Socially Engaged Art Residencies with Stipend

AiR Celeia

Celje, Slovenia

AiR Celeia is a two-month artist-in-residence program active since at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Celje, Slovenia, welcoming international artists and curators. Residents receive free studio accommodation, a monthly stipend of up to 600 Euro, and opportunities to exhibit or present their work in public spaces throughout the city.

AIR Wro

Wrocław, Poland

AIR Wro is one of Poland's longest-running artist mobility programmes, developed as a legacy of Wrocław's European Capital of Culture designation. It supports Polish and international artists, curators, researchers, journalists, activists and animators through residencies and study visits, focusing on contemporary culture, urban issues, and international cultural exchange.

AiR zusa

Berlin, Germany

AiR zusa is a non-product-oriented residency program in Berlin designed to provide artists, cultural managers, curators, and arts and culture activists from Ukraine and other countries at risk with a safer space for rest, mental health support, and professional resilience-building. The program emphasizes process, self-reflection, and personal growth rather than artistic output, offering participants time to heal and reconnect with local and international cultural networks.

Allianz Foundation Hubs

Prizren, Kosovo

The Allianz Foundation Hubs is a network supporting innovative organizations in arts, culture, civil society, and climate action across Europe, with Autostrada Biennale in Prizren, Kosovo, as its hub focused on contemporary art, community empowerment, and sustainable futures. It facilitates cross-border collaborations including multilateral residencies like 'Residency on the Road: Decolonizing Food,' involving one-week stays in participating hubs such as Prizren, followed by optional production phases. The program emphasizes knowledge exchange, artist-led workshops, and projects on topics like food practices, biodiversity, and social resilience without discipline restrictions.

Boston Center for the Arts

Boston, United States

The Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) offers multiple artist residency programs, including the BCA Studio Residency, which provides selected artists with affordable, work-only studio space in Boston's South End for up to three years, supporting experimentation in fields like photography, sculpture, painting, video, digital media, performance, and public art. Additional programs include the seven-day ACTivate Residency for site-responsive performative or visual work in the historic Cyclorama and the Public Art Residency for interactive temporary installations on BCA's campus. These residencies foster a diverse arts community through networking, exhibitions, curatorial visits, and professional development opportunities.

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.

Bunnell Street Arts Center

Homer, Alaska, United States

Bunnell Street Arts Center’s “Alaska AIR” Artist-in-Residence program invites international, US, and Alaskan artists to engage with the local community through artistic practice and dialogue. Located in Homer, Alaska, the residency provides artists with the opportunity to create new work while fostering connections within the community. Artists across visual, literary, performing, and interdisciplinary fields are encouraged to apply, with an emphasis on community engagement around themes such as inclusion, sustainability, and accessibility. The residency includes a $2,000 stipend, lodging, and a travel allowance of up to $1,000. Artists are also provided with a studio in the gallery space of the center, as well as access to equipment such as a piano, sound system, and video projector. In exchange, artists are expected to offer a public artist talk and a workshop or outreach event to further engage with the community. The residency is open to artists globally, and the application period runs from September 1 to October 31 annually.

Caritas Wien/Stadtteilarbeit

Vienna, Austria

The Caritas Wien/Stadtteilarbeit artist residency is part of the 'Kooperativ Ternitz' project, organizing three 10-week Artists-in-Residence programs in spring/summer in the former workers' settlement Dreiersiedlung in Ternitz, Niederösterreich. It invites artists from various disciplines to explore, cooperate, and develop projects supporting the settlement's transformation process, with support from the Caritas Stadtteilarbeit team and local community. Participants receive a net stipend of €2,300, housing, and access to local infrastructure like the Volkshaus.

Cheng Long Wetlands

Kouhu Township, Taiwan

The Cheng Long Wetlands International Environmental Art Project is an annual artist residency in a rural village on Taiwan's southwestern coast where international artists create site-specific environmental sculpture installations focused on ecological and food production issues, working collaboratively with local elementary school children and community residents. Artists use recycled and natural materials to produce large-scale artworks displayed in village public spaces, abandoned buildings, and the wetlands nature preserve.

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.

Deveron Projects

Huntly, United Kingdom

Deveron Projects is a UK-based arts organisation embedded in Huntly, a rural town in north-east Scotland, that has hosted international artists for 30 years. The residency program offers flexible artist residencies ranging from weekends to three months, supporting artists in socially engaged and community-collaborative work through access to custom-built accommodation, community resources, and intensive curatorial support.

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.

Emmanuel College

Boston, United States

The Emmanuel College Artist-in-Residence Program (ECAR) offers a six-week summer residency to four artists annually, one each in Ceramics, Photography, Printmaking, and Social Practice. It provides studio space, housing, a stipend, and access to college facilities, while artists engage with the community through lectures, workshops, and donate a work to the college's collection.

