Call for Applications: Visual Arts Thematic Residency – Sounding Like a Mountain, Banff Centre

Elina Waage Mikalsen, I Lay My Ear Against the Weave’s Ear, 2024. Photo: Rebecca Tisdelle-Macias.

Call for Applications

Explore relational, material and sonic practices that conceive of the land as a resonant environment. Work alongside faculty at the forefront of contemporary practice, with dedicated studio space, technical facilities, and a community of peers in an unrivalled mountain setting.

Visual Arts Thematic – Sounding Like a Mountain
Application Deadline: November 18, 2026
Program Dates: May 17 – June 18, 2027

This residency invites visual artists to apply with projects that consider how places sing, how memory persists in vibration and how listening to the land can re-orient ethical and political relations.

Drawing on concepts inherent to acoustic ecology and taking the mountains of Banff as inspiration, participants are invited to explore how sound activates multiple temporalities – shaped by land use, migration, ecological disruption, colonial infrastructures, and so on. The Earth can be thought of as a field of relations in which biological, geological and social processes co-create one another. Participants will reflect on ecological and ethical listening and sounding as it informs thinking, art-making and presentation.

Joining as faculty for this program are Xenia Benivolski, Elina Waage Mikalsen, and Kathryn Yusoff.

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

This program supports:

• the development of theoretical concepts and artistic ideas through independent research alongside a structured program of faculty-led activities and workshops
• one-to-one faculty mentorship through studio visits and faculty meetings
• the development of technical skills through experimentation and skill-based learning assisted by staff technicians
• peer-to-peer informal learning related to studio and professional practice
• the development of a professional community towards developing and sustaining an artistic career.

Artists are assigned individual studios with access to shared production facilities. Knowledgeable staff are available to provide technical assistance.

Please take note of the program itinerary when planning your project proposal.

Facility access is based on availability of facilitators and priority goes to those requesting access in their initial applications.

Who Should Apply

This residency is for individual artists or duos (no more than two collaborators) at any stage of their career. Applicants should be available to participate over the entire five-week period of the program; have completed formal training in visual arts at the post-secondary level or have equivalent experience and recognition from their peers acquired through traditional knowledge and practices.

This program is designed to cater to visual artists working in, but not limited to, practices in ceramics, digital media, painting, drawing, printmaking, papermaking, performance art, photography, or sculpture and installation.

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 a range of scholarships to support participants in our programs. Program participants receive a Banff Centre Arts Scholarship that covers the cost of tuition, plus a contribution towards accommodation and meals.

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 contemporary artists at all stages of professional practice, led by diverse faculty at the forefront of contemporary art. Participants gain generous studio space, access to exceptional technical facilities, and a supportive community to develop and sustain their practice. Participants are provided with generous studio spaces, access to exceptional technical facilities, and connections to a supportive visual arts community. Participants will gain insights and support towards developing and sustaining their practices.

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