Art Windsor-Essex respectfully acknowledges that we are located on Anishinaabe Territory – the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, comprised of the Ojibway, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi. Today the Anishinaabe of the Three Fires Confederacy are represented by Bkejwanong. We want to state our respect for the ancestral and ongoing authority of Walpole Island First Nation over its Territory.
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2024 RBC Emerging Artist in Residence
The RBC Emerging Artist in Residence (EAIR) is a paid opportunity for emerging artists in Windsor-Essex, in the first 10 years of their career, who want to learn, grow, develop, and show their art while engaging with the public.
The selected Emerging Artists will have the opportunity to focus on making their art and share their skills and experiences with the public. The artists in residence will gain new skills, all while connecting with their community in a series of programs or activations.
Applications are now closed.
Art Windsor-Essex is proud to announce that Hrista Stefanova and Safa Youness will be our 2024 RBC Emerging Artists-in-Residence.
Stefanova will be in residence at AWE between June 1 and August 15, 2024, and Youness between September 1 and November 30, 2024, with solo exhibitions at Dry Goods Gallery, located at 1012 Drouillard Road, following their residencies.
This year’s EAIRs were selected by jurors Jude Abu Zaineh, Nicole Baillargeon, and Sasha Opeiko from an open competition for emerging artists of all ages based in the Windsor-Essex region.
Art Windsor-Essex’s residency program is currently in its third year. Previous EAIRs include Alexandria Masse and Krystal Bigsky (2023), and Andrea Bresolin, Michael Khalil, and Maria Mediratta (2022). Since 2023, this program has been supported by the RBC Foundation’s Emerging Artist Project.
Hrista Stefanova
Hrista Stefanova is a visual artist from Windsor, Ontario and a recent graduate of NSCAD University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fine Art and Art History. Through printmaking, sculpture, and installation practices Stefanova explores themes of locality and memory, and how those themes are represented in objects and spaces. Stefanova has exhibited in galleries across Canada and internationally, and has created public projects in Halifax, NS and Charlottetown, PEI. Alongside several academic awards at NSCAD, Stefanova was also a finalist for the 2023 NSCAD Student Art Award for Printmaking. Stefanova has worked in the Anna Leonowens Gallery (where she has worked on projects such as Home Work: Lure of the Atlantic), Arts Council Windsor and Region, the Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, and has been a figure drawing instructor in NSCAD’s Extended Studies program. In the fall of 2024, she will continue her studies at Concordia University pursuing a Masters of Fine Arts in Sculpture.
Safa Youness
Safa Youness (صفا يونس) – is a Palestinian artist contending with the reality of living on the stolen land of Turtle Island.
To remember and express the joy (سعادة), resistance (مقاومة) and steadfastness (صمود) of her loved ones, familiar and unfamiliar, she reflects on photographs taken by her family members during the 1970’s in the refugee camp of Ein El-Hilweh, south Lebanon.
She centres the experience of Palestinian life in diaspora following the Nakba – her family’s history of displacement in Lebanon. Her work is a practice in remembrance.
Each artist will:
- Complete a 3-month residency at Art Windsor-Essex (June-August, 2024 or September-November, 2024.
- Have access to the education studio, resource library, and locked storage during regular gallery hours.
- Interact with the public in AWE’s studio for 10+ hours per week.
- Host four educational activities, workshops, or activations for the community. Two activities should be offsite (exact location TBD; options include, Downtown Windsor Farmers Market, etc. Summer EAIR will be strongly recommended to undertake Dropped On Drouillard).
- Have monthly check-ins with curatorial and preparatory staff to workshop exhibition-in-development.
- Participate in an off-site window solo exhibition at the Dry Goods Gallery, at 1012 Drouillard Road, in Ford City.
Each artist will receive an honorarium of $4,000. The honorarium covers:
- The production of new work (materials) during the artist’s residency.
- Artist fees to present 4 programs (workshop, community engagement, artist talk, etc.) and to work on-site.
- AWE will cover installation, administrative, and other internal costs involved with the residency (installation, studio visits, mentorship, promotional costs, etc.).
Image credit: Alexandria Masse, In the Garden, 2023. Photography by Frank Piccolo.
The 2024 RBC Emerging Artist in Residence is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation’s Emerging Artist Project.
Call For Submissions
The 2024 RBC Emerging Artist in Residence Program is open to all emerging, visual artists in the first 10 years of their artistic career, currently living in Windsor-Essex.
Submissions open April 15, 2024. Application reviews begin on May 3, 2024, but late submissions may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Each applicant must submit:
1. Artist Profile
- Full Name (First, Last)
- Phone Number
- Home Address (unit number if applicable, house number, street name, city, province, postal code)
- Short artist bio (150 words, written at a grade 8 reading level)
- A high-resolution headshot or portrait in JPEG format.
- Artist statement (250 words, written at a grade 8 reading level)
- Links to artist website or social media (optional)
- 5 images of previous works or projects in JPEG or PDF format. Images must be titled “ArtistName_Title_Year” (ex. JSmith_Untitled_2024)
2. Proposal
We are excited by complete, engaging, innovative, clear, original and meaningful ideas. If you feel more comfortable, you are welcome to respond to these questions in bullet-point format.
- How will you use the studio space? (250 words max. each, written at a grade 8 reading level)
- Question prompts: Will you be using the studio space to create new work, or to expand pre-existing work? Will you be open to members of the public viewing your creative process? What does your studio practice look like?
- Describe your proposed off-site exhibition at the DRY GOODS