Art Workspace Easthampton
A Residency Program for Visual, Literary & Performing Artists
Easthampton City Arts (ECA) is pleased to announce the growth and continuation of our studio residency program Art Workspace Easthampton (AWE): A Residency Program for Visual, Literary & Performing Artists! While this program initially emerged as a direct recalibration of ECA’s public programming during the onset of the pandemic, it is clear that offering workspace to artists–free of charge–is still deeply valuable and relevant in our area.
With this in mind, Easthampton City Arts will continue to offer a total of 5 two-month studio residencies per year—all free of charge—at AWE Space (formerly known as MAP Space) in Eastworks, beginning in January 2023.
Please read the following information carefully and thoroughly before applying. Applications are due October 31, 2022 @ 11:59pm.
CONTEXT & BACKGROUND – Since COVID-19 reached our area in March 2020, ECA began a thoughtful and reflective internal dialogue about how our organization could utilize and leverage our existing resources in new and meaningful ways, so as to offer support to our longstanding—and growing—community of artists during this vulnerable and unprecedented time.
With our galleries being closed to the public and our monthly Art Walks and annual festivals either taking place virtually or being cancelled altogether, we found ourselves called into a profound moment of simultaneous introspection, recalibration, and action. As a community organization that has been deeply committed to serving our artists and our greater local and regional public for the past 15 years, ECA also understood early on that the economic impacts of COVID-19 would necessarily take a financial toll on the working artists in our community, both in the immediate term and also for considerable time to come.
In this spirit of reflection, recalibration, and action, Easthampton City Arts launched the ECA Artist Grants Initiative in May 2020, which consisted of mini-grants to support artists whose work engages and cultivates community. In this way, we could continue to support working artists and also ensure that our greater community could continue to experience the art and culture that it loves and was missing.
And, as this time of pandemic continues—and as our beloved community of artists continues to transform itself through new methods and platforms for making and sharing work across all genres—ECA also continues to thoughtfully and strategically explore how we can utilize and share our resources so as to continue to support local and regional artists in ways that are valuable, meaningful, and effective.
With all of this in mind—and with support from Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, the City of Easthampton’s Department of Health, and our colleagues at Eastworks—we are pleased to relaunch and continue to grow Easthampton’s inaugural artist-in-residency program, Art Workspace Easthampton (AWE): A Residency Program for Visual, Literary & Performing Artists.
See details, timeline, eligibility requirements, and a link to apply below.
Overview & Scope
Art Workspace Easthampton (AWE) is a studio residency program that offers workspace—free of charge—to visual, literary, and performing artists at MAP Space in Eastworks. Because ECA is an organization that supports artists whose work engages and cultivates community, we require that the participating resident artists offer a “public sharing” of their work. *ECA will work directly with each artist to assist with the logistics of the Public Sharing.
With care and consideration for the health and safety of our resident artists during this time of pandemic, each workspace will accommodate one artist per gallery, per session. The sessions will generally take place as follows:
- SESSION ONE – Jan 1-Feb 25, 2023
- SESSION TWO – Mar 1-April 25, 2023
- SESSION THREE – May 1-June 25, 2023
- SESSION FOUR – July 1-Aug 25, 2023
- SESSION FIVE – Sept 1-Oct 25, 2023
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
Please note this is an artist residency program in the form of studio space only; living and sleeping accommodations are not provided nor permitted.
While the AWE Residency Program does not offer honorariums at this time, ECA values supporting artists in every way can and intend to raise funds to support this program as it grows beyond this first iteration.
Timeline
September 2022
- Announce Art Workspace Easthampton (AWE)
October 31 @ 11:59pm
- Deadline to apply for ALL AWE Residency Sessions
November 22
- All applicants will be notified
Eligibility & Requirements
- All local and regional artists, 18 years and older, are eligible to apply (to be clear: applicants need not live nor work in Easthampton to be eligible for this program);
- ECA is actively committed to supporting art and artists from historically underrepresented and marginalized groups of people. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color), Queer, and Trans artists are strongly encouraged to apply.
- Artists of all genres and media are welcome to apply–though please note: we cannot select artists working with materials that are toxic, dangerous, or that could put people, the workspaces, or the buildings at risk (ie: fire or sparks, certain power tools, etc);
- Selected artists must offer an Artist Talk and Public Sharing, with the assistance of ECA, as described above;
- Selected artists must follow all protocols in place with regard to COVID-19;
- Selected artists must also follow all workspace protocols and building guidelines.
Artist Agreements
All selected artists must sign an agreement and comply with program guidelines. Please note that artworks and equipment cannot be insured.
Contact
Please direct all inquiries regarding Art Workspace Easthampton to Pasqualina Azzarello, City Arts Coordinator: pazzarello@easthamptonma.gov. *Please note: in order to ensure your questions can be answered, all inquiries must be received on or before October 25th.
