Residence NRW⁺ is aimed at visual artists and curators with ties to the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and curators from Switzerland. With its four key programme components – dialogue, practice, mentoring and networks – Residence NRW⁺ offers optimum conditions for further developing applicants’ potential in their respective fields of work.
Each year Residence NRW⁺ awards four 12-month fellowships to visual artists and four 6-month fellowships to curators. A special feature of the fellowships are the shared facilities for living and working aimed at fostering dialogue and exchange among participants. Accordingly, one prerequisite for an application is the commitment of all fellows to spend the period of their fellowship predominantly at the residence. Suitable accommodation and working space are available free of charge.
The programme is accompanied by a professional with proven experience in the field of promoting artists and curators in the field of contemporary visual arts. If needed, this person can be contacted in all professional and substantial concerns. This includes, among others, assistance in formulating and submitting applications, support in preparing an exhibition, studio visits and mentoring for curators, as envisaged within the framework of the programme. Excursions, workshops and roundtables with a limited number of participants offer further possibilities for networking and liaising.
The programme is distinguished by its close relevance to practice. The artists exhibit at the end of their fellowship in an institution in North Rhine-Westphalia. The curators who are concurrently in residence work in tandem and will, in general, jointly carry out two projects in different associated venues throughout the NRW region. A further feature of the programme is that this mentoring, if requested, can also be prolonged beyond the period of the fellowship. Mentoring and guidance are unique features of Residence NRW⁺, the outcome of many years of project work at the Schloss Ringenberg art-in-residence centre.
Artists
Each year, Residence NRW⁺ awards four 12-month fellowships to visual artists. They are supported in equal parts by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Kunststiftung NRW.
Residence NRW⁺ is intended for artists with ties to the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (as place of birth, studies, or residence/employment). Applicants should already have completed their studies at an art school/university of arts. Applicants may not have completed their artistic training more than five years ago at the start of the fellowship or be more than 40 years old. It is obliged to spend the scholarship period primarily at the place of residence and to take part in joint events (such as workshops, excursions, openings, etc.). The monthly stipend is 1,700 Euros (1,500 Euros living, 200 Euros support production costs). Grant-winning applicants are selected by an annually changing panel of experts.
The fellowship does not depend on a concrete project proposal. Rather, the shared facilities for living and working available to the six fellows in the residence – four artists and two curators at any one time – offer opportunities for intensive dialogue and exchange within the group. For twelve (respectively six) months the residency scholarship offers a secure space for concentrated reflection on and consolidation of one’s own practice, for refining approaches or exploring new avenues.
One condition of the fellowship is a budgeted concluding exhibition in an art institution in NRW. The exhibition is to be developed jointly with the two curators present in the residence, who will also be responsible for its implementation. A feature of the fellowship is that this mentoring does not automatically end at the end of the fellowship period. As participants in a network that has been expanding since 2001, alumni are entitled, if so desired, to continue to access this support.
Curators
Each year, Residence NRW⁺ awards four 6-month fellowships to curators, funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council.
Residence NRW⁺ Residence NRW⁺ is intended for curators with ties to the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia or to Switzerland, who have acquired profound knowledge in the realm of contemporary art, have already developed their own notions of curatorial work and had the opportunity to realise their first projects. Applicants should already have completed their studies at university (graduate, master’s, or doctorate degree; in art history, visual arts or cultural studies) and be committed to spending the period of the fellowship predominantly at the residence, and to participate in certain joint events (such as workshops, excursions, openings, etc.). Applicants with ties to the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia must have completed their studies not more than five years ago or be older than 35 at the start of the fellowship. The monthly stipend is 1,500 Euros plus a travel allowance of 500 Euros. Grant-winning applicants are selected by an annually changing panel of experts.
With facilities for living and working together that are shared with four fellowship-holding artists at the residence, Residence NRW⁺ offers possibilities for intensive dialogue and exchange within the group. Part of the fellowship is also the opportunity to refine one’s own curatorial practice and to gather exploratory experience in institutional collaborations with exhibition venues (museums or art associations) throughout North Rhine-Westphalia. Working in tandem, the two curators concurrently holding a fellowship are, in general, expected to self-reliantly implement two projects at different associated exhibition venues. These projects could be exhibitions spanning several weeks, but also might assume other formats such as performance or film programmes. The curator tandem has free rein over their conception. For their implementation Residence NRW⁺ provides a budget of max. 10,000 Euros (respectively 12,000 Euros for the closing exhibition of the artists). This allowance can by all means be augmented by independently raising third-party funds or, if necessary, through support from cooperating venues. The curator duo is responsible for the realisation of the project in consultation with the collaborating institutions (project idea, selection of artists, budgets, text production, communication, PR/media plan, accompanying events, organising transport/insurance, installing/dismantling the exhibition, documentation, etc.).