ARTIST RESIDENCY Applications for 2025/26
Applications for AIRS are Open
Applications for AIRS studio and mentorship residencies for 2025/26 are open.
Deadline to apply is April 30th. Click here to access the application.
To help you understand what we're looking for in the application, we've created an Application Guideline and Criteria document. You can download it here.
*The application does not have a save feature, so we recommend copying the questions and answering them in a separate document before submitting.
If you have any questions, please contact Maggie Milne Martens at maggie@airsprogram.org or Yunuen Perez Vertti at info@airsprogram.org
Becoming an AIRS Artist
Interested in becoming an AIRS artist?
AIRS is looking for local professional or emerging artists who have a passion for inspiring and mentoring students through the art making process. Artists should be prepared to work collaboratively with teachers to develop high quality community oriented projects that integrate perceptual and technical skill development with curricular learning. Artists should be committed to cultivating an environment of safety for creative expression that honours the diversity of student experience and acknowledges the importance of indigenous perspectives. Artists must have prior experience working with children and be willing to embrace the relational responsibilities and benefits of becoming part of a school community.
Successful artists will develop a vision for their residency, in consultation with teaching staff, for age appropriate, inquiry-based projects that connect learning across the curriculum and explore ideas or issues that are meaningful and relevant to students and their world. The projects can be conceived as individual or collaborative, permanent or ephemeral, and could encompass a range of visual media depending on the expertise of the artist. The residency should be directed towards the wellbeing of the school community in its diversity.
Each residency will include a school-based exhibition, installation or performance to showcase student work and engage the whole school community. Artists will also curate a selection of student work and documentation for an AIRS group exhibition at the Vancouver School Board at the end of the school year.
We have a variety of residency opportunities including a mentorship program, short term studio residencies, and full year residencies which range in length from 5 to 24 weeks.
We offer industry standard compensation in accordance with CARFAC/RAAV.
“The experience the AIRS program had for me was profound. I cannot imagine my life now without the connections and inspiration the program provided. It is truly amazing to witness and be a part of.”
- AIRS artist Holly Clarke
- “I specifically keep re-applying to AIRS because it is a program that I believe in. I feel deeply connect to its purpose, right down to my core. When I think about the AIRs program I think about the bridge or platform that is missing in the educational system with relation to art, and how powerful collaborative processes can be for me and the children. I value that artists are welcomed into a classroom setting and able to develop a program or processes that involve more critical engagement and holistic experiences through art. I value being a part of an artist community that provides thoughtful and meaningful art processes for children in the education system.”
Alex Ruis Ramirez