Art Omi International Artists Residency

Overview

The International Artists Residency is a three week residency program for visual artists in upstate New York. Art Omi provides artists with a studio, living quarters and meals at no cost to the artists. However, artists are responsible for their travel and art materials. Artists may apply for one of our fellowships to help with costs for art materials. Each year fellowships and prizes may vary and not all of them can help cover travel expenses. Please check the paragraph at the bottom of this page for current fellowships. The Residency takes place for three weeks during the month of July. We do not offer residency for visual artists at any other time of the year. Each year, a different critic-in-residence lives on campus with the artists: their lead discussions and make one-on-one studio visits. Because of the proximity to New York City, there are also visits by many prominent critics, gallerists, curators, and artists. Valuable contacts are made through these informal encounters. In the evenings, after dinner, the group gathers for lectures, slide presentations and panel discussions. At the end of the residency, we host an Open Studios day open to the general public. This is a great chance for the artists to share the work done during the residency with a broader audience who is made up of professionals, art lovers, neighbors, friends and whoever may be passing by on that day.

Experimentation is encouraged as is discourse and collaboration. The annual Art Omi International Visual Artist's Residency combines uninterrupted time to create with a stimulating atmosphere of exchange. Participants benefit from the advice and criticism of noted art critics, gallery owners and prominent artists who are invited to visit. This direct interaction with the New York City art scene is unparalleled by other colonies. Each aspect of the residency provides a rich opportunity for artists.

The Arts Center

The Omi International Arts Center is located approximately two and a half hours north of New York City in the historic Hudson River Valley. The facilities, set on 300 acres of rural farmland, comprise a large two-story barn with ample space for indoor studios, as well as several large, covered sheds, suitable for sculpture. Housing is made available on the grounds at three different buildings 5 minutes walking from the studio area, perched on top of a hill with stunning view of the Catskills Mountain and of The Fields Sculpture Park.

The Omi International Arts Center is a non-profit foundation supported entirely by private donations. We provide this experience at no cost to our residents. Funding comes from a number of sources, including interested individuals and institutions throughout the world, who wish to contribute generally or sponsor the participation of an artist from their own nation.

Deadline for the 2010 residency session is Friday, December 11, 2009.
Please note this is NOT a postmarked deadline: applications must be received in our New York City office by December 11, 2009.

Click here for APPLICATION GUIDELINES.

2009 Invited Artists

Dorothy Amenuke, Ghana
Sana Arjumand, Pakistan
Lionel Bawden, Australia
Behailu Bezabih Ayele, Ethiopia
Alberto Borea, Peru
Vanessa Chimera, Italy
Kawayan de Guia, Philippines
Dinh Cong Dat, Vietnam
Mario Duchesneau, Canada
La Toya Ruby Frazier, USA
Debesh Goswami, India/France
Moo Kwon Han, Korea/USA
Midori Harima, Japan/USA
Soun Hong, Korea
Sanghyun Jung, Korea
Amal Laala, Morocco
Lei Yan, China
Anne Lindberg, USA
Greg Lindquist, USA
Liat Livni, Israel
Yvonne Lung, USA
Shawne Major, USA
moAA, Iraq/UK
Machhoya Nirakar, India
Dan Price, USA
Mimmo Roselli, Italy
Marinella Senatore, Italy
James Sham, Canada/USA
Orhan Tekin, Turkey
Peterson Kamwathi Waweru, Kenya

click here to view the 2009 artists biographies and artworks

2009 Critic-in-Residence Frances Richard

Frances Richard has been a member of the editorial teams at Cabinet Magazine and the literary journal Fence, and writes frequently about contemporary art. In 2005, with Jeffrey Kastner and Sina Najafi, she organized an exhibition and accompanying monograph titled Odd Lots: Revisiting Gordon Matta-Clark’s “Fake Estates”; her book of poems, See Through, was published by Four Way Books in 2003. She teaches at Barnard College and the Rhode Island School of Design, and lives in Brooklyn.

"There was something immensely nourishing, challenging, and also humbling about being together with artists from so many different countries and in such a sustained and vigorous way."

