Applications now closed for 2025 residencies.

Each year The Kirkland Art Center partners with Folkist Space (formerly The Garret on the Green) to host week-long funded residencies for folk artists working in a wide variety of mediums.

Applications for our 2025 season of funded artist residencies are now closed. To learn more about the residency and prepare for future application cycles, read our FAQs below for more details.

 

A Note for the 2025 Season

After five years of hosting artist residents, we’re getting a clearer idea of who thrives in this program. We’re also finding clearer language for what we’ve been doing all along— creating a space to support folk artists.

Please, whatever you do, don’t try to look up a definition of “folk arts!” You’ll find a lot of academic word salad that uses terms like “simple people” and “primitive technique.” As a life-long practitioner of social music and art traditions whose masters practice their craft with a nuance and rigor to rival any conservatory-trained artist, those definitions truly feel like they were written by outsiders who missed the whole point.

At Folkist Space, our definition of folk art is creative work with its roots in, or branches into, the everyday lives of regular working people. The folk art we love spans genres, mediums, and cultures, but is always rooted in the urgent aliveness of folks who are not separate from the world but fully immersed in it. These artists— many of whom fit a serious art practice around bill-paying, caregiving, and community commitments— are finding a way to feel something that needs to be felt, share something that needs to be shared, and move people who need to be moved.

The Kirkland Art Center has a long history of holding space for the nurturing and development of folk art and craft, and are the ideal partner for this heart project. Together, we hope this program will support visionary creators whose work does what the folk arts do best: help us to feel our feelings, inhabit our bodies, and move a little differently through the world.

From textile arts to creative non-fiction, traditional music and dance, documentary photography, theatre arts, and more, this year we're looking for all kinds of creative folks whose locus of creation is primarily centered outside traditional academic and institutional structures of support. Find more weedsy details about the program and application process in our FAQs below,.

We look forward to seeing your work!

- Nora from Folkist Space

Want examples of previously selected residents? Meet the Snowed-In Residency Alumni here.

Residency FAQ

 

  • These residencies offer a week of unrestricted time and space granted to an artist or small creative team who need it for their work. Unlike some residencies that invite several artists at once, these were designed for artists and small teams who may struggle to carve out quiet space and time for creative work in their everyday lives— due to bill-paying jobs, caregiving responsibilities, and other restrictions that preclude longer residencies at other institutions.

    One artist or team at a time is invited to stay for a week-long residency at The Garret at Folkist Space, with dedicated studio space at the KAC and an unrestricted $500 stipend for food and travel.

  • Folk artists in most disciplines!

    From textile arts to creative non-fiction, traditional music and dance, documentary photography, theatre arts, and more, we're looking to support visionary makers in any creative discipline whose locus of creation is primarily centered outside traditional academic and institutional structures of support.

    -Musicians/Songwriters
    -Writers
    -Painters
    -Illustrators
    -Fiber Artists
    -Ceramic Artists
    -Dancers/Choreographers
    -Theatre Artists

    PLEASE NOTE: Due to the short length of our residencies and our distance from international airports, we are only accepting applicants from the U.S. and Canada at this time. Canadian artists are not eligible for stipends due to restrictions that prevent the KAC from issuing payments to non-U.S. citizens.

  • This term is used at many institutions to mean many things. Ideally, all artists are emerging and transforming throughout their careers! For us, it’s a shorthand that means our program prioritizes artists who can demonstrate that they are serious about their work (it’s not just a hobby) but do not currently make a full-time paycheck from making or teaching their art (it’s not their main bill-paying job.) Artists who make partial income from their art are welcome and encouraged to apply.

  • This residency does not have an on-site chef or meal program. The Kirkland Art Center provides snacks, a local restaurant donates two meals per resident, and there is the option of a dinner with your residency hosts while on-site. The Garret includes a full kitchen for storing or preparing meals during your residency.

  • Our committee ranks candidates on the following qualities when selecting artist residents:

    - Demonstrates real dedication to their creative practice.

    - Has a clear vision of who they are as an artist, and what they would like to say with their work

    -Work shows promise and room for meaningful growth, along with some level of existing mastery

    -Has commitments, responsibilities, and/or barriers to institutional access that would make longer residencies at other orgs difficult (i.e. is a parent or caregiver, has inflexible bill-paying employment, inhabits an identity or works in a medium that has been historically excluded by art institutions.)

    -Is in a place with their current project or in their career where institutional support and a week of solo time to work would make a meaningful impact.

    -For emerging artist spots: main source of income is not currently from their art, or from teaching in their creative field (but artists who earn a partial income from their work are strongly encouraged to apply.)

  • Yes, with a few caveats:

    The residency’s $500 travel and food stipend remains the same regardless of the number of artists accepted for a residency.

    The number of donated meals per residency remains the same regardless of the number of artists accepted for a residency.

    The Garret at Folkist Space has two sleeping areas, one with a Queen bed and the other with a Full bed. Artists applying with collaborators acknowledge that these housing arrangements are adequate for their needs.

    Artists applying as collaborators should submit a single joint application.

  • While the Kirkland Art Center has a wheelchair ramp and lift, unfortunately The Garret at Folkist Space is a second-floor apartment that does require navigating stairs. We are looking into possible alternate accommodations for residents who need more accessible lodging, but we do not have them in place for the 2024 season. (Are you a local reading this with an accessible apartment in the village? Reach out to us!)

    We recommend that residents arrive by car if possible, as grocery shopping, hiking, and other local attractions in our rural area are most easily accessed by car. However, pickup at the Utica bus and train station can be arranged for residents who cannot drive or do not have access to a vehicle, and several shops and businesses are available within walking distance of the KAC and The Garret.