIGENOUS ARTISTS/WRITERS
MASSACHUSETTS ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS
PUERTO RICO ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS
OREGON VISUAL ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS
UNIVERSITY-SPONSORED FELLOWSHIPS