Artist Residency Reviews

This residency was a perfect location to do focused, inspired work. The diverse ecosystems and natural beauty of Vancouver Island, and this residency's proximity to nature makes it particularly valuable for artists whose work is engaged with the natural world. You can walk to a lake, river, streams and many trailheads from the house, and drive to many other ecosystems and environmental wonders. The living situation is a comfortable house with different options for studio space, both shared and private, that will meet a wide range of needs; the town is walkable and convenient with groceries and other shops only a few blocks from the house. The host, Brad, is a multi-talented visual artist who offers optional training and professional development in his fields of expertise as well as studio visits and trips around the Island. Artists from all disciplines are welcome (I'm a musician and felt well-accommodated) and all activities are optional, so you have a lot of autonomy. The host does not live on site but is easily accessible for any questions. He and fellow residents create a lovely interdisciplinary artistic community for living and working.

A tremendous place to go off-grid, in every sense of the word, and connect with one's creative priorities. Both without external interference, but also in the company of other creatives from many walks of life and different disciplines. Created by two working artists, the campus is very inspirational and affords all residents ample personal space but also wonderful communal spaces to navigate this dialogue between personal and public development. The site is about as isolated as it is possible to be in Iberia, but well worth the effort to reach.

Incredible equipment, very kind, helpful, and passionate staff. It was a wonderful space and environment to dive into your craft and imagination.

Benefits: It was great to be with all the other artists and just be focused on art for a time. It was very meaningful for me to spend so much time in Crete. Challenges: We lost a lot of time to presentations of everyone's work and didn't have enough time for our own work. The residency is much more adapted to visual artists than writers. No one really knew what to make of me or how to support me. I was always an afterthought. Practical Advice: It's so packed with activities and workshops and trips, there really isn't much time for making art. I'd say choose a project that engages with the environment there and something you can do quickly without too much concentration. (From what I saw, the studio was very busy and overwhelmed by wind. A lot artists seemed to take their work back to their rooms.) Costs vs. Gains: I crowdfunded to be able to afford to go. I can't do that again and so, while I might enjoy being able to return (especially now that I've learned more Greek) I couldn't. Also - I'm not sure I got any measurable rewards. I mostly felt like the redheaded stepchild - though I did meet a lot of nice artists. The most reward-like thing I got out of it was the status boost back home of having gone to a residency.

I paid for studio space, and it was worth it. Having regular studio visits with professionals and connecting with artists from different backgrounds helped expand my ideas. Plus, events like visiting museums with fellow residents were amazing experiences too.

The setting, a mountain village with stone alleys flanked by wild grapevines and olive trees, is adventurous and inspiring. My accommodation was very pleasant. I met new artists who became my friends. The wind keeps things somewhat cool, but be prepared for heat and mosquitoes. The organizers are helpful and friendly. Participants should be prepared to be in a cohort of up to 17 artists, which is far too many. Be prepared for a lot of mandatory group time (two meals a day, PowerPoint presentations at night, and field trips during the weekend). In my session, there was an alienating and competitive art school vibe, and juvenile cliques emerged—which the organizers were not inclined to abate. There is an East Coast focus to the demographics (particularly Syracuse University Department of Art and NYC), with some West Coasters and a few international artists mixed in. The visual art studio is a shared room with desks, no running water, and only a few basic materials—visual artists should plan on a minimal setup. The environment is maybe better suited for writers, so consider applying with a writing project and skipping the studio if that resonates. Overall, this is a great setting to find inspiration and a good introduction to Mediterranean/Greek culture, but don't expect to complete a major project unless you hit the ground running. The food is good and the restaurant is charming (run by a family), but the fare is a somewhat limited sampling of Greek cuisine. The focus on group activities is risky if you don't end up with a supportive group, and I would be less inclined to recommend the residency to introverts due to the hours of daily group time. At $1,000+ per week with room and board, the residency is just barely a better value than an Airbnb, so applicants should consider what their goals are. When airfare is added, I would say extending your trip by a week or two is highly recommended, or you might regret missing out on Crete beyond a few field trips and two scheduled trips to the beach. If you do go, do yourself a favor and book a night at the Megaron Hotel in Heraklion that the residency recommends. The island and country are absolutely fascinating, and if you can swing it, the residency offers a fairly straightforward pay-to-play experience that works well as an intro to Crete.

I did the Uncool Residency in February 2023. I loved my time there, and felt like I made a tremendous amount of progress. I found the other residents there to be some of my favorite of the various residencies I've been a part of. I think this is due to the international nature of the program. There are group outings and studio visits with faculty and curators, which I found to be highly valuable. Overall I highly recommend it.

The Mudhouse is an artist residency located in the village of Agios Ioannis on the Island of Crete, Greece. During my residency, I worked alongside numerous impressive artists from the United States and abroad. The artist-run residency included shared lodging, two meals (authentic—fresh; many vegetarian options), and a day prepared by a local family who owned a restaurant and farm. Optional workshops and guided tours (recommend taking part), and evenings set aside for artists' presentations. A shared studio space was available depending on your artistic discipline.

Benefit is the unique location in a largely ruined and remote mountain village, best feature beauty of the ruined architecture and fantastic shared daily meals prepared for us by a local family. Cons: travel to residency can be grueling, highly recommend leisurely layovers in Paris then direct to Heraklion vs flying straight through to Athens then Heraklion then brutally slow bus for three more hours totaling 20 straight hours of travel. If driving the mountain road is narrow and full of terrifying blind corners.

Is a good context and environment. Good networking opportunities. I think it is a good program that can be a bit longer. It needs to be more concrete on the possibilities offered after the residency - which means the real possibility to project in the future.

There are simply none to very little international residencies in Vancouver Island, and that's why so many interesting artists come find this heaven in Cowichan Lake, Vancouver Island. Brad, the host and artist himself, is an amazing person and a professor teaching a variety fields of arts in the University of Victoria, and you can learn SO MUCH from him. The nature and surroundings are amazing also. It's sitting right at the point where TransCanada trail begins in addition to so many cool trails. There's even an amazing foresty trail hidden in the back of a big supermarket in town. Brad offers a car pickup/dropoff on demand (extra charge but very reasonable price) and arrange cool excursions around the Island based on the needs and interests of each residency cohort. We went to Avatar Grove, beach (forgot the name), Victoria and above all, Brad's cool art studios! And I also went on to a few more trips arranged with my fellow residents during my stay. Amazing sound artist, painter, and a writer. All great people!! And of course you are encourage to rent a car to take full advantages, but I felt absolutely fine and happy even without a car for 3 weeks of my stay. It's a big 2-story-house (very pretty blue house) and they have 4~5 private rooms with 2 full bathrooms and 2 kitchens. And equipment for digital artworks such as photography (they let you borrow their great digital camera), high-end computer for VR, AR, 3D modeling work if you are interested, and also 3D printers in a shared studio space downstairs. And you can learn how to use them from Brad if needed! Some traditional painters in previous cohorts learned these new technology during the stay and created a final artwork at the end of the residency. They also have easels and some tools for traditional paintings also. And A MUST READ for everyone - a book titled "All Sky, Mirror Ocean: A Healing Manifesto" written by Brad Necyk, a founder of the residency. You will find this place peaceful and fulfilling. And if you don't want to create arts and just relax and explore the nature - it's a perfect place for that too!

I think it is good to take into consideration that the hosts of the Residency do not lead crits and give constant feedback but instead they lead an independent Residency. The feedback they do give to you on request is brilliant and very thoughtful. I went on this Residency knowing no one and knowing little about it. The location is very remote, be prepared for a little amount of contact with other people unless you hire a car! However, the remoteness was exactly what I needed for my project. The houses they provided were very comfortable and gave opportunity to bond with the fellow residents on the programme. The weather, light and remoteness were challenging. I went during October/November so I expected typical beginnings of Winter Weather and became accustomed to the lack of light and high winds - added to the experience! The Fish Factory facilities are unique and you have so much space and help from the hosts to create anything you want with the supplies they provide/find. Make sure when booking this Residency to take note of the time of year you go because of the weather. Other than, enjoy the surroundings, the people, the fish and the Aurora...if they decide to show!

Beautiful landscape, facilities, and human beings. A great balance between solitude and connection with others. It can be a little challenging & costly to get there if you’re not already based in Europe, but it was worth it. A focus on sustainability and fantastic meals were highlights!

Uncool Artist residency was a great immersive opportunity for me to work on a very compelling and highly creative-driven stimulating environment. The space is great, well located and easy to access. High level art advisors and curators, who helped me broaden my self critique and evaluate my work in progress. Great discussions and interaction with other artists participating in the program. Well balanced routine and agenda between time spent at the studio and field trips to enrich my research and artistic network. The residency offered me the opportunity to participate in 3 exhibitions in NY & Brooklyn area during that one month residency, with pieces of work developed during that period. My visual art research expanded and matured during that time. There are works that I’ve started there that are still evolving and showing in other spaces and group shows. If you dedicate yourself, this is a great program to develop new ideas, sharpen them into projects, and to deeply honor your craft.

