First Session (Winter/Spring): A period between December 1 and April 31
2025/2026 Application deadline: October 30, 2025 / Successful candidates will be announced mid November 2025.
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Second Session (Summer/Fall): A period between June 1 and October 31
Application deadline: March 31, 2026 / Successful candidate announced mid-April, 2026.
**ONLY SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS WILL BE CONTACTED. HOWEVER, WE ENCOURAGE ALL APPLICANTS WHO ARE UNSUCCESSFUL TO RE-APPLY IN FUTURE CALLS. **
About the Artist in Residency Program
KOAC was established as a passion project by artists Harry Kiyooka and Katie Ohe in 2007 when they decided to offer their land and studio spaces to be transformed into a legacy art in nature park. KOAC holds charitable status with a vision to expand artist programming and workshops that inspire.
We officially launched our Artist in Residence program in 2020, hosting our first group of resident artists, featuring both sculptors and painters. These artists came seeking personal artistic growth and to be surrounded by the inspirational works of their peers in the beautiful natural setting of our twenty-acre outdoor sculpture park/nature reserve.
KOAC’s Artist in Residence program is a creation of our co-founder, Katie Ohe and inspired by her personal experience of growth as an artist. Having gained opportunities to expand her own art practice through artist residencies, Ohe recognizes the need for “concentrated spaces and time to resolve artistic ideas in a creative environment.” This Artist in Residence program allows artists of all levels, mediums and backgrounds to invest uninterrupted time in contemplation, research, exploration and discovery while spending time on the land and in nature.
Land Acknowledgment: In the spirit of reconciliation, we recognize the traditions of land stewardship and the cultural values that have existed since immemorial in First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities.
KOAC lies on the meeting grounds and gathering places of the Indigenous people who have cared for and lived on this land for generations, including Treaty 7 territory — where we honour the ancestral territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy: Kainai, Piikani, and Siksika, as well as the Tsuu T’ina Nation and Îyâxe Nakoda First Nation.
We also honour the ancestral Métis Nation homeland, where KOAC resides on the Rocky View Métis District in Battle River Territory.
Objectives:
This program recognizes that physical spaces, time and the financial resources needed to create art are scarce, and these limitations constrain artists, preventing their work from reaching its full agentive potential. Situated near Calgary, with stunning views of the Rocky Mountains, the KOAC Artist in Residency Program aims to support a diverse range of artists each year to move their practice forward by providing a dedicated studio space for new exploration, inspiration, ideation and creation. Our Artist in Residence program cultivates a research and process-focused experience, facilitating artist work that otherwise may not have been realized. Artists in residence will work in a spacious, functional studio space, having opportunities to create, exhibit and document new works. Public engagement is a requirement of this residency, and artists applying will be expected to provide a plan for one public engagement activity with their application.
What to Expect:
KOAC’s Artist in Residence Program provides artists at all levels access to studio space within our 20 acre art centre for research, art production, experimentation.
The program’s length is flexible and developed in close conversation with each selected Resident Artist, typically lasting between 4 and 12 weeks. While the duration proposed in your application is not guaranteed, your requested timeframe will be taken into consideration. Resident Artists are supported in sharing their work with the public and engaging with the local community through an artist talk, workshop, or other public event, as well as in connecting with KOAC’s longstanding community of art supporters.
What KOAC provides:
- A clean, safe, semi-private studio space to create and conduct studio research.
- An outdoor regularly serviced bathroom facility
- Grant Support: KOAC will provide a letter of support (if requested) to Resident Artists who apply for a supplementary artist grant, to cover the cost of independant room and board and supplies while attending the residency.
- Honorarium in accordance with the CARFAC fee schedule for one artist talk or workshop related to the artist residency.
- NOTE: The KOAC Residency does not include financial support, room and board, or transportation to and from the KOAC studio site. These costs are covered by the artist.
Resident Artist Expectations:
- Be Inspired and Research in Nature: Resident Artists will immerse themselves in intensive self-directed artistic research and creative practice for a period of four to twelve weeks. KOAC’s facilities are well suited for painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, research, writing, reflection, and performance, as well as for work that is community-driven, socially based, or land-based. The design and format of residencies and their artist output are largely determined by the artists themselves. The residency grounds are peaceful and private, other than occasional tours of the sculpture grounds and use of adjacent building spaces for occasional workshops or programming.
