Artist Residency Program

1. About the Program

A Three-Month Remote Residency for Emerging Artists.
Deadline: September 29, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.

Call for Artists

The Canadian War Museum — part of the Canadian Museum of History — is inviting emerging artists in Canada to apply for its new remote Artist Residency Program (ARP). The successful applicant(s) will collaborate with the War Museum to create a new work of art for the upcoming special exhibition, Outside the Lines (OTL). Opening in May 2024, OTL will explore the experiences and perspectives of women war artists and how their voices evolved over time. This first iteration of the Residency seeks to amplify the voices of women artists who have typically been under-represented in war art. Working with the exhibition team, the artist(s) will reflect upon exhibition themes, as well as the Museum’s world-renowned war art and military collections, to conceive and execute a finished work.

The finished work will be displayed in the final zone of the exhibition. The work also has the potential to go on tour as part of an associated travelling exhibition, for a period of up to three years.

The work must meet the requirements outlined in Section 4: TECHNICAL/DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS.

Artists will be given funding to cover 12 weeks of working time, to be conducted off site at a location of their choosing, within the 20-week period between December 1, 2023 and April 26, 2024.

About the Exhibition

Outside the Lines (OTL) explores how the voices of women war artists have evolved over time through the art they created. Examining works of art from the 19th century to the present day, the exhibition links the artists’ works to their personal stories and experiences of conflict. It also connects these experiences and perspectives to Canada’s societal changes and military history.

Drawing primarily upon the War Museum’s Beaverbrook Collection of War Art, the exhibition includes artists such as Molly Lamb Bobak, Paraskeva Clark, Joyce Wieland, Gertrude Kearns, and Rosalie Favell, among many others. OTL brings together around 65 works of war art by some 55 Canadian women artists.

The final zone, where the ARP work will be featured, sums up the exhibition’s chronological journey. This zone invites visitors to reflect upon the exhibition’s themes and to consider how the voices of women war artists have evolved over time. The ARP will contribute to the exhibition by exploring its overarching themes and messages through the final work. The final work will be a link that ties the past, present and future of war art together, and will be a reflection upon the war art and artists in the exhibition. Please see Section 2: BACKGROUND for more information on the exhibition.

The artist(s) should:

• Complete one or more work(s) to be included in the Outside the Lines exhibition.
• Respond to the exhibition’s main messages and key themes through their final work(s).
• Reflect upon the stories of the artists and their art, offering new perspectives or alternative points of view.
• Demonstrate the continuity of war art by offering a contemporary and emerging perspective on the topic.
• Help visitors understand the relevance of history to the present day.
• Connect the past, present and future of war art.
• Provide their own workspace for the off-site residency (part of the materials budget may go towards this expense).

As part of this collaboration, the War Museum will:

• Provide a $15,000 honorarium to the selected artist or collective, issued on a payment schedule.
• Provide up to $15,000 for travel to visit the Museum for research and materials.
• Make War Museum collections and staff available in support of research.
• Pay for the transportation/shipping of the final work to the Museum.
• Assist in the integration of the work(s) into the exhibition. Installation will be led by the Museum’s Technical Services team — if the artist is present, they may observe/assist.
• Display, host and promote the ARP’s work as part of the Outside the Lines exhibition.

Who May Apply?

This program is open to individual artists and artist collectives.

If a work is created in collaboration between one or more artist(s), all team members must meet the same program and eligibility criteria, as outlined below. Teams must select one artist to apply on behalf of the group. The total artist fee, travel budget, and materials budget will be shared among all artists in the group.

1. Priority will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
2. Priority will be given to women (trans and cisgender), and those who identify as trans, non-binary, and gender fluid.
3. The War Museum defines “emerging artist” as a developing, early-career artist, of any age, who has produced a modest body of work and achieved some recognition and/or public exhibition experience. Applicants are eligible for this program if they meet that definition, if their artistic practice is the primary goal for their long-term career, and if they intend to use the residency to further develop their artistic career.

How to Apply

All applications must be submitted digitally through the Museum’s online form. The DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS is September 29, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.

Artists must submit all of the following components:

• Application (including proposal)
• CV (up to two pages)
• 5 to 7 images or videos of their work
• A brief biography (up to 150 words)

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by email at artistresidencyprogram@warmuseum.ca. All questions must be received by September 22, 2023, no later than 11:59 p.m. PDT.