January - June 2026 Residencies at MASS MoCA - MASS MoCA (Due May 1)
January - June 2026 Residencies at MASS MoCA - MASS MoCA
Deadline: May 1st, 2025
MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists program and the Studios at MASS MoCA artist residency give artists, writers, and performers of any discipline a range of support services, including residencies on the MASS MoCA campus, financial and business workshops, one-on-one coaching, and other professional development tools to help them achieve greater career success and financial independence.
Most people apply through our general application, which is typically for residencies 3-9 months out from the award date. In our regular application, you can opt to be considered for financial aid or one of our fully funded fellowships. Because our regular application includes financial aid, it is our most competitive option. Artists requesting financial aid typically pay between $0 - $450/week depending on their needs. This application is also available in Spanish. Deadlines for General Applications are May 1st and November 1st each year. The application will open two months prior to the deadline.
We welcome applications from artists at all career stages, income levels, and geographic locations. We primarily seek applications from visual artists (painters, sculptors, installation artists, photographers, video/new media artists, fiber artists, printmakers, etc.) and writers in all literary disciplines. We discourage applications from dancers, musicians, and other performers because our studios are only well suited for artists who work quietly (nothing is sound-proofed) and who don't require space for rehearsal / movement arts. Groups/collectives may apply to work on joint projects in the visual and literary arts. The studios have light-duty ventilation, so an art practice generating strong fumes cannot be accommodated.
Submissions are reviewed by a diverse, rotating jury. Scoring is based on the quality of work, the strength of the proposed goals for the residency, as well as on the jurors’ judgment about how much this opportunity would benefit the applicant and their goals. Our selection rubric takes equity factors into consideration in order to better support those marginalized within arts institutions/ opportunities. Within the application, artists have the option to describe any equity factors the jurors should take into consideration. This may include considerations of financial hardship, lack of access to formal art education, status as a care-giver, and discrimination or other barriers due to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, veteran status, immigration status, etc. We recognize that racism and racial inequality pervade the cultural sector, our community, and the world at large. If you have any questions about how we can best support you during your stay, please reach out.
The curatorial jury is not announced in advance, but you can peruse our jury from the previous year on our Curatorial Jury page. Due to the volume of applications we receive each season, we are not able to give feedback to individual applicants either before or after the selection process.
An artist must be at least 18 in order to apply; otherwise age is not a consideration in selection.