Finnish Society of Bioart

Helsinki, Finland

The Finnish Society of Bioart, based in Helsinki, Finland, organizes the Ars Bioarctica residency program at the Kilpisjärvi Biological Station in sub-Arctic Lapland, emphasizing art-science collaborations focused on the Arctic environment. It offers residencies typically lasting 2-4 weeks or one month, open to artists, scientists, and interdisciplinary teams from various disciplines and career stages, with access to labs, field equipment, and living facilities. Additional initiatives include the biannual Field_Notes field lab and partnerships in programs like Learning Materials in Helsinki.

Fire Station Artists' Studios

Dublin, Ireland

Fire Station Artists' Studios (FSAS) is a Dublin-based residency center offering subsidized combined living and working studios for Irish and international visual artists. The organization provides short-term (1-3 months) and long-term residencies with access to large-scale sculpture workshop facilities, communal spaces, and self-directed research opportunities in the city center.

Grand Central Art Center

Santa Ana, United States

The Grand Central Art Center Artist-in-Residence program in Santa Ana provides dedicated apartments, studios, and support for creative individuals, with a current focus on artists working in social practice and community-engaged projects. Residencies emphasize discovery, collaboration, and relationships rather than fixed outcomes, with durations varying from weeks to years based on project needs, and may include housing, stipends, and budgets through specific grants. Past residents have developed community-based works like oral histories and garden projects involving Santa Ana's diverse populations.

Granite Falls City Artist-in-Residence

Granite Falls, United States

The Granite Falls City Artist-in-Residence (CAIR) program is a pioneering small-town initiative in Granite Falls, Minnesota, where artists embed in the community for 6-12 months to design and implement arts and cultural strategies aimed at boosting civic participation and engagement. Hosted by the Granite Area Arts Council, it emphasizes collaboration with locals, includes support staff, and produces a replicable resource guide for other communities. The program intersects civic, social, and artistic work, marking it as the first of its kind in the country.

IATRUS Residency

Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

The IATRUS Residency Program, founded in by the Foundation for Contemporary Art and Media, is an artist residency located in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria's former capital. The program invites artists, curators, designers, and creative practitioners to engage with the vibrant art scenes of both Veliko Tarnovo and Sofia, offering uninterrupted self-managed work time, mentorship, and opportunities to present work through exhibitions, performances, and artist talks. Season III focuses on 'A Good Neighbour,' exploring collaborative work and community engagement rooted in everyday proximity.

Invisible Flock

West Bretton, United Kingdom

Invisible Flock is an award-winning interactive arts studio based at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Bretton, UK, offering a rolling artist residency program that emphasizes collaboration, experimentation, and art at the intersection of technology and environmental themes. Residencies provide access to high-quality facilities including a workshop, tech lab, and creation space, along with mentoring, peer feedback, and networking, as seen in past ten-day programs for local artists. The program supports national and international artists, often with a focus on socially engaged and environmental art, without pressure for set outputs.

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.

KODA Utopia Artist Residency

New York, New York, United States

The KODA Utopia Artist Residency is a social practice program on Governors Island in New York for two mid-career, female-identifying and/or non-binary artists creating conceptual and socially engaged work, themed around Utopia for Fall 2026 (August 1-October 31). It provides studio space, an honorarium, optional exhibition, studio visits, public engagement opportunities, and professional development support.

La chambre d’eau

Le Favril, France

La chambre d’eau is a multidisciplinary artist residency program established in in Le Favril, Hauts-de-France, France, supporting research, creation, production, and diffusion of contemporary artistic practices, particularly those engaging with territorial issues like landscape, environment, and rural development. It offers 2-3 residencies per year, typically lasting around three weeks (which can be split), with housing, travel support, stipends of 1500- euros, production assistance, and workspaces provided. Residencies emphasize immersion in rural territories, collaborations with locals, and public encounters, often linked to events for visibility.

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.

Nantes Institute of Advanced Studies

Nantes, France

The Nantes Institute for Advanced Studies offers an international artistic and research residency in 'Arts, Societies and Contemporary Mutations' to professional artists from the Global South. The residency runs for 6 months and supports artists whose work dialogues with humanities and social sciences to explore contemporary societal and environmental changes.

Project COAL

Belval-Bois-des-Dames, France

Project COAL offers an artist residency at Domaine de Belval in Belval-Bois-des-Dames, France, as part of the COAL Art and Environment Prize awarded by the COAL association in partnership with the François Sommer Foundation. The residency supports artists exploring the relationship between humans and nature, providing accommodation on the estate—an observatory of rural life and wildlife—but no dedicated workshop or production tools, making it suitable for short stays of a few days to weeks.

