Artist Residency Program

NVRC's Artist Residency Program offers opportunities for artists to work in the community, to develop arts-based engagement activities and to deliver creative projects that generate meaningful connections.

Key goals of the NVRC's Artist Residency Program include:

To inspire participation and relationship-building where art (the process of creating together) acts as a catalyst for individual and community engagement; and
To see artists work collaboratively with community members (who may or may not see themselves as creative) in initiatives where the participants take a central role as creators, producers and performers or as active audiences for the project.

The Artist Residency Program offers three program streams:

Creation Labs

Creation Lab residencies offer studio time to artists to experiment with new ideas, to play with and create new directions in their practice, to develop new “work” and to present it in a workshop setting.

Creation Labs are mostly self-directed, intensive and of relatively short duration (six weeks to four months); they are expected to culminate in some kind of public activity, demonstration, open house, showcase or workshop.

Creation Labs are open to solo artists, small artist collectives or to groups of two or more artists (artist groups) working in collaboration. Collaborations are encouraged between artists:

Of different social, cultural and economic backgrounds
Of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds
Of different sex and gender orientations
Working in different artistic areas, media and traditions AND
With different creative practices or working in different traditions

The NVRC cannot offer exclusive use of a single studio space. However, we do offer free use of any rooms or spaces that are available and that can be scheduled at one or more of the Recreation & Cultural facilities in North Vancouver. Partner organizations may also have available space to offer.

Artist Fees are available to support the creative process.

Creating Connections

Creating Connections residencies offer a framework for professional artists to work directly with members of the community. The Creating Connections program is open to solo artists or small artist collectives. Residencies are concentrated in a term of two to four months.

Creating Connections residencies are typically built around a dedicated, pre-determined area of focus or theme with a goal to encourage the development of a wide variety of interactions between artists and community members. Projects are highly participatory, encourage acts of shared creation and support life-long learning.

Activities may consist of any mix of (community) discussions, (creative) workshops, drop-in sessions, or pop-up experiences. Projects may be intentionally planned to connect with, to animate and to promote existing programming, events and activities by:

Providing opportunities for creative and cultural exchange
Activating outdoor public space(s) and other non-traditional places
Delivering fun, inviting and accessible engagement in artistic and creative activities
Including people – including those who do not see themselves as artists – as creators, producers, performers and active audiences
Bringing the community together AND
Fostering creative conversation and participation in issues identified as important by the community

NVRC offers the free use of space (or spaces) required to deliver the project as well as staff support where connecting with existing NVRC programs is required. Artist Fees are provided and budget is available for project materials.

Community Residency

The Artist in Residence Program is a longer-term opportunity; residencies are expected to last six weeks to six months. Space at a North Vancouver Recreation & Culture (NVRC) community recreation centre will be made available during the centre’s opening hours and will act as a home base and small office/studio. Resident artist(s) will be expected to spend their time “in residence,” establishing a presence at an NVRC community recreation centre and in the surrounding neighbourhood, interacting with and engaging the public in a range of creative practices. The goal of the program is to invite community members and curious visitors to share in creating activities that are collaborative, cooperative and community-building.

During the residency, artist(s) will develop projects, connect with members of the public and engage them in the collaborative creation of art projects. Connecting with the public can take many forms: