Free Conceptual Art Residencies

500 Capp Street

San Francisco, California, United States

The 500 Capp Street International Artist Residency hosts artists in The David Ireland House in San Francisco’s Mission District for a focused period of research and making, culminating in an exhibition. Residents may live or work in the House and access the Paule Anglim Room and David Ireland Archive, receiving curatorial guidance throughout. The residency emphasizes concept-driven practices and welcomes international and U.S.-based artists, with strong interest in sculpture and ideas aligned with David Ireland’s philosophies. Public programs may include installations, interventions, and community-facing events. The House offers elevator access to living quarters and wi‑fi. Partners may stay briefly by arrangement; the House is not suited to families or pets (service animals permitted).

Beppu Project

Beppu City, Japan

Beppu Project is a non-profit art organization founded in April that operates artist residency programs in Beppu City, a renowned hot spring area in southern Japan. The organization hosts the KASHIMA Artist in Residence program (since ) and short-term residencies at Kiyoshima Apartment, welcoming artists across multiple disciplines to create work while engaging with the local community.

Blueproject Foundation

Barcelona, Spain

The Blueproject Foundation, based in Barcelona, Spain, was a non-profit organization operating from to that supported emerging national and international artists through a residency program open to all creative disciplines, including visual arts, music, performing arts, and gastronomy. Residents received access to a dedicated studio space (El Taller), production support, financial grants, and opportunities for exhibitions or performances at the foundation's venues. Since late , the foundation has no permanent space and focuses on delocalized projects, podcasts, and collaborations, with the residency program appearing inactive.

Botkyrka Konsthall

Tumba, Sweden

Residence Botkyrka is a context-based interdisciplinary residency program hosted by Botkyrka Konsthall for internationally active artists, curators, architects, researchers, art educators, and cultural workers interested in site-specific work in Botkyrka. It provides a two-bedroom apartment in Fittja as a temporary home for researching and exploring new forms of art in public spaces, supporting projects that require longer stays and local participation. Residencies typically last one to two months, with stipends, housing, travel support, and production budgets offered in certain programs.

The Bruny Island Residency, run by the Bruny Island Foundation for the Arts in Tasmania, Australia, offered four-week supported residencies in and for artists across disciplines like visual arts, writing, music, and film, with projects focused on Bruny Island. Residencies took place at locations such as Honeycomb Cottage in Adventure Bay and Ventnor Homestead in Lunawanna, while the Cape Bruny Residency was held at a former lighthouse keeper's cottage in South Bruny Island National Park in partnership with the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service. These programs evolved into the BRUNY20 Arts Fellowship from -, providing opportunities for Australian artists to explore environmental themes.

BY ART MATTERS Residency is a non-profit program under the BY ART MATTERS contemporary art museum in Hangzhou, China, offering contemporary artists and researchers a dynamic space for living, working, showing, and sharing to foster international and domestic art exchange. It provides fully-equipped studios (50-100 sq. m each) with separate bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms, accommodation for 7 days to 3 months, a living stipend, and opportunities for public presentations and artist talks. Initially aimed at overseas artists, it now focuses on Chinese artists due to travel restrictions, with plans to resume international residencies.

Casa de Velázquez

Madrid, Spain

Casa de Velázquez, the Académie de France in Madrid, is a public institution offering artist residencies for stays of 2 to 11 months, welcoming around 30 artists annually across disciplines like visual arts, architecture, music, choreography, film, and photography. Residents receive dedicated studios, accommodation, and support through calls for applications and partnerships, fostering creation, research, and professional development linked to the Iberian Peninsula. Programs include long-term 11-month residencies for 13-15 artists and shorter collaborative grants.

Dekoloniale Berlin

Berlin, Germany

Dekoloniale Berlin Residency, organized by Dekoloniale Memory Culture in the City, invites artists, architects, designers, directors, photographers, fashion designers, and urban practitioners to create interventions addressing colonial histories in Berlin's public spaces, culminating in presentations at the Dekoloniale Festival. Residents receive access to a project space, curatorial guidance, production support, travel costs, accommodation, per diem, production budget, and a fee, with mandatory participation in workshops. The program typically spans about 6 months, from mid-May to mid-November, focusing on collaborative and interdisciplinary decolonial practices.

The Embassy of Foreign Artists (EOFA) is an international residency program based in Geneva, Switzerland, established in , that welcomes artists, researchers, and cultural actors from around the world. The program provides logistical and financial support for creative development, with a focus on bridging artistic and scientific practices around themes such as imagination in research processes.

Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Artist in Residence

Fukuoka, Japan

The Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Artist in Residence Program, started in 1999, invites local and international artists, including those from Asia, to stay in Fukuoka for 70-90 days to create and exhibit artworks such as paintings, sculptures, installations, photographs, films, and performances. Participants collaborate with local artists and the public, organize workshops and talks, and contribute to cultural exchange and understanding of contemporary Asian art. The program provides studio space in Artist Cafe Fukuoka and short-stay apartment accommodation, with financial support for one person per group in open calls.

