This is an opportunity for a Norway-based artist to attend the Emerging-Artist-in-Residence (EAiR) Program at Pilchuck. The American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Arts & Crafts Fellowship Program and Norwegian Crafts will provide a grant for the selected artist to cover most expenses connected to the residency.

The Emerging-Artist-in-Residence (EAiR) Program serves promising artists who have previous experience working with glass. Six artists are selected from applicants worldwide. Each artist will receive a stipend, lodging, and access to studios for two months each fall. Norwegian Crafts is guaranteed one place in the Pilchuck programme for 2022 for a Norway-based artist. The program provides artists with the space and time to develop an idea, project, or new body of work in glass.

The EAiR Program is an independent artist residency; no instruction is available, and some glassmaking experience is required. It is not a requirement that glass is the main medium of your practice.

The deadline for 2022 has passed. Please check this website for updated information for future opportunities to apply for the programme.

Dates: 5 October – 20 November 2022
Grants available: 1
Application deadline (updated): 21 January 2022

For more information, please visit Pilchuck's website about the EAiR programme.

Selected participant benefits

• ~$10 000 grant from American Scandinavian Foundation and Norwegian Crafts to cover tuition, room and board while at Pilchuck. The grant will be paid directly to Pilchuck.
• $2000 grant from Pilchuck School of Glass, which will be paid out to the selected artist.
• Opportunity to explore their practice in state-of-the-art facilities. Critical feedback from visiting curators and the artistic director.
• The selected artist is also eligible for a travel grant of 5000 NOK from the Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts (Norske Kunsthåndverkere).

Application criteria

You:

• are based in Norway / have a Norwegian national identity number
• are a recent graduate or self-taught/you have attended only short courses in art or craft practice or you are having a change in career direction or change in practice
• can travel to Pilchuck in October – November 2022
• are not enrolled in any degree or certificate granting program (including high school, bachelor, or masters degree programmes) at the time of application or during the award period
• have experience using glass within your practice (it is not required that glass is your main medium)

Your application

Your application should be made using the Pilchuck Eair Application Form 2022, and should contain:

1. A one-two-page proposal: There is an approximate 500 word limit. In the proposal, tell us about your craft, where you make, what inspires you, who inspires you. Describe in clear and concise language your project theme*, studio usage, materials, supplies, and other specifics pertaining to your proposal. What elements of your participation in this residency do you anticipate will/could evolve your art practice? Your application could also be filmed instead of written if you prefer.
   
2. Contact details of a referee: This could be a previous tutor, an employer who knows your work, or someone who sells your work (a gallerist).
3. A resume, bio or artist statement (250 word limit)
4. Five media to be included in the application: Include title of artwork, materials, size and year made in the file name. If this is in video format please link within the PDF.

All parts of the application should be submitted within a single PDF file in English, no larger than 2MB – links to videos are accepted within the pdf document. Please title your PDF with “your last name_first name–Portfolio".

*Theme can refer to an idea, project, or new body of work in glass you wish to complete during the residency.

How to submit your application

• Download and fill in Pilchuck Eair Application Form 2022
• Ensure sure your application is in English and in a single PDF no more than 2MB (Including your resume/bio/artist statement and 5 chosen medias).
• Send to post@norwegiancrafts.no. Subject field: 'Pilchuck Application – YOUR NAME'.

Application deadline (updated): 21 January 2022

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by 10 February 2022.

How participants are selected

Norwegian Crafts' director and an external crafts professional will shortlist the applications. Shortlisted artists will be sent to colleagues at the American-Scandinavian Foundation who will have the final decision on the chosen artist for the EAiR residency. Shortlisting will be anonymized to mitigate against any unconscious bias.

The basis of the jury’s decision will be based on the artist’s ability to show:

• long term ambition for incorporating glass into your practice
• growth potential from the residency
• an idea for a project which can be realised at Pilchuck

The American-Scandinavian Foundation will inform the selected artist of their scholarships and placements. Selected participants will then send off their information directly to Pilchuck in order to confirm their place.

About the Programme

Pilchuck Glass School is an international center for glass art education. The serene campus in Stanwood, Washington, is nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains amidst a working tree farm.

The Programme serves the next generation of innovative artists working with glass. The 2022 cohort will be the largest collection of talent from around the world in the program's thirty-year history. Several new artists selected by the jury from this applicant pool will join a small group of previously selected international artists unable to join us during the pandemic. New this year, we will offer a designated residency spot for a promising BIPOC artist and will also host the winner of the Venice Glass Prize through a unique partnership with Autonoma and the Venice Glass Week. The EAiR Program supports artists who are making a transition in their professional lives. Whether moving from academia to a professional studio practice, taking up a new medium, or beginning a new body of work, artists find this independent residency ideal for contemplation, research, and experimentation.

For questions about the residencies, please contact Leah Svalastoga Kahn, Market Development Officer at Norwegian Crafts: lk@norwegiancrafts.no

Previous grant recipients

2022/23: Kim Hankyul
2019: Patricia Sichmanova