Application Requirements

Requirements for application include:

• 8 images of your work. All media accepted, including video. Video submissions must be less than 5 minutes each. If you are submitting writing, poetry, etc., please submit three short samples of 500 words or less, each in PDF form.
• Descriptions of your work for each image you submit in your application.
• Complete application including answering a few questions designed to tell us about your practice and why you want to come to Chautauqua
• PDF of your current resume. $30 non-refundable fee. Everyone who does not receive acceptance into our program will receive a response and brief feedback on their application. In addition, we will host a Zoom gathering with those who did not receive admission into the School of Art residency program. 
• All eligible artists will be considered with no preference to racial or ethnic origins, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, disability, or age. This is an intergenerational program. We welcome all ages over the age of 21 years of age.

The Jurying Process:

1. Applications received by midnight Eastern Standard Time (EST), March 2.
2. The CVA Artistic Director reads through applications to confirm everyone who applied is eligible.
3. Artistic Director sends all applications to all of the Lead faculty members to review, vote on and give feedback on each application. The applications are scored between 1–10. It is encouraged that each lead faculty member gives feedback on the applications. The Artistic Director gives feedback on every application that is not accepted into our program based on conversation between all of the Lead faculty members and the Director.
4. Artistic Director and CVA Manager collect all of the votes. Every application that scores 5.0 or above out of 10.0 is looked at again. The Gallery Director witnesses the process and the CVA Manager takes notes of conversations per application.
5. Participants are accepted by the Artistic Director and Lead Faculty members.
6. Artistic Director writes to the approved applicants of their acceptance. This process takes about 2 weeks.
7. Artistic Director then starts the process of writing feedback to each person who is not accepted to our program. We send emails to those applicants first. In addition, we offer to all of the people who are not accepted a gathering on Zoom to talk about the application process further. The entire juroring takes about 4-6 weeks depending on how many applications are submitted.
8. All applicants are notified by around May 1.

Benefits of Attending our Program

• Mentorship with the lead faculty of their choice
• Technical classes held at the Chautauqua Visual Arts
• Guidance from visiting artists who will implement special projects throughout the summer
• Receive a gate pass for the length of the residency, allowing students access to the grounds of Chautauqua as well as amphitheater, chamber and Festival Schools programs
• Attendance to our Visiting Artist Lecture Series
• Studio visits from Visiting Artists
• Access to thought leaders who visit Chautauqua in all of the Arts
• Professional Development
• Ample studio space
• Housing
• Meals
• Optional workshops in printmaking, ceramics, life drawing, digital media, painting and more
• 24-hour access to our facilities in printmaking, ceramics, drawing, woodshop and more
• Showing their work in their galleries and the option to sell their work to collectors who visit Chautauqua every season
• A robust Alumni program connecting Chautauqua School of Art alumni to one another as well as professional opportunities – staying in touch beyond their time at Chautauqua
• Benefits from our institutional partners
• And more!

Scholarships & Funding

Funding from CVA comes in the form of full or partial scholarships that are sourced from individual donors and institutional partnerships. Each person who receives funding must contribute efforts to community chores such as: assisting mentors and staff, studio maintenance and other duties for up to 10 hours per week at an assigned position. Participants who accept financial assistance and do not satisfactorily fulfill obligations will be dismissed from the program with no refund. All participants who receive full financial assistance are required to contribute to the full 10 hours/week. We also require all participants who receive financial aid from an organization, school or various institutions, to share the pedagogy they have learned and their experience at CVA at the institution which contributed to their visit. 

In 2019, for the first time in the history of the CVA, we awarded 36 out of 38 artists-in-residence full scholarships with two receiving partial funding. In 2020 and 2021, all artists-in-residence in our program received full funding. We welcome donors and partners to contribute to our need to fund participants, especially those who would not necessarily have the opportunity to join us. 

Tuition and Other Fees

Please check back in winter of 2023 for tuition and fees for the 2024 residency program.