Arts Residency

Socially Distant Art is a digitally-based, grassroots arts residency program with a focus on cultivating accessibility and inclusivity in our residents’ creative and organizational practices. We are shaping our program with an intersectional approach to accessibility, building our work upon innovations within mutual aid movements and the Disability Activism community. 

Our residency program is open to national and international creatives of all experience levels and disciplines, including (but not limited to) visual artists, sound/audio artists, performers, composers, choreographers, writers, filmmakers, arts administrators, cultural leaders, and creative producers. We want residents who have a sincere commitment to creating a more accessible and inclusive arts world and are interested in developing and participating in a new, digitally-based arts community.

 Learn About Our Community

Our residency program goals include:

  • Providing artists and creative leaders with the knowledge and resources to create accessible art and art experiences;

  • Encouraging our residents to think about disability-related “accommodations” as an expansion to their art practices, and the art world as a whole;

  • Creating a supportive and inclusive community for artists and creative leaders, especially for those who often face barriers to accessing the majority of other arts opportunities;

  • Producing inclusive and accessible art exhibitions and content by using universal design principles and multi-layered modes of engagement, inspired by innovations created within Disability culture, and grassroots arts organizations; 

  • Exploring the concept of “accessibility” broadly while considering disability, socioeconomic status, identity, and support systems. And using this developing and expanding definition of “access” to reimagine the structure of artistic practice and the arts organizations;

  • Developing resources that can be shared openly and freely with our various networks;

  • Considering, through artistic expression and dialogue, experiences of social connectedness, isolation, community bonds, solitude and loneliness; connect these experiences to the creation of an accessible Art world. 

Our residency is a self-paced and flexible program, structured around workshops, community gatherings, collaborative projects, and digital exhibitions that can be engaged synchronously or asynchronously. Our program is designed for a 12-month long workshop cycle for each incoming cohort, and residents can continue with the larger community beyond the initial year, if desired; residents also have the flexibility to take a hiatus, if needed.

Our developing residency program offers many forms of engagement, including:

Virtual Exhibitions + Event Series

Art Dialogues

Open Studio Hours

Collaborative Projects

Mail Art Exchanges

Workshops focused on Accessibility, such as:

  • Principles of an Inclusive and Accessible Art Practice

  • Media Descriptions (image descriptions, alt-text, and describing time based media)

  • Audio Description (for video work and/or performance documentation)

  • Captioning & Transcription for Art

  • Land Acknowledgements (and beyond) for individual artists and arts organizations

  • Accessible Artist Websites & Social Media

  • Accessible Promo Materials, Google Docs, and PDFs

  • Digital Accessibility for Live Virtual Events

  • Accessibility for Gallery & In-Person Exhibitions

Are you interested in becoming a Socially Distant Art Resident?

As we grow our program, we are aiming to bring on a new cohort roughly once a year. We plan put calls out for new residents in late January or early February, and start new program cycles in the summer. If you are interested in joining our community, sign up for our newsletter to receive program updates and calls for new residents!