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Who can apply

• The residency is aimed at visual artists located in British Columbia. However, we are not strict about the border boundary. If you have a connection to what is now known to B.C., feel free to apply.
  
• Artists are encouraged to apply in teams of two. We want to reach more people and encourage collaboration. You can work on screen print projects either together or separately. Each person should fill out the application form.
  

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Schedule

There will be 3 residencies throughout 2024:

Winter residency: February 17-23 2024

Spring residency: May 11-18 2024

Fall residency: September 16-23 2024

Each residency will be eight days long:

• Saturday and Sunday will be a two-day long Introduction to Screen Printing workshop to introduce you to the basics of screen printing.
• Monday is a day to rest and brainstorm.
• Tuesday-Saturday will be 5 days of studio time from 10am-5pm to work with studio staff on projects of your choice.

In November 2024 there will be an exhibit at Comox Valley Art Gallery showcasing work created by all the residency artists.

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Accommodation

An apartment in downtown Courtenay will be provided by our partner the Comox Valley Art Gallery. The apartment has two bedrooms and an extra bed that can be set up in the living room. 

Ideally artist teams will be sharing the accommodation or one person will be able to arrange their own accommodation somewhere else.

Artists’ partners and children are welcome to stay in the apartment. 

The apartment is up a steep flight of stairs with no elevator, so it is sadly not wheelchair accessible. If this is a barrier we will work to find alternate accommodation.

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Materials

These materials are included in the residency:

• Ink – all kinds of colours
• Screen-making materials and use of our screens
• 50 sheets of 24×36” poster paper (can be cut into smaller sizes to make 100 or 200 sheets)
• 50 sheets of 22×30” Stonehenge art print paper (can also be cut into smaller pieces)
• We can also provide a few second hand t-shirts and pieces of scrap fabric
• We have new t-shirts for sale for around $5 or hoodies for $20 

If you’d like to print on a specific kind of paper, fabric, clothing, or other material like wood or drums, feel free to bring it! We can print pretty much anything flat. 

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Selection Criteria

The selection criteria will prioritize:

• Artists doing community-based work (a few examples include: artists who work with youth, artists working with the unhoused community, street artists, activists, land-based artists)
• Indigenous artists
• Artists from any underrepresented background
• Work that is well-suited to the screen print medium (bold, graphic pieces with limited colours work best. See some examples here)
• High quality and original work
  

You do not need exhibition experience or formal art training to apply. Emerging artists welcome!

You also do not need any screen print experience – we will train you! However a little bit of understanding of the screen print process would be helpful. 

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Financial support

The residency will provide free training, studio space, materials, and accommodation. 

We don’t have funding to cover transportation costs, missed work, or childcare. However we can help suggest other funding sources and write letters of support. 

We will also support you if you’d like to create print editions that you can sell to cover the costs of the residency.

Here are a couple of grants that cover travel for artists:

Canada Council travel grant for Indigenous artists https://canadacouncil.ca/funding/grants/creating-knowing-sharing/travel

Canada Council Arts Across Canada travel grant https://canadacouncil.ca/funding/grants/arts-across-canada/travel

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Accessibility information

The residency will take place at the same time as our production work. We have a ventilation system, however there are often some chemical smells in the studio from our textile printing.

The studio space is on the ground floor of Wachiay Friendship Centre and is fairly wheelchair accessible. There are no steps. The doorways are quite narrow.

The apartment is up a steep flight of stairs with no elevator, so it is sadly not wheelchair accessible. If this is a barrier we will work to find alternate accommodation.

We will work to provide other possible accommodations to make this residency more accessible. 

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How to apply

Fill out the application form below.

The application deadline is Monday November 6 at 11:59

Good luck!

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More information

If you have questions contact emily.t@wachiay.org