Future Arts in Residence (FAiR) is a studio residency program for women of colour, marginalized genders, and prioritizes artists with disabilities in their emerging practices and creative processes.
The goal of FAiR is to provide a free studio residency space for artists from October 2025 to April 2026.
The residency will include 3 separate artists to share a residency space with an opportunity for collaboration between artists and opportunity for hosting workshops. The residency is flexible and self-directed with support from the Future Arts part-time staff. The aim is to be open and flexible with values of transparency and working outside traditional, patriarchy and colonial ways of working. The aim is to support artists and provide a free space to explore ideas and provide stability for artists for the duration of the residency.
Future Arts Network is dedicated to:
- Develop women of colour and marginalized genders of BIPOC leaders in the arts through leadership and mentorship programs.
- Support, engage, and promote women of colour and marginalized genders of BIPOC in the arts through programming, education, and production.
Key Info:
- Call for artists close Tuesday September 2, 2025 at 11:59 PM (PST).
- We are accepting 3 artists with disabilities.
- Participants will be notified end of Friday September 19, 2025 before 11:59 PM (PST).
- The committee that will review artists applications will include the Future Arts team and previous FAiR artists.
Artists are encouraged to apply within the following mediums: Design, drawing, illustration, installation, creative writing, literary arts, mixed media, painting, photography, print media, sculpture and textiles. All mediums are welcome.
We are looking for artists who are:
- d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing
- Mad artists
- Neurodiverse artists
- Artists with physical disabilities
- Chronically ill folks, and/or have dynamic disabilities
*Priority is given towards BIPOC artists, LGBTQIA2S+ artists, underrepresented artists living with varying disabilities.
All self-identifications are welcome!
Fine Print:
The selected artists will be sharing space with 3 artists in total and will require a sense of collaboration, openness and communication between the group. There will be regular monthly check-ins between the Future Arts part-time staff and the 3 artists to keep updated on the progress for the duration (October 2025 to April 2026).
Budget:
Studio Residency from October 1, 2025 to April 16, 2026 (total studio rent is valued at $27,157.92).
For the residency, each artist will be provided an artist fee of $1,000 each to support artwork production and creation. The intention is to support the collaboration of our fellow artists and their artistic growth within the residency program.
Each artist will be provided with up to $500 each in reimbursements for transportation, food/hospitality, supplies and materials from October 2025 to April 2026.
Each artist will have the opportunity to participate in Eastside Culture Crawl in November 2025, application fees will be covered by Future Arts (optional to participate).
Each artist can participate in a year-end public programming (ie: symposium, panel talk or workshop) in March/April 2026 and will be paid an additional $515 per artist (CARFAC 2026 fees) (optional to participate).
Artist Fees TOTAL: $1,515, reimbursements are on top of the artist fee.
The above is the application form in 3 formats: Markdown (.md), plain text (.txt), and Microsoft Word (.doc), so you can choose the one that works best for your needs. Each file contains the same content and is accessible for screen readers where supported.
Where are we located?
Studio location: BCA in the Sun Wah Centre
268 Keefer Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 1X5
Address, Transit, Parking, Bike access and Accessibility information is online at bcabca.ca/access-accessibility
What is happening?
We will be selecting 3 artists to share a studio space.
Selected artists will have the opportunity for independent residency in its duration with opportunities to experiment and explore the bounds of their art practice.
Artists will be able to occupy the studio space during the 7-month time duration: October 2025 to April 2026.
We will be providing studio equipment and open space for its entirety.
What we are offering:
Space:
- Shared space with 3 artists in total
- Approx 112 sq ft per artist
- Total 747 sq ft in Studio
- Lower level space with no windows but there is elevator access
- Communal kitchen, wifi, washroom shared with tenants of BCA
- Photos and video of the space are here
Supplies:
- Standing desk, chair
- Standing lamp
- Air purifier
- Mini desk fan
- Rolling Cart
- Singular dolly to transport items into and out of the studio space
- N95 and COVID-19 Masks
The space will be an opportunity for:
- Collaborative workshop with other participating artists
- Open studio space with other participating artists
- Participation at Eastside Culture Crawl (optional)
Access:
- CART services or ASL interpreters (notify 1-2 months in advance) for public events, workshops and/or meetings
- Otter.ai will be provided for virtual meetings
- Paid transportation (via Taxi, Cab, or Uber)
- Paid buddy system (by artist) for exhibition support in workshops, events and/or exhibition install
- Soft and hard deadlines for residency completion
- Simple language documents and audio descriptions will be provided for successful applicants
- Documents will be distributed via paper copy, GoogleForms and WordDoc (or TXT) for screen reader access
- If we are missing any important accommodations, please notify us @shanna.cheng@hotmail.com for request of additional support.
Setting
- Sound:
- Echo – Studio has high ceilings. There is an echo which reverberates across the floor. We have a single ProCase ear muff which we can provide in the duration. Voices and sounds of footsteps can carry.
- There is ventilation above Studio space #3, noise will be operating on/off during the day.
- There is a public hallway outside the studio, people with access to the building will be walking by.
- Smell:
- This is not an odor-free environment since it is a shared space. There is one single ventilation fan above and 1 door to the hallway.
- A shared public kitchen is down the hall for communal eating.
- Temperature:
- It gets chilly throughout. Recommended to wear layers.
- Brightness:
- Bright LED ceiling warehouse lights are on with one high brightness setting in neutral white.
Selection criteria
Artists will be selected by the following criteria:
1) Active Early Career Artist – We are interested in supporting early career artists who are committed to continuing their practice after residency.
Are you an active artist within the disability community for a minimum of 1 year and maximum 5 years?
Early career artists are artists who are at the beginning stages of their professional arts career as practicing artists. They are artists who are currently developing their artistic ‘voice’. Academic training in an institution is not required.
2) Equity and Cultural Safety – We value the cultural safety and equity of our artists and our team as our #1 priority. Does your practice address cultural sensitivity and disability experiences appropriately? Can we support your content equitably?
3) Feasibility – Due to limited capacity, our Future Arts Network team is small but we are committed to supporting artists with the best of our abilities with the resources we have available.
Can we support the artists in install and programming? Do we have the access accommodations to support them in creating an enjoyable experience?
4) Relevance – Is it relevant to Future Art Network’s goals?
How can we help?
If you need support with applying for this studio residency, please reach out so we may assist you. We can provide a printed version of the Call for Artists.
All art mediums are welcomed, however the spaces may not be able to accommodate larger installation projects that require heavy machinery. We unfortunately cannot accommodate animation design, ceramics, wood shopping and metalshopping due to lack of technology, machinery and proper ventilation.
We want to support your ideas!
Images
Contact Us
Shanna Cheng, Project Coordinator
shanna.cheng@hotmail.com
Kristin Cheung, Future Arts Network
hello@kristincheung.com
Thank you for applying!