Why We Don't Have an Application Process

The gatekeeping model of artist residencies made sense in the 20th century. Studio space was scarce. Funding was limited. Someone had to decide who got in.

But the decision about who "deserves" creative conditions is itself a creative act — and not always a good one. Committees select for legibility. They reward artists who can articulate their practice in the language the committee expects. They favour CVs over curiosity. Track records over potential. The known over the unknown.

AIR does not have an application process because we believe the conditions for creative work should be accessible to anyone willing to show up and do the work. Not free — accessible. There is a difference.

We do ask every guest what they are working on before they arrive. Not to screen — to welcome. The answer tells us who is coming so we can schedule the studio, recommend artisans, and seat interesting people next to each other at breakfast.

The people who have nothing to say in response tend to self-select out. That is the only filter we use, and it is administered by the question itself.

In more than a decade, this approach has produced a community that includes novelists, neuroscientists, ceramicists, filmmakers, founders, remote workers, and people who had not made anything creative in fifteen years but felt the urge to start. A jury would not have assembled this group. Life did.

The rooms are open. What you do with them is your decision. We think that is more interesting than having someone else make it for you.