Artistic
The relationship between human beings and the environment is the defining issue of our time and while we recognize there are other reasons for making art, we have decided to devote our organization to support artists who are interested in engaging this issue with power, resourcefulness and imagination.
Through our residencies, A Studio in the Woods looks to facilitate a meaningful relationship between our artists and the community. The people, environment, and culture of Southeastern Louisiana influence our residents, and in turn our artists and their work have a significant impact on the region. In advance of their arrival, staff assesses each artist’s needs and begins to build relationships with the community resources and collaborators that will be crucial in the evolution of their projects.
Residencies are open to artists of all disciplines including visual, musician/composing, performance, literary, new media, and interdisciplinary. Both established and emerging artists are encouraged to apply, but students are not eligible. A rigorous work ethic, dedication to public engagement and demonstrated ability to work with colleagues and wider audiences are expected. The residency season is from September to May, with the call for applications announced each January.
A Studio in the Woods is located at the nexus of the City of New Orleans, a larger 5,000-acre bottomland hardwood forest, the Mississippi River’s lower reaches, the Gulf of Mexico, and the largest swath of alluvial wetlands in North America. Each of these systems has undergone profound changes over the past several decades, creating a dynamic context for artists.
Emerging Writers’ Residencies
Applications Closed These residencies invite local poets, playwrights, composers, and prose writers (fiction and nonfiction) to apply for one-week residencies at our Writer’s Cabin to support new or ongoing work.
Rising: Climate in Crisis
Applications Closed Rising Residencies invite artists to examine the severity of the climate crisis and be agents of change to guide our collective understanding, response, and vision as we shape our shared future.
Adaptations: Living with Change
Applications Closed Adaptations Residencies invite artists to examine how climate driven adaptations - large and small, historic and contemporary, cultural and scientific - are shaping our future. 2017 - 2020
Flint & Steel: Sparking Cross-disciplinary Combustion
Applications Closed Designed to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration, Flint and Steel Residencies allowed artists to join forces with invested academic partners. 2015 - 2017
Ebb & Flow
Applications Closed Ebb & Flow is based on the premise that Southern Louisiana can be seen as a microcosm of the global environment, manifesting both the challenges and possibilities inherent in human interaction with urban and natural ecosystems. 2011-2014
Changing Landscapes
Applications Closed Inspired by the drastic upheaval in our local ecology, Changing Landscapes residencies were based on the premise that Southern Louisiana can be seen as a microcosm of the global environment, manifesting both the challenges and possibilities inherent in human interaction with the natural world. 2008-2011
Restoration Residencies
Applications Closed In response to the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, A Studio in the Woods created month-long Restoration Residencies for New Orleans visual artists, musicians, composers, writers and performing artists who lost their homes, studios and/or work in the hurricane and were either displaced in other cities and communities or back home in New Orleans without resources. 2006 - 2008
River Residencies
Applications Closed River Residencies honored the Mississippi River, a magnificent body of water that has inspired authors, musicians, artists, historians, and playwrights for over a century yet today is challenged by pollution and containment.
Open Call Residencies
Applications Closed The first juried residencies at A Studio in the Woods.