Founded in 1988, 18th Street Arts Center has fostered and supported the work of many of Los Angeles’ most engaging artists and has built bridges to artist communities around the globe. It is one of the top artist residency programs in the US and the largest in Southern California. 18th Street Arts Center values art making as an essential component of a vibrant, just, and healthy society. Its mission is “to provoke public dialogue through contemporary art making.”
18th Street Arts Center’s residency programs help build and strengthen the creative community by working with local, national and international artists and curators. There are five types of residencies, including local organizations in residence, where arts organizations have their offices and activities on the campus; local artists in residence, where LA-based artist occupy either live/work or day work studios for 1 year or more; a visiting artist program that hosts international and national artists and curators from between 1 to 3 months (sometimes longer); a curator in residence, who has studio space for one calendar year to conduct research and foster community engagement through ancillary programs, such as symposia, lectures, and artist talks; and the Artist Lab Residency program, structured as both a residency and an exhibition for an LA-based artist (by invitation).
About visiting artist program:
18th Street Arts Center’s visiting artist residency program has hosted more than 600 artists worldwide since it first began in 1992. This program primarily supports visual artists; 18th Street Arts Center also considers applications from performing artists, writers, art curators, musicians and filmmakers. The program is open to artists of all generations, nationalities, and disciplines, including invited artists and artists selected through an open application process. It contains professional artist development, intergenerational mentorship and networking. Besides, it also supports self-organized artist projects emergent from this dynamic community.
The program funding for each residency is on a case-by-case basis. Many international artists have access to financing through their cultural ministries or other programs. 18th Street works with artists to secure funding or encourage them to apply to cover the residency costs through various funding programs. Sometimes, 18th Street has agreements with cultural ministries and other funders to underwrite artist residencies, for example, 18th Street had hosted Taiwanese artists SU Hui-Yu (2004, 2008 and 2019), Aaron NIEH, Yung-Chen (2009) and NIU Chun-Chiang (2011) recommended by Ministry of Culture of Taiwan.
To apply for the Visiting Artist Residency Program, please submit the following materials via the online application form. Apply Here
● Letter of interest
● Curriculum vitae
● Work samples (digital files, pdfs, and website links are appropriate)
● Statement about funding support
(one paragraph, identifying any funding bodies that artist is approaching to support the residency, or statement of fiscal responsibility by the artist)
Additional materials may also be considered including an artist statement, press materials, letters of recommendation, and pdfs of catalogs or publications.
Photo by: Meisi Wang, Nung Hsin-Hu
Sourced from: 18th Street Arts Center
Edited by: Brix