Kinono Tinos Art Gathering

Tinos, Greece

Kinono Tinos Art Gathering is a multidimensional cultural organization in Tinos, Greece, since , running the 'Four-plus one- Elements' residency program that integrates the landscape, seasons, and elements (earth, water, air, fire, plus time) into artistic creations. It hosts interdisciplinary artists for site-specific works including visual arts, performing arts, sound, film, workshops, and research projects in non-urban island locations, fostering collaboration with locals and producing content for a digital artistic map of Tinos. The program emphasizes reflection on nature, tradition, history, and metaphysics, with past editions like the residency involving around 45 participants across five landmarks.

Kunsthal Gent

Ghent, Belgium

Kunsthal Gent, located in a 14th-century Carmelite monastery in Ghent, Belgium, offers residency programs including approximately six mini-residencies per year (up to 1 week with apartment access and €500 budget) and a Development Fellowship for up to 3 months with up to €5,000 budget for research and practice development. These programs support artists, collectives, and organizations in visual arts, architecture, design, audiovisual, performing arts, and public space, fostering experimentation, collaboration, and integration into the public programme. International participants receive an apartment, with irregular open calls for applications.

laberinto projects

El Congo, El Salvador

Laberinto Projects is an arts, culture, and education platform in El Congo, El Salvador, offering artist residencies including self-directed residencies (minimum three weeks, typically one month) and master artist workshops (one week) to foster contemporary art practices, social inclusion, and dialogue. Located overlooking Lake Coatepeque, it provides shared housing, meals, and opportunities for cultural exchanges, with scholarships available including $500 awards and fully funded options for Central Americans. The program supports established and emerging artists, writers, scholars, and creatives from diverse disciplines.

Laznia Center for Contemporary Art

Gdansk, Poland

The Artists and Curators in Residence Program at Łaźnia Centre for Contemporary Art in Gdańsk, Poland, is dedicated to Polish and international artists, curators, and researchers across various disciplines, focusing on art in public space, art & science, international exchange, and education. Since , over 100 participants have engaged in residencies held in the converted top floor of the Łaźnia 2 building in Nowy Port, which includes living spaces, gallery, workshops, studio cinema, and library. The program features bilateral exchanges, an AIR Incubator for young artists, and open calls like those offering long-term research residencies with housing, per diems, and fees.

Leveld Kunstnartun

Ål, Norway

Leveld Kunstnartun is an international artist residency program established in in Leveld, Norway, offering free accommodation, workspaces, and a monthly stipend to professional artists including visual artists, writers, musicians, curators, filmmakers, dancers, and architects for stays of 1 to 3 months. It promotes interdisciplinary artistic expression in a mountain village setting with facilities like bright studios, a writing room, graphics workshop, and equipped living quarters, while hosting open studios, workshops, and summer exhibitions.

Mahler & LeWitt Studios

Spoleto, Italy

The Mahler & LeWitt Studios in Spoleto, Italy, offers a residency program centered around the former studios of Anna Mahler and Sol LeWitt, providing a focused environment for artists, curators, and writers to develop new practices in dialogue with peers and the region's cultural heritage. It hosts three sessions per year in spring, summer, and autumn, each up to six weeks, with accommodation, studio space, and often travel funds, per diem, and materials budgets. The program includes special projects like music residencies and collaborations with events such as the Spoleto Festival.

Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA)

Accra, Ghana

The MIASA Artist Residency, hosted at the University of Ghana in Accra, offers artists the opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration with scholars and researchers. This three-month residency program focuses on sustainable governance and associated themes such as peace, democracy, migration, human rights, and African cities. Artists from diverse creative fields (visual, performing, digital, and textual arts) are invited to contribute to ongoing research and scientific discussions, while allowing the arts to enrich and challenge traditional academic perspectives. During their stay, artists are expected to interact with fellows and the broader academic community at MIASA. The residency is fully funded, providing a stipend, accommodation allowance, and project funding.

MoT +++

Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam

MoT+++ is an independent, artist-run space in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, managing the A. Farm International Art Residency program, which offers funded, self-funded, and exchange-based opportunities to artists from Vietnam and abroad to foster experimental creativity and international exchange. Established in , A. Farm provides shared studios in a traditional wooden house (Tree House), exhibition space, individual housing at Amanaki Thao Dien Hotel, tailored mentorship, and public programming like open studios, workshops, and performances. The program emphasizes complete artistic freedom, local art scene connections, and community engagement without obligations.

Rejmyre Art Lab Center for Peripheral Studies

Rejmyre, Sweden

Rejmyre Art Lab Center for Peripheral Studies is an artist-run organization in Rejmyre, Sweden, founded in by artists Daniel Peltz and Sissi Westerberg, focusing on long-term, place-based artistic research exploring rural, industrial, ecological, and social contexts through ensemble residencies and embedded practices. It offers funded international residency programs like Tropism and Refuging, providing stipends, housing, production support, and access to spaces such as the Refuging Pavilion, with emphasis on collective reflection, community engagement, and site-specific installations. Activities include post-MFA fellowships, experimental glass projects, seminars, exhibitions, and pedagogical programs in the village.

Stiftung Starke

Berlin, Germany

The Stiftung Starke Artist in Residence program in Berlin supports emerging artists under 40 from all genres with 3-12 month residencies including free living and studio space, a stipend, and exhibition opportunities at the Löwenpalais. Established artists can access short-term guest apartments, while projects receive scientific accompaniment by international curators. Applications are accepted year-round by an independent jury, though fellows cover their own energy costs.