Public Art Residency

Boston, United States

Boston Artists-in-Residence (AIR) program embeds local artists in city government departments for year-long terms to advance arts, civic practice, and social justice. Offers $30k stipend + $10k materials.

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.

Sarai Media Lab

Delhi, India

Sarai Media Lab is a prominent new media initiative at CSDS in Delhi that hosts artist residencies, fellowships, and collaborative projects focused on urban space, media culture, and contemporary practices. The program invites artists, scholars, and practitioners from South Asia and internationally to engage in creative and experimental work across various media forms including video, audio, digital, and installation art.

Skidmore College

Saratoga Springs, New York, United States

The Work + Space Residency is hosted by the Department of Art at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, offering an immersive experience for emerging artists. Designed to foster artistic creation, exhibition, and student engagement, the residency provides a dedicated studio, lodging, meals, and a stipend. Artists in residence present their work in a solo exhibition at the Schick Gallery, typically scheduled at the end of their stay. The program emphasizes diversity and inclusion, welcoming applicants with recent MFAs, non-traditional backgrounds, or underrepresented identities. Residents are encouraged to contribute to the academic community through workshops, lectures, or student studio visits. Access to specialized tools and facilities is available upon approval and is project-dependent. The residency prioritizes contemporary practices across all visual and interdisciplinary art fields. Through this short-term but intensive format, Skidmore College aims to integrate professional artists into its liberal arts environment for mutual inspiration and growth.

Studio Rizoma

Palermo, Italy

Fondazione Studio Rizoma in Palermo, Italy, runs two residency programs: Generative Residencies (2-4 weeks) for artists, collectives, activists, or thinkers to develop project ideas on-site with team support, and Production Residencies for extended production of those projects with dedicated budgets. Residents receive a per diem of €300 per week, plus travel and accommodation, and engage with Palermo's context through local connections.

Terrain Exhibitions

​Springfield, United States

The Terrain Residency, hosted by the Springfield Art Association (SAA) Enos Park Residency for Visual Artists, is located in Springfield, Illinois, and invites artists to live and work in a duplex for four to six weeks every summer to develop public projects such as art installations, architectural interventions, performances, social practice, and community programs. Residents have access to specialized Visual Arts studio facilities at the University of Illinois Springfield, receive a $600 stipend, though a $50/week fee applies, and can utilize the historic neighborhood for site-based works.

The Kyoto Retreat

Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Retreat is an international residency designed for artists, curators, and writers seeking research and inspiration in Kyoto, Japan. The program offers participants a tranquil environment rooted in Japan’s cultural heritage, ideal for creative reflection rather than production. It emphasizes immersion in local traditions such as tea ceremonies, ikebana, and historical architecture. Participants are selected from all career stages and work across a wide range of artistic disciplines. The residency supports solo creative exploration, providing private accommodation in a shared house and a stipend for meals and local travel. Flights and local transportation are arranged for accepted residents, ensuring a smooth transition to the experience. While structured events are included, the residency encourages rest, cultural engagement, and self-directed discovery. The Kyoto Retreat champions inclusivity and maintains a supportive environment free from discrimination.

The Luminary's Residency

St. Louis, United States

A nationally recognized, research-driven residency supporting emerging and mid-career artists, curators, and critics in developing new work through focused inquiry and engagement with St. Louis's cultural landscape.

The Paseo Project

Taos, United States

The Paseo Project offers two artist residency programs in Taos, New Mexico: the Paseo Project AIR Fellowship, a 2-4 week project-based residency with community engagement and stipend support, and the Paseo @ Hotel Willa Artist in Residence, a four-week self-structured residency for independent creative work. Both programs provide housing, studio space, and opportunities for artists across all disciplines to work within Taos's vibrant cultural and natural landscape.

The Residency Project

Pasadena, United States

The Residency Project (TRP) @ 880 in Pasadena, California, offers 3-week artist residencies in a Craftsman bungalow, providing private rooms, shared studio space, a $300 stipend, and support for creative research and experimentation without requiring a finished product. It emphasizes amplifying underrepresented artists including women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, artists with disabilities, and parents, while encouraging sustainable practices and collaborative cohabitation. Residents have access to a fully stocked kitchen, peer mentoring, and Pasadena's vibrant arts scene.

Unlisted Projects

Austin, United States

Unlisted Projects is an arts and culture residency program based in Austin, TX, supporting local, national, and international artists through interdisciplinary collaborations, community engagement, and public presentations of new work. Operating since at the Museum of Human Achievement (MoHA), it offers various residencies including one-month international exchanges like CopenhAustin and a 24-hour Lock-In for marginalized Central Texas artists facing barriers. The program fosters transborder connections, provides on-site housing in a renovated trailer, and leverages a community of 35 in-house creatives.