Call for Applications: Visual Arts Residency – Nomadisms, Banff Centre

Meriem Bennani, Party on the CAPS (2018 video installation). Photo by Mathilda Olmi.

Call for Applications

Explore new directions in your work with faculty and artists from around the world. Be inspired by our studio spaces and facilities in an unrivalled natural environment.

Visual Arts – Nomadisms
May 25 – June 26, 2026
Application Deadline: November 19, 2025

Nomadism is conceived as a mode of existence and territorialization grounded in practices of regulated mobility. Led by faculty Maïa Tellit Hawad, Martha Kirszenbaum, and Meriem Benanni, this residency invites participants to engage with the theme of nomadism as both a critical and aesthetic framework. Exploring experiences and relations such as itineraries of humans and non-humans, trajectories of circulation, spatial resistances, and alternative cartographies, nomadism will be approached as a site of inquiry and a form of sensitive and formal attentiveness to the earth. This approach will guide the intentions, conditions, and gestures of art making and artistic collaboration.

Visual Arts residencies at Banff Centre are structured programs of faculty-led activity and mentorship, supporting project-based studio practice.

This program encourages:

• the development of conceptual thought through faculty talks and studio visits
• the development of technical skills through studio-based experimentation and learning
• discussion-based programs and workshops to support professional development
• cross-cultural engagement with international faculty and participants
• peer-to-peer engagement to foster a professional community

Studio-based work is further supported by faculty studio visits, lectures, and workshops, fostering a valuable community of learning. Artists are assigned individual studios with access to shared production facilities. Knowledgeable staff are available to provide technical assistance.

Who Should Apply

This residency is for individual artists or duos (no more than two collaborators) who have completed formal training in visual arts at the post-secondary level, or equivalent experience and recognition from their peers acquired through traditional knowledge and practices.

Artists working in, but not limited to, practices in: ceramics, digital media, painting and drawing, printmaking, papermaking, performance art, photography and video, or sculpture and installation are invited to apply.

Banff Centre welcomes applicants of all ages (18+), backgrounds, gender identities and expressions to apply. Artists from historically underrepresented and equity deserving groups are especially welcome.

We are pleased to offer scholarships to support participants in our program. Standard scholarships cover 100% of tuition fees, and up to 50% of meals and accommodation costs. Canadian Indigenous scholarship covers 100% of tuition fees, meals, and accommodation cost.

Please visit the program page for more information and to apply.

About Visual Arts Programs at Banff Centre

Visual Arts at Banff Centre offers exceptional programs for professional artists, curators, art critics, and researchers. Visual Arts also supports, develops, and presents contemporary art through the Walter Phillips Gallery.

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For more information, contact:
Admissions
Email: Admissions@banffcentre.ca
Phone: 403.762.6100
banffcentre.ca/visual-arts