I loved being at the Fish Factory. The studio space was a huge room which six of us shared. I had a large table and a vertical board to hang work on. The entire building had many different workshops available such as woodworking (not available when I was there), a sound studio, pottery, metalworking, small printshop. Opportunities abounded though there was no one there for guidance so it was necessary to already have the knowledge of how to use it. I did watercolors. The environment was stunning. I love Iceland. The town is isolated so without a car, one would be stuck in town. There are hikes to go on, and the residency provides transportation (at a minimal cost) to go to a grocery store each week. I had a car and was glad to be able to explore on my own. A question asked about networking and professional development. I met the other artists, of course, and the folks who run the residency (they’re super nice!), but there was no professional development. They provided a place to work and a place to stay (a house up the hill, shared with other residents) and weekly rides to the grocery store. They were available for questions. The town is tiny - about 150 residents - so there weren’t opportunities there either to make connections. There are two galleries in town and I met the folks there. It’s a beautiful tiny town in a beautiful setting. The house I stayed in was nice. The work space was good. I loved having a month to do my work!

With my music project, I needed to live in an Icelandic environment for a short period. This to get closer to the Icelandic vibe, environment and society. I had no need for a curator or producer, as what I work with is distinctly lonely Wulf work. On the other hand, it requires a lot of focusing and silence. I got that to the full at CCFF by having the entire music studio to myself for one month. It was nevertheless interesting to meet the other artists during the stay and have many good conversations about what we do and life as such.

I thrived in the more isolated location of the residency. As well as the more “independent study” nature of the program. Some other artists might find this difficult or frustrating. Met a lot of amazing people, and the owners of the residency are lovely people, helpful and welcoming. Iceland in general has a high standard of living and is expensive; however, it was 100% worth the cost and the owners make everything as affordable as they can.

I enjoyed this residency immensely. It was very hands off letting the artist explore and create in whichever way moved them. I feel very thankful for this experience and would do it again in a heartbeat.

The Fish Factory Art Residency program has been an amazing adventure, nestled in the Icelandic fjords; it creates the perfect environment for creativity and exploration. I enjoyed my time in Stöðvarfjörður and had ample time in nature, exploring the natural beauty of the Eastern Shore. I felt deeply inspired by the surrounding mountains and ocean, conversations with the rest of my cohort, and time in the shared studio. I created a whole new body of work inspired by the Icelandic nature. Something to think about before coming to the residency is your art supplies; make sure you bring what you need, not all the supplies are available in the studio and if you need to order anything it will have to come from Reykjavík (shipping can get expensive). Once a week the owners of the residency will take the cohort to the neighbouring city to get groceries, there’s a small store next to the residency with essentials but it’s a tad more expensive - plan your meals, snacks, and cravings accordingly! If you want to travel to other places on the shore, there’s not a lot of local transportation available but you can rent a car from Egilsstaðir airport. To make the residency rewarding I recommend thinking about what kind of projects you’d like to do, set a few goals for yourself, and don’t forget a rain jacket and a good pair of boots! For this adventure, I did save up the funds for a long time because I knew that Iceland is a bit on the expensive side, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t feel limited while there. And that helped a lot! I got to do a lot more things than I expected!

I had never done an artist residency so my point of view has no comparison to others. I decided on Fish Factory because of it being in a remote part of Iceland and because the program did not ask any specific things from me, nor did it offer any specific things from the staff. It's important to say this because I wasn't looking to make connections in the art world and I wasn't looking for classes or guidance - if these things happened then it would be great but I was just looking for a space far away and different from home where I could spend time doing what I like the most, which is painting. I found there that I could use the ceramics studio and that Una, one of the owners, was willing to give us a fast course on how to start our ceramics journey. She did not have to do that, and still she did, so it was awesome for me. I went for one month but I would recommend going for two - the place is so magical it takes you at least two weeks to settle down and start really focusing on working, so by the time you do it's almost over. Come with a well-mapped plan of how to use your time there and not expecting peer reviews or any type of learning structure. If you are a person who doesn't enjoy sharing a house with people who also work in the same space, don't do Fish Factory or ask if they can find you a space where to rent in the same town. There is almost no way in or out of the small, small town if not by walking, so also think of that. No museums, no restaurants, no cinema, no supermarket. Yes, beautiful fields, waterfalls and if you are lucky, aurora borealis. I think the cost was perfectly fair because they give you a private room to live, trips to the next town to the supermarket, and 24-hour access to the workshops, which had the heating on all the time. All in all, I loved Fish Factory and would do it again for an even longer time if I could, but I do think people have to know what they are signing on for so they have the best experience they can.