- Create Art: While there are no requirements to commit to completing works during the residency, Resident Artists who eventually create art inspired during their time at KOAC will be supported to share their work/research publicly in-progress or completed. Post residency, KOAC’s Art Residency Program support will be recognized in public materials through social media and online on the KOAC Website. NOTE: Artists are not permitted to leave materials or artwork completed at the end of the residency unless notified in writing by KOAC Board of Directors.
- Public Reception of Your Work: We ask that artists in residence come up with one 'activation' of their residency studio work with a public artist talk, open studio visit, or a workshop or viewing reception of their work. This often coincides with the conclusion of a residency period. This provides KOAC resident artists with an opportunity to share their work or work in progress and/or their experiences at KOAC with the public, and prepares them for future exhibitions as they develop their careers. Presenting publicly about ones’ work and receiving public feedback through a Q & A session, will contribute to artistic growth and new perspectives.
Who Should Apply
- The KOAC art residency program is open to visual artists of all disciplines and stages of their career who permanently reside in Canada. Institutional post-secondary education, such as Bachelor of Fine Arts, is not a requirement.
- All individuals with a creative practice focused on visual art, demonstrating the need for studio space, who are seeking opportunities to share their work publicly are eligible.
- Artists whose projects do not require dedicated ventilation (i.e. painting, drawing, some craft work like textiles, sculpture, limited woodworking, photography, video, new media, etc.). All mediums will be considered.
- We welcome and strongly encourage applications from artists who are Indigenous, Black, racialized, women, LGBTQIA2S+, or who come from other equity-deserving or underrepresented communities. Our goal is to create a space that reflects diversity—of people, perspectives, and artistic practices—by welcoming artists with varied backgrounds, experiences, and creative approaches.
Please note that we have limited garbage and recycling removal at the site, and in the spirit of limiting environmental impact to the property we ask that you ensure that a sustainability plan is considered when developing your plan for art material usage on site. All garbage brought in must be removed. KOAC cannot store any art work post-residency.
Considerations
- KOAC offers free parking
- KOAC facilities are not fully wheelchair accessible and access requires use of gravel roadways and pathways.
- KOAC offers all-gender outdoor porta-potty style washrooms.
- No kitchen (although there is access to a station where you can keep tea and coffee you wish to bring, a kettle, and a microwave) *potable water must be brought onsite for drinking, and access to a sink is by request and must be scheduled in advance.
- Our studios don’t have a ventilation system to support toxic materials (i.e. spray paint, sawdust).
- Our location is in Springbank and is not easily accessed via public transit from downtown Calgary
- KOAC staff and contractors and board members may be working on site throughout the residency.
- Residency hours will be from 7am-9 pm for artist safety.
- There is limited on-site security. Staff presence is at variable times and may not always be accessible during your work day.
- Lighting in the surrounding property areas and roadways is limited at night. It is recommended that you drive carefully.
- This is a co-working space with other artists and staff. Artists in Residence must respect private areas and must request appointments with staff to enter other buildings or onsite staff work spaces.
How to Apply
Thank you for your interest in applying to our Artist in Residence program. Please fill in the following information and upload all required documents, as incomplete applications will not be reviewed. We thank all those who apply, but as we have a limited number of spaces each year, not everyone who applies is guaranteed a spot.
Our selection criteria requires us to ensure that the artist selected has a methodology and work process that aligns with our Mission, Vision and Values. Applications are open year round. Applicants are shortlisted and chosen by a Jury composed of a KOAC Board member and two guest jurors.
*ONLY SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES WILL BE CONTACTED*
Privacy and Data Use Statement
Information collected through this form is used solely for the purpose of reviewing and selecting artists for this program/exhibition. Your submission will be accessible only to the organizing team and/or selection committee.
All data is collected and stored securely through Jotform, in accordance with their Privacy Policy. We will not share your personal information with third parties without your consent.
Any demographic information you choose to share is optional and used only to help us ensure equity and representation in our programming.
If you have questions about how your information will be used or wish to withdraw your submission, please contact us at communications@koartscentre.org
Thank you again for your support of the Kiyooka Ohe Arts Centre.