CATAPULT - Stay Home Artist Residency

Kingston Creative, Fresh Milk and the American Friends of Jamaica | The AFJ introduce CATAPULT | A Caribbean Arts Grant – a group of six new initiatives supporting Caribbean Creatives. These funding opportunities will increase the visibility of over 1,000 Caribbean-based artists, creatives and cultural practitioners to global audiences, provide much needed financial support, and develop the creative skills of our artists. Now more than ever in light of COVID-19, it is critical to think about artists having an online presence, valuing the work of Caribbean artists, and enabling their growth.

The Stay Home Artist Residency will provide opportunities for 24 cultural practitioners to be supported while safely remaining in their studios/work-spaces, each of whom will receive a $3,000 USD stipend to produce work over a two-month period. The residencies will run on a staggered basis from August through November 2020. The support offered by the Stay Home Residency grant is targeted specifically at cultural practitioners without a permanent work affiliation, or whose main or sole source of income is from their creative/artistic output. Artists will be selected from the English, French, Spanish and Dutch speaking Caribbean by an independent regional jury.

Using this residency as an opportunity for the growth of their practice, the Stay Home residents will also share blog posts bi-monthly about the work they are doing. This blog will facilitate artists’ reflections on their process and practice while documenting the experience for both their benefit and that of the wider public. The blog will be hosted on the CATAPULT online platforms.

The programme targets individuals exploring the critical key themes of culture, human rights, gender, LGBTQIA+, and climate justice which are so relevant to the region. The decision to accept candidates will be based on the assessment of their portfolio, as well as a description of no more than 500 words outlining their preliminary concept of artistic or research activities pertaining to one or more of the residency’s themes.

CATAPULT will provide:

• A $3,000 USD ($1,500 USD per month) stipend to the cultural practitioner;
• Facilitation of a virtual studio visit with a Caribbean-based expert in the artist’s field;
• Hosting of resident’s blog posts on the CATAPULT online platforms;
• Additional remote support as needed.

Expectations of the Resident:

• Cultural practitioner must supply their own materials and equipment;
• Cultural practitioner must engage in virtual studio visit with an art critic/writer/curator, facilitated by the CATAPULT team;
• Practicing artists must be able to demonstrate a sustained commitment to their work, careers, and a public audience;
• Cultural practitioner will be required to keep a bi-monthly blog (no more than 500 words) of their activities and processes;
• Cultural practitioner will be required to submit a report to the CATAPULT project management team at the conclusion of the residency.

The deadline for submitting the online form is August 21st, 2020.

Eligibility: Emerging, mid-career, and established creatives working in one or several of the following fields are invited to apply: visual arts, sculpture, installation, painting, drawing, performance, photography, new media, film and animation, curatorial practice, and literature. Applicants must be nationals of a Caribbean country and/or be based full-time in the Caribbean region. Artists, creative entrepreneurs and cultural practitioners based in the following 34 countries are eligible to apply:

Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saba, St. Barthelemy, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands.