My First Artist Residency: Preparation and Reflection
Photo taken at Kinhouse Residency
What is an artist residency?
While they can vary a lot, an artist residency is generally a program where an artist comes to produce works or complete a project within an organization or institution and oftentimes lives there too. They get to support an artist and you get access to their resources like studio space or equipment. Sometimes they are project based and you will have deliverables at the end. I’ve seen programs where you are completing an original piece that will go into the facilities collection or where you’re required to organize a workshop or community event at the end of your stay. Sometimes there are no deliverables (like the one I was in) and you get to work on whatever you want and be as productive as you want. While it’s cool to come out of a residency with new completed pieces, rest is also a very solid goal.
How these are funded varies a lot too. Many are free for the artist due to grants or donors and might even offer you a stipend during your stay. Some do charge the artist a fee for the housing, but are often on a sliding scale like the one I was in.
What was the submission process?
I found the Kinhouse Residency on Instagram. It was shared in a group chat for DMV artists to share open calls and resources with each other. I also make a practice of checking a few different sites that share art opportunities to find programs like this to apply for.
Here are a few of my favorites:
This might have been the first residency I was accepted into, but I’ve applied to quite a few and the process is more or less the same. You’ll need materials like a short bio, artist statement, a portfolio, artist CV, and a blurb about what you plan to do in your time there. This can get very tedious because every submission is going to have its own formatting requirements. Sometimes I’ve been able to just link the portfolio on my website, but other times I’ve needed to upload individual images of a specific size and resolution. You end up with a million versions of the same thing.
How did I plan for the residency?
The main obstacle I had to deal with in my planning was what supplies and materials I could bring because I don’t have a car. Anything I wanted to use had to be things I could fly with or purchase once I arrived in Fort Wayne. I really wanted to take advantage of having a dedicated studio space and work on a larger scale than I have space for at home, so I had to get creative.
Here’s what I did bring:
Unstretched canvas: I had never painted on unstretched canvas before and I still have never stretched my own canvases (a task for future me), but I figured the loose cloth would fold up pretty nicely in my suitcase. Did I mention I was only flying with a carry-on? I hate checking bags and I also just didn’t want to pay for an additional bag.
Brushes: I really only use 3 or 4 brushes for most of my paintings so this was pretty compact.
Paint: I brought a single tube of Burnt Sienna oil paint. I looked this up ahead of time and you can fly with oil paint in your carry-on, but it counts towards your total liquids like shampoo. Since any fully finished oil paintings wouldn't dry in time to be taken home with me anyway, I decided I would focus on completing underpaintings and Burnt Sienna or Burnt Umber is usually what I paint those in.
Mixing mediums: My medium of choice is Galkyd, by Gamblin. It speeds up the drying time of most paints to just a day or two and makes the paint go on a little smoother. This is another thing that goes in your liquids bag. A little goes a long way so I filled up an empty mini face cleanser bottle (I think it was an old Sephora sample) and called it good.
Camera equipment: Since this was a pretty big deal and great opportunity in my art career, I wanted to document what I was working on as best as I could. I don’t know what I’m going to turn all that documentation into, but at least I have it.
Dry materials: I do not have a good practice of using my sketchbook at all but I was trying to be optimistic so I brought it and my set of charcoal pencils.
The main things I needed to purchase once I arrived were an odorless solvent (very flammable liquid, not ideal for flying), gesso (I was going to need way more than I could fly with), and a palette knife (mine are quite pointy and metal, also not ideal for flying).
Outcomes & Reflections.
It was honestly really nice to get out of DC for a while. I’m extremely comfortable going places by myself, and enjoy the anonymity of being in a new city. I do think I put a bit too much pressure on myself to be super productive. I had all these plans to fill my sketchbook, start these massive paintings, get a whole bunch of painting footage, and whatever else. I neglected to take into account how tired traveling makes me and how tired I was in general. I’m very pleased with the work that I did, but I don’t feel like not accomplishing everything I listed made the trip any less successful.
I’m also really looking forward to the day when I have a dedicated studio space of my own. That was definitely my favorite part. It just feels so different to not be painting in a corner of your bedroom, paranoid about paint drips on the carpet.
Photo taken at Kinhouse Residency
