2025 Lakou NOU Artist Residency Application
Deadline: Friday, September 19, 2025 at 11:59pm EST
About Haiti Cultural Exchange
Haiti Cultural Exchange (HCX) is a nonprofit organization established in 2009 to develop, present and promote the cultural expressions of Haitian people. We seek to raise awareness of social issues and foster cultural understanding and appreciation through programs in the arts, education, and public affairs.
Our Arts Presentation, Cultural Engagement, and Artist Development programs support emerging and established artists, promote cross-cultural exchange, preserve Haiti’s cultural heritage, and encourage discussions around contemporary social issues facing Haiti and its Diaspora.
Residency Overview:
In rural Haiti, the Lakou communal living system embodies the intersection of land, family, and spirituality. Former enslaved people created the Lakou in resistance to the racial and class divides perpetuated by colonial plantations. By organizing around shared land, the Lakou promotes economic equity and avoids exploitation. Lakou NOU (“Our Yard” in Haitian Creole) is a creative adaptation of this traditional model. Haiti Cultural Exchange invests in artists of Haitian descent, positioning their creative talents as resources within local collective commons. They deepen community-led activism, build on neighborhood strengths, and unite diverse stakeholders around mutual aims.
Established in 2016, the Lakou NOU artist residency supports the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Canarsie, East Flatbush, and Flatbush – diverse communities home to generations of Haitians and Haitian Americans. Over the course of nine months, Lakou NOU artists-in-residence generate work collaboratively with community members. Residency projects join a long legacy of Haitian artistry tackling the socio-political issues with which Haitians contend, such as connection to traditional practices, forced migration, foreign occupations, and revolution.
HCX helps facilitate the formation of partnerships between selected artists and neighborhood residents, including community constituents, nonprofit organizations, small businesses, community gardens, and local cultural institutions. These relationships help familiarize artists with challenges and opportunities unique to each Lakou and afford access to valuable resources, such as presentation venues or a platform for community conversations. Artists-in-residence also interact with each other as a cohort through discussion and support around topics relevant to Lakou NOU projects and participate in HCX-facilitated professional development opportunities and mentorship. Topics include: tools for cultural preservation, art in public spaces, engagement in social practice, and implementation/evaluation of community programming.
Artist Benefits:
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A $7,500 stipend for development, implementation, documentation, and evaluation of projects.
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Professional development/mentorship activities aimed at building tools and skills necessary for community engaged artistic practice.
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An opportunity to become more acquainted with assets and issues in Brooklyn’s Haitian communities.
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Access to a network of other artists, community leaders, and local organizations, including meetings with our Lakou NOU Community Stakeholders.
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An opportunity to further develop artistic practice through the creation of new work.
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A platform to showcase work to members of the Haitian diaspora and their diverse Brooklyn neighbors.
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A chance to develop professional skills through production, promotion activities, public speaking, networking, and working in group settings.
Lakou NOU Application Period:
- Application Portal Open — Monday, August 18 – Friday, September 19, 2025 at 11:59pm EST
- Applications reviewed by selection committee — September 2024
- Finalist interviews — October 1-10, 2025
- Recipient Artists Announced — October 2025
Participation in this program is contingent on in-person attendance at:
- Lakou NOU Orientation at our HCX office in Brooklyn, over the course of two days in October 2025.
- Three professional development workshops, held at the HCX office from October through December 2025.
- Regular cohort meet-ups & bi-weekly check ins, held at various points throughout the residency.
- Presentation of work in progress to Lakou NOU Community Stakeholders in November 2025.
- HCX hosted group culminating event, showcasing the work of all four Lakou NOU artists, May/June 2026.
- Cohort debrief in June 2026.
*Exact Dates will be agreed upon by all artists before signing their residency contract.
Residency Timeline:
Phase 1: Lakou NOU Project Development Stage: Activation in Lakou, October – November 2025
During this phase artist residents will become more familiar with their Lakous through HCX facilitated group meetings. These sessions enable artists to consider their own creative talents as a component of a collective Lakou commons, charging themselves with connecting their skills to existing efforts and/or resources. As artists connect with local residents, organizations, and other community members, HCX provides mentorship to implement participatory processes and tools to support relationships that are beneficial for the collective Lakou communities. During this phase, artists will present their proposed project to their Lakou, receive feedback, and adapt their plan to fit the needs of the community.
Residents will also engage in curated professional development activities designed to help them prepare for the challenges and opportunities that come with cultivating and stewarding space for their projects. This series of workshops introduces artists to the principles of social practice, community engagement, project planning and implementation, as well as impact assessment.
Project descriptions are finalized by residents and approved by HCX during this stage.
Phase 2: Lakou NOU Project Implementation Stage: November 2025 – March 2026
The schedule of the implementation phase is based on the scope of each project, as determined by the artist and community stakeholders. During this period, artists-in-residence will carry out their Lakou NOU project. Artists will also have an opportunity to share their progress for feedback during a community dinner hosted by HCX.
Phase 3: Lakou NOU Production Stage: March – June 2026
As a team, the artists-in-residence will design their contribution to the Lakou NOU culminating event, a collaborative event featuring the work of the entire cohort. In addition to presenting their projects, the culminating event will showcase how Lakou NOU artists merged their artistic practice with neighborhood needs, while sharing space and engaging reciprocity within the community.
Culminating Event: May/June TBC 2026
HCX will host a culminating event to showcase the newly developed artistic work of all Lakou NOU residents.
Phase 4: Lakou NOU Project Evaluation Stage: June 2026
During this period of self-assessment, artists complete evaluative reports that measure the success of their projects against metrics created as part of their project proposals as well as any additional criteria identified during the life of their projects. The artists themselves compile documentation and notes for assessing their own projects.
HCX facilitates conversations and provides an opportunity for artists to measure their own success within the context of socially engaged art.
Total Length of Lakou Nou Residency: 9 Months
Applicant Guidelines
Selection Criteria:
- Artistic excellence and originality
- Residence in and/or a demonstrated relationship with the Lakou NOU communities
- An artistic practice rooted in community, collaboration, and dialogue
- Identification as an artist of Haitian descent working in any artistic discipline
Additional Requirements:
- Previous Lakou NOU Artists-in-Residence are not eligible to apply.
- Artists are not required to live in the targeted "Lakou" neighborhoods (Crown Heights, Flatbush, East Flatbush, or Canarsie) BUT must live in the greater New York City area for the duration of the residency period. Regular presence in selected Lakou neighborhood is required.
- Artists must demonstrate an interest in and commitment to Crown Heights, Flatbush, East Flatbush, and/or Canarsie neighborhoods.
How do I apply?
Applications may be submitted in writing OR as a video. Responses must demonstrate a detailed and organized thought process. If you have any questions, please email lakounou@haiticulturalx.org.
• OPTION 1: Written Submission: Applications may be submitted via this form.
• OPTION 2: Video Submission:
- Complete Part One and Part Three of this form.
- Video submissions answering Part Two of this application may be submitted as an MP4, AVI, MOV, or FLV file. Please upload files to the link below.
- Video submissions may be in English or Kreyòl.
- Videos should be no longer than 8 minutes.
- Supplemental Documentation is still required with your video application. See Part Three: Work Samples & Background for instructions.
Note: Incomplete submissions will not be reviewed.
Application Assistance
To increase accessibility to this opportunity, HCX offers application assistance. If you have specific questions, issues with access to technology, or require language assistance, please contact lakounou@haiticulturalx.org to schedule a Zoom appointment.