Roman J. Witt Artist in Residence -2024/25

The mission of the Roman J. Witt Residency Program is to support the production of new work at the University of Michigan. The program awards one residency per academic year for a visiting artist/​designer to develop a new work in collaboration with the Stamps School and University of Michigan community. To make visible the creative process through the creation of a defined work from concept to completion, is a central tenet of the residency. The residency is expected to culminate in the realization of the proposed work, as well as its presentation.

The 2024 – 2025 Witt Residency is organized in partnership with the Stamps Gallery, a public center for contemporary art and design in downtown Ann Arbor, part of the Stamps School of Art & Design, at the University of Michigan. The Stamps Gallery opened in 2017 after years of being located in three disparate campus spaces. Building on the school’s strong tradition of excellence, thought leadership, and community engagement, the goal is to develop innovative and scholarly exhibitions, publications, and public programs that foster inclusive platforms for presentation, discussion, and inquiry into the urgent questions and concerns of our time. The Gallery is an incubator and lab for contemporary artists and designers to explore ideas and projects that catalyze positive social change. A commitment to social justice informs the work of developing exhibitions, programs, and publications with a goal to inspire new ways of looking, making, and thinking. Stamps Gallery also partners with faculty and students to develop and present exhibitions and programs that examine the potential role of art & design to create a more just and equitable community.

The residency will consist of a making period of up to 12 weeks in residence during the 2024 – 2025 academic year, followed by an exhibition period. The culminating exhibition will open early in the fall of 2025 and will occupy the Stamps Gallery— with possibilities for additional programming to extend beyond the gallery space. Plans should show consistency conceptually regarding the inherent overall structure of the project, have a strong visual impact and potential for engagement. This, along with the proposed work, will strongly determine the selection of the artist/​designer.

The Witt Residency is open to both established and emerging artists/​designers. The residency provides students an alternate learning opportunity to engage with practicing artists/​designers who can make use of resources across campus, therefore the ideal candidate must value collaboration, have good social and communication skills and be interested in generating creative partnerships across disciplines. It is the goal of the Witt Residency to foster an atmosphere of inventive creative activity that extends throughout the University community.

Witt Residents receive an honorarium of $20,000 for up to twelve weeks in residence served over an academic year. In addition to the honorarium, residents will be provided with housing, studio space, and up to $5,000 funding support for project materials. The School encourages applications from individuals as well as from creative teams however, please be advised that the resources listed above are finite, including the travel budget. If teams apply the expectation is that the award will be shared between its members.

The deadline for applying is 15 February 2024. The application is done online via SlideRoom. SlideRoom requires a nominal $15 application fee to offset the cost of media uploads and storage at the time of submission. The fee is paid by the applicant using a secure system via SlideRoom online as the final step in submitting the application. All funds go directly to SlideRoom, and not the Witt Residency, the Stamps School of Art & Design, or the University of Michigan.