Call to Members | Stronger Together Collaborative Residency

Open to: Union Gallery members
Deadline to apply: Monday, April 14, 11:59pm EST

Launching an exciting year ahead, Union Gallery is turning over the Main Space to its membership with a unique residency opportunity for hard times. 

Stronger Together Collaborative Residency will assemble an ad hoc collective of 3-5 artists open to co-creating experimental art that boldly responds to our new curatorial theme: in this economy?! 

We invite open-ended proposals that consider and respond to manufactured scarcity, late-stage capitalism, economic precarity, and the improvisation of everyday life in the face of these challenges. 

Why work together? This opportunity will expand your art practice through a unique period of skill sharing, dialogue, and co-creation with fellow Union Gallery members. 

If you have any questions or require accommodations during the submission process, please reach out: ugallery@queensu.ca / 613.533.3171

Eligibility

 

MEMBERSHIP

All Union Gallery members in good standing are welcome to apply to this residency. Memberships can be purchased or renewed on Zeffy. If you're not sure whether your membership is up to date, feel free to check in with our Program Director at ugallery@queensu.ca.

To learn more about Union Gallery’s membership program, visit our website: uniongallery.ca/membership

 
ELIGIBLE MEDIA

UG is primarily a gallery space and does not have the ventilation or room required for certain artistic practices better suited to a traditional studio space. We are open to supporting art-making in the following disciplines:

• Solvent-free painting and/or printmaking 
• Collage and mixed media
• Sculpture and installation
• Drawing
• Fibre arts (sewing, knitting, weaving)
• Performance and/or video art
• Photography (digital, cyanotype)
• Book arts

Not sure if your practice is eligible? Get in touch with our Gallery Director at ugallery.director@queensu.ca.

What's Included

 

The 3-5 artists who are selected to join the residency will receive the following:

• Access to Union Gallery’s Main Space from May 20, 2025 to August 9, 2025 for use as a studio and public engagement platform
• Use of the Wandering Art Station, Union Gallery’s mobile art cart
• A materials stipend for the group*
• Residency programming, including guidance sessions with the Gallery Director and public program development with the Program Director
• A paid group exhibition in the Project Room during UG’s 2025-26 curatorial year (dates to be determined in consultation with the collective)

 

*Funds raised through Union Gallery’s membership program by April 30, 2025 will cycle back into this opportunity. 

Timeline + Key Dates

 
APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications open: Tuesday, March 25
Applications close: Monday, April 14, 11:59pm EST
Notification of selections: Tuesday, April 22

PROPOSED SCHEDULE

Residency period: Tuesday, May 20—Saturday, August 9

Group meetings (orientation + discussion sessions): 
Tuesdays, 1pm: May 20, May 27, June 17, July 8, July 29 

Public engagement (launch event + resident-led programs):
Wednesdays, 6pm: May 21, June 11, July 16

How to Apply

Please apply through the form below. You will be asked to provide the following information:

1. Applicant Information

• First name
• Last name
• Email
• Pronouns (optional)
• Website and/or social media (optional)
• Are you a Union Gallery member?

2. Availability

• Indicate availability during the proposed meeting dates/times
• Elaborate on any schedule conflicts (if applicable)
• Approximately how much time per week (hours) can you commit to using the studio with your collaborators?
• Indicate any expected periods away from Katarokwi-Kingston during the residency dates (if applicable)

3. Application

You will be asked to upload the following as 1 PDF document:

1. Your artist bio (150 words max.)
2. Your artist statement (150 words max.)
3. Examples of your work with captions (4-6 images)
4. Your interest in this residency:
   • How does collaboration shape your art practice and what draws you to the broader theme, in this economy?! (300 words max.)
   • What do you hope to gain from the experience and what do you have to offer to your collaborators? This could include skills, insights, or expanded perspectives you wish to develop. (150 words max.)

 

At the end of the application, you will be given the option to identify as a member of an equity-seeking group. 

1. Applicant Information

2. Availability

 

Residency period:
Tuesday, May 20—Saturday, August 9

Group meetings (orientation + discussion sessions): 
Tuesdays, 1pm: May 20, May 27, June 17, July 8, July 29 

Public engagement (launch event + resident-led programs):
Wednesdays, 6pm: May 21, June 11, July 16

 

This is a proposed schedule; final times will be arranged in consultation with the group. While we will try to be flexible as we initially develop the schedule, it is important that the selected artists commit to the full residency and all planned activities.  

3. Application

 

Please submit the following as a PDF document:

1. Your artist bio (150 words max.)
2. Your artist statement (150 words max.)
3. Examples of your work with captions (4-6 images)
4. Your interest in this residency:
   1. How does collaboration shape your art practice and what draws you to the broader theme, in this economy?! (300 words max.)
      What do you hope to gain from the experience and what do you have to
   2. offer to your collaborators? This could include skills, insights, or expanded perspectives you wish to develop. (150 words max.)

EQUITY STATEMENT

Union Gallery is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our programming and operations. UG welcomes applications from qualified individuals of all sexualities, races, gender identities, socioeconomic statuses, and (dis)abilities. We strongly encourage applications from equity-seeking communities. UG recognizes that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour), QPOC (Queer People of Colour) and 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, +) are disproportionately underrepresented within institutional art spaces. Due to ongoing systemic barriers, UG prioritizes applicants who self-identify as BIPOC, QPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+.