Gregory Volk, Critic-in-Residence 1996

Past Critics In Residence:
2008 Martha Schwendener
2008 Micaela Giovannotti
2007 Omar Lopez Chahoud
2006 Kóan Jeff Baysa
2005 Reena Jana
2004 Olu Oguibe
2003 Euridice Arratia
2002 Yu Yeon Kim
2001 Christian Viveros-Fauné
2000 Denise Carvalho
1999 Dominique Nahas
1998 Franklin Sirmans
1997 Lilly Wei
1996 Gregory Volk
1995 Carlos Basualdo
1994 Dan Cameron
1993 Raphael Rubenstein
1992 Robert C. Morgan

How the Artists Are Selected

Each year, Art Omi runs an open call to visual artists from any corner of the world, walks of life, stage of career. We equally consider applications from artists already established as well as emerging professionals. We do not accept applications from currently enrolled students. A review committee, composed of the board of directors along with professionals in the field, make the selection from the applications.

On average, participants are selected from a pool of six hundred to one thousand candidates who apply yearly for our program.
An approximate thirty artists are invited every year. Each invited artist is given room and board as well as studio space free of charge for a three week period every July. Participants are responsible for transportation and materials costs and are asked to donate a work of art created during the residency to the Art Omi Collection.

Facilities

Facilities include indoor and protected outdoor studio spaces, a black and white photography darkroom, basic handtools, preliminary welding equipment and two light-tight studios for projection work. The entire center is wireless equipped. in addition, we provide five computers with internet access and black & white printers. Studio technicians are available for assistance. Daily trips to suppliers are also provided. Professional color photography labs are located in Albany, New York. Bikes are available for residents to explore the surrounding area.

Pondside Press Monotype Project

Art Omi offers every year 10 to 15 of the resident artists with the opportunity to work for a half-day with a master printmaker from Pondside Press to produce an edition of monotypes. Tamarind Institute Master Printmakers Melissa and Ted Braggins are owners and printers at Pondside Press, located in nearby Rhinebeck, New York. They have developed an excellent reputation as printers and for working professionally with artists and publishers. They create beautifully printed editions of the highest quality with the very best collaborative efforts of artist and printer. High quality material is provided for the monotype project: each participating artist is required to donate one print to the printer and one to the Art Omi collection.

Visitors Program

Each year Art Omi invites up to 30 art professionals from New York City to join the residency for a day of studio visits. Each visitor spends 24 hours on campus. The visitors spectrum range from independent curators to art dealers and consulants, to art historians, to museum professionals, artists and critics. The Visitors' program is by invitation only, however, letters of interest from prospective visitors are welcome.

Advisory Board
Bill Botzow
Dan Cameron
Rosemary Foot
Alain Kirili
Tadaaki Kuwayama
David Lebenstein
Raphael Rubinstein
Jens Henrik Sandberg
Frances Schools
Sen. Charles E. Schumer

Director
Claudia Cannizzaro

Board of Directors
Elisabeth Akkerman
Euridice Arratia
Isabelle Autones
Koan-Jeff Baysa
Lawrence Benenson
Holly Block
John Cross
Linda Cross
Tarik Currimbhoy
Kinga Czerska
Blaire Dessent
Dan Devine
Matt Felton
Peter Franck
Francis Greenburger, President
Terri Gumula
Fred Holland
Leslie Horvitz
Marc Kemeny
Robert C Morgan
Isabelle Bosquet Morra
Dominque Nahas
Heidi Neuhoff
Odili Donald Odita
Mimi Poser
Anders Schroeder
Franklin Sirmans
Sandi Slone
Kathleen Triem
Christian Viveros-Faune
Gregory Volk
Lilly Wei
Ross Willows

Art Omi expresses its gratitude to all of the sponsors for their support.

Antrev Management
Artis, New York
Art Omi Australia Committee
Asian Cultural Council, New York
Ateneo Art Gallery of the Ateneo de Manila University
Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City
Dena Foundation for Contemporary Art
Frances and Benjamin Benenson Foundation
Francis J. Greenburger Foundation
Israeli Consulate General of New York
K. Square Designs
Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation
Paradise Culture Foundation
Prana Studios
Time Equities Inc.