Artist Residency Program Applications Now Open

Applications are now open for The Watermill Center’s year-round 2027 Artist Residency Program. Each year, individual artists and collectives take up residence at the center to live and develop works that critically investigate, challenge and expand existing norms of artistic practice.

Since 2006, when The Watermill Center officially opened as a year-round facility, the program has hosted more than 250 residencies featuring 2,500 artists from over 90 nations. The program is open to national and international artists ages 21 and older from all disciplines, including visual arts, performance, music, architecture, film/video, literature/poetry, new media and digital arts, interdisciplinary arts, academic research, social practice and design/architecture. Solo artists and collectives, such as theater or dance companies, are welcome to apply.

The Artist Residency Program is process-based, with no expectation or promise of a final exhibition. Artists are provided time, space, and freedom to develop their practice in a communal environment that encourages experimentation. Artists-in-residence share their creative process with the community through open rehearsals, workshops and artist talks.

Participants receive access to The Watermill Center’s extensive resources, including 20,000 square feet of rehearsal and design spaces, outdoor stages, a theater production archive, the Study Center and Library of Inspiration, The Watermill Collection and the center’s ten-acre landscaped grounds and gardens.

Applications are reviewed by an international committee of distinguished Watermill Center alumni, including artists, academics and cultural leaders.

Applications opened Thursday, December 4, 2025 and the deadline is Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Applications are submitted through the online portal SlideRoom at watermillcenter.slideroom.com. A $12 application fee is required. Applicants will be notified of their status by early summer 2026. For more information, email applications@watermillcenter.org.