The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s (CLP) 2025 Artist-in-Residence (AIR) Series (Due Jan. 17)

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s (CLP) 2025 Artist-in-Residence (AIR) Series
Deadline: January 17th, 2025

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s (CLP) 2025 Artist-in-Residence (AIR) Series is now accepting applications for creatives in the visual, written, spoken word, and musical arts. For 2025, CLP will choose five Pittsburgh-based creatives for five CLP branch locations: Beechview1, Brookline2, Allegheny3, Hill District4, and Homewood5. This AIR Series is for creatives to explore the rich book collections and/or archives of CLP and share their creative ingenuity and research with CLP patrons and the greater Pittsburgh community. Each artist will have a host branch and will conduct programming and possibly create artwork (depending on the AIR project) in a branch for the duration of their residency (approximately 5 hours a week in the host branch is expected). Artist-in-residents will be expected to create a work of art to present at the end of the residency at a ceremony. Resident artists are not provided private studio space but are given a stipend and supplies budget.  

CLP has over 30,000 unique items in our archives and special collections, including books, maps, and vinyl records, among many other formats, which offer creatives the ability to explore world languages, musical histories, libraries' architectural beginnings, and much more. From the inspiring poetry of Joy Harjo to the history of the Homewood Library, artist-in-residents will be able to dive into CLP archives and collections to further their practice, subjects of interests, and teach the community through their creativity. A list of some of our collections are included here: Music Special Collections6, Children’s Historical and Special Collections7, CLP Branch Collections at CLP Main,8 and we have branch staff and archivists that can help the residents find anything else they may need for their work. Application deadline is January 17th, 2025.  

 Stipend: $4,000.00 

Supplies Budget: $500.00 

Timeline:  

March – Orientation, introduction to host branch, research and workshop planning 

April – Art creation, weekly in-branch hours  

May – Art creation, weekly in-branch hours  

June – Art creation, weekly in-branch hours, artwork completion, exhibition/performance, exhibition, closing residency ceremony 

 To Apply: 

Please send materials below in 1 PDF to idea@carnegielibrary.org  

  • Artist Statement 

  • Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) 

  • Artwork 

    • For visual artists only: 5 images of previous artwork 

    • For writers/poets only: 2 writing samples (no more than 1 page each) 

    • For oral historians/spoken word only: 2 videos of oral history/spoken word (no more than 5 minutes each) 

    •  Musicians only: 2 musical compositions/performances (no more than 5 minutes each) 

  • Please write a brief essay (using the three prompts below) describing what you envision during your residency? (1000 words or less) 

    •  Identity the potential artwork(s)/project(s) and top three branches that you would like to work in: Brookline, Beechview, Hill District, Homewood, or Allegheny?  

    • What collections/books/resources do you plan to use (ex. Book about fiber to teach fiber art and create a fiber piece for display)?  

    • What programming do you envision for our patrons and how does the program relate/interact with the art project and research/book collection (must have a workshop at the host branch while in residence)?  

For further questions regarding the residency please contact Natalie Brown at brownn@carnegielibrary.org 

Isaac Pleta