We do not accept students currently enrolled in school. A BA, MA, BFA, or MFA is not required.

We do accept collectives, however we ask that you apply by way of a single application and specify that you are part of a collective and will be sharing the space with other artists.

BCA Studio Residency alumni must wait one year to reapply following their last residency. New applicants will be prioritized over alumni.

Our goal is to gather a diverse and inclusive community of artists for the purpose of supporting innovative work across disciplines, connecting artists with peers and resources, and providing a vibrant platform for new art in Boston.

Applications will be evaluated based on artist’s demonstration of:

Experimentation. Does the artist’s practice display innovation, openness to new ideas, perspectives and techniques?

Responsiveness. Is the artist’s work relevant, topical, in dialogue with issues of contemporary interest?

Balance. Does the artist think holistically about the relationships between art and life?

Community engagement. Does the artist demonstrate a willingness and aptitude for significant give and take exchange among colleagues and audiences? and

Potential impact. How does the artist articulate the impact of this residency on their practice?

Eligibility Requirements

• The residency must be used to develop new work and rehearsal time must be dedicated to the proposed project.
• Lead artists must be residents of the Boston metropolitan area (within route 495).
• Ensemble/company must include a minimum of three local dancers, not including the choreographer. 
• Choreographers must have created original work for a minimum of four years. We seek dancemakers who are actively working at their craft at the present time.
• Since the focus of this residency is evening-length ensemble work, preference will go to those who have developed long format work (40+ minutes) or made two dance films (10+ minutes) within the past three years. Interested applicants who do not meet this criteria or have had barriers preventing them from meeting criteria should reach out to us ahead of applying to inquire about eligibility. 

Applications will be evaluated by guest panelists on the following criteria:  

• Proposed concept of work to be developed during the residency.
• Potential impact on the development of the dancemaker’s career and risk taken in the creative process.
• Clarity of work shown in application materials and overall capacity to bring a concept from idea to presentation.

Andrea Blesso, Director of Dance, Boston Center for the Arts (andrea@bostonarts.org) and Debra Cash, Executive Director, Boston Dance Alliance (dcash@bostondancealliance.org) are available to answer questions and provide additional information about the residency.

• ACTivate is open to all Boston-based visual, performing, and interdisciplinary artists with priority given to BIPOC, Immigrant, New American, and historically underrepresented artists and their collaborators.
• The collective or lead artist(s) must live or work within the City of Boston, with preference given to artists who live in Allston-Brighton, Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Roslindale, and Roxbury.
• Collective or lead artist(s) must have a demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion.

Open to artists, writers, and composers. 

Selected residents will be offered one of two types of residency. The type of residency offered will be determined by the Admissions Panel and Final Selection Committee during the admissions process. All residencies include living space in PlySpace and studio space.

PlySpace Residents will be offered living quarters, studio amenities, and will be paired with a community collaborator based on their personal and collaborative project proposals and interests. Residents are expected to complete a public talk about their work and complete a project in partnership with their Community Collaborator. Resident Artists will have full access to the PlySpace studio spaces as well as limited access to the School of Art (SOA) facilities at Ball State University. They will receive a $500 travel stipend and a $500 food stipend for their residency period, between 4 and 12 weeks.

PlySpace Resident Fellows will be offered living quarters, studio amenities, and will be paired with the Ball State University School of Art as their community collaborator. Resident Fellows are expected to conduct multiple public programs connected to their practice through their partnership with the SOA. Resident Fellows will have access to the SOA facilities necessary to complete their projects as well as the PlySpace studio spaces. Resident Fellows will receive a $1000 stipend provided by PlySpace to be used for travel and living expenses and up to $2000 in funding toward their proposed collaborative project and supplies. Resident Fellows must plan a 9 to 12 week residency stay.

Three individual or collective applicants will be accepted for each residency term (one PlySpace Resident Fellow and two PlySpace Residents).

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PlySpace welcomes both emerging and established artists and creatives from a variety of disciplines. Applicants should be dedicated practitioners in their field and able to work safely and independently for the entire residency period to which they are assigned. Applicants should not be enrolled in a degree-granting program at the time of application and must be over 21 years of age. In order to expand and complement the creative resources available within the city of Muncie, Indiana, admission preference will be given to applicants who live and work outside of Delaware County, Indiana. Applicants can submit one application per term.

PlySpace encourages artists and creatives of all backgrounds to apply for admission. PlySpace does not discriminate in its programs and activities against anyone on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, marital status, ancestry, disability, HIV status, or veteran status.

Collective Teams

Collective teams of 2-3 individuals can be accommodated and are encouraged to apply. Please submit a combined application and portfolio detailing work that you have produced as a team. PlySpace can admit one collective group for any single residency term. If you require anything other than separate living space and shared studio space, you should indicate this in your proposal. We will assume that collaborative groups will need separate spaces for living. Unfortunately, we can only offer one studio space per application, so collective groups will need to share a single studio. 

International Applicants

International applicants are welcome to apply; however, please be aware that all programming is conducted in English and will not have a translator. Applicants must be able to communicate in English with enough fluency to complete their community collaborative projects. International applicants must be able to make their own travel plans to and from Muncie, Indiana, and obtain all necessary Visas and travel documentation as required by their home country and the U.S. The $500 travel stipend is not available for travel outside of the U.S. PlySpace cannot waive application fees for international applicants and does not have additional funding to provide international applicants outside of the stipend amounts listed above.

Applicants with Disabilities or Service Animals

Applicants with disabilities should contact PlySpace at hello@plyspace.org to discuss accommodation options prior to submitting an application.

Applications are reviewed by an external committee of artists, academics, curators, and non-profit professionals. The committee considers the following metrics when viewing applications: the artistic merit of submitted work, the alignment of the application with organizational mission and values, applicant’s desire to be part of a community, applicant’s ability to work safely and independently in the studio, and building a diverse cohort of makers.

We encourage applicants to attend, or view, the Residency Info Session before applying. Read and review the Resident Program Handbook for complete guidelines & expectations.

Applications for the 2025-2026 Year-long cohort open on December 1st, 2024. The deadline for applications is March 1st, 2025 at 11:59 pm. 

The Steel Yard is committed to diversity and inclusion. It is the policy of the Steel Yard that there shall be no discrimination with respect to the selection of the artist in residence because of race, color, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, gender, age, physical limitations or military status.

Program Period
The fellowship residency period runs from July through June of the following year and includes one to nine months of studio residency at Kala Art Institute with 24/7 access to communal studio spaces, equipment, and resources. 

A Full Application Includes:
-Completed Application Form, you can apply on Slideroom.
-Statement of Interest in working at Kala Art Institute and how a Fellowship Award will affect a specific future project and/or how it will impact your overall practice.
-Artist CV
-Documentation of recent work: Provide 1-15 items. Allowed Media Types: Images (up to 5MB each), Video (up to 250MB each), Audio (up to 30MB each), PDFs (up to 10MB each), 3D Models, External media from YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud
-Two References
 

Accommodations: Kala offers shared artist housing located across the street from Kala’s facilities. Kala has two, two-bedroom apartments and can house 4 artist-in-residence each month.  Please note that Kala’s shared artist apartments are 2 bedroom apartments, meaning you will be living with a roommate and sharing a kitchen, living room, and bathroom. The apartment cannot accommodate partners, co-parents, or children. There is a $200 non-refundable housing deposit which will be applied towards the residency costs. An alternative housing list is available that includes local community members who rent out space in their homes. In this case, artists are responsible for finding their housing.

Location description: The Print Studio is located at the top of three flights of stairs. Kala Print Studio, 1060 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710.

Please note:
– Students who will be enrolled in a degree-granting program in the 2024-2025 academic year are not eligible for the award. For questions about the online application guidelines, e-mail Artist Residency Manager, Leyla Rzayeva at leyla@kala.org.

Chicago artists may apply through our annual open call, which opens in July. National and international residents are selected in collaboration with partner institutions

This residency is only available to residents of Minnesota.