nyc artist residency summer 2026
Noosphere Arts, aka Noo Arts, invites NYC-based artists to apply for a rent-free studio residency as part of WE ARE NATURE: Transformation Stories taking place May-October 2026 at our art house on Governors Island.
WE ARE NATURE is our annual summer series of multidisciplinary experiences at the intersection of arts and eco-awareness. For 2026, we expand this program from our Brooklyn rooftops to Governors Island: across performances, exhibitions, workshops, and residencies, we explore transformation as an ecological process, urban shift, social change, and artistic evolution.
Selected artists receive a private studio workspace in this unique historical site for three months. The residency is designed as a working studio program supporting research, experimentation, and production, as well as monthly open studios/public presentations. The program is divided into two phases:
Phase 1 (May–July):
Subtopics: Nature, Material Composites, and Metamorphoses, with an emphasis on artistic research. For this phase, we encourage proposals that investigate ecological processes, hybrid materials, and states of transition, foregrounding experimentation, process-based inquiry, and material exploration as central components of the work.
Phase 2 (August–October):
Subtopics: Rooted in Governors Island’s past as a military base, the theme Monuments, Nature, and Transformation asks what a monument means today and what function it serves in a time shaped by ecological change, shifting power, and evolving collective memory. What do we choose to honor, and what remains as social, cultural, and ecological values shift over time?
Every third Saturday (May 16, June 20, July 17, Aug 15, Sept 19, Oct 17), we host public events, including open studios, performances, installations, lectures, and experimental formats.
We expect artists to engage openly and respectfully with the residency community and environment on Governors Island, working mindfully across race, gender, class, and ecology, and fostering a collegial, self-directed, and collaborative spirit grounded in mutual respect.