Venice Lagoon 2027 Residency

Great Meadows Foundation and ARTSail are pleased to announce an open call for a fully funded, month-long research residency in Venice, Italy, taking place from March 15 to April 18, 2027. Eligible artists must have been full-time residents in the Great Meadows Foundation region (the 120 counties of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Floyd and Clark counties in Indiana) since November 2025. 

Set within one of the world’s most fragile and historically layered waterscapes, this residency offers an opportunity for an artist to live and work in Venice, while developing new research or creative work in dialogue with the city’s unique relationship to water.

Venice has long existed at the intersection of beauty and vulnerability. Rising seas, mass tourism, industrial pressures, and ecological shifts continue to reshape the Venice Lagoon, making it one of the most urgent living laboratories for artists concerned with environmental futures.

The selected artist will be supported through a partnership that connects them with local contemporary art professionals who will help introduce them to Venice’s cultural community; artists, researchers, and curators working in the Venetian art ecosystem; environmental advocates and lagoon activists who have been working for years to protect the Venice Lagoon; and opportunities for meaningful exchange across artistic, scientific, and civic communities .

What the residency provides

  • Travel to/from Venice 

  • Meals and vaporetto travel in Venice

  • Living accommodations in Venice

  • Curatorial support and mentorship

  • Opportunities for professional development and networking

Eligibility

To be eligible for this residency, applicants must

  • be full-time residents in the Great Meadows Foundation region: the 120 counties of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Floyd and Clark counties in Indiana

  • have held their primary residence in the region since November 2025

  • have research-based practices that engage with the water, marine environments, vulnerable landscapes, climate change, and related themes as central elements

  • be available for agreed upon talks, workshops, and/or public activities

  • be comfortable engaging with an international artistic context

Artist and proposal priorities

Priority will be given to artists whose practice engages—directly or indirectly—with themes of water, oceans, ecology, climate, and environmental transformation. Applicants should demonstrate a practice that engages with one or more of the following:

  • Water as subject or medium 

  • Marine environments 

  • Climate change 

  • Environmental justice 

  • Coastal communities 

  • Ecology and conservation 

  • Human relationships to fragile landscapes 

Artists whose connection to these themes is conceptual, poetic, or tangential are also encouraged to apply.

Timeline
Application Opens: Thursday, November 19, 2026
Application Closes: Midnight EST on Thursday, December 31, 2026.
Notification of Selected Artist: Monday, February 1, 2027
Residency Period: March 15 to April 18, 2027

Application process

Applications will open on Thursday, November 19, 2026 and close at Midnight EST on Thursday, December 31, 2026. All applicants are required to submit their completed application through the online form available here or by emailing Natalie Weis at natalie@greatmeadowsfoundation.org. 

APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED AFTER THE DEADLINE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. We recommend submitting your application well before the deadline in case you encounter any technical difficulties. Please email info@greatmeadowsfoundation.org with any questions; we are happy to help.


Review and Notification

All applications are reviewed by a panel of professional curators within the grant region who will produce a shortlist of five candidates, who will be notified by Monday, January 18, 2027. The shortlisted candidates must be available for video interviews with a panel of arts professionals in Venice during the week of January 25, 2027.
The winning applicant will be notified on or before Monday, February 1, 2027. The artist awarded the residency will be given further instruction and will be required to submit a final report no later than 14 days after the completion of their residency. 

Application guidelines

Read through these guidelines before filling out the online application. We strongly recommend applicants compose their answers to Questions 1 - 5 (Section 4) in a separate document before copying and pasting them into the application. When ready, the application form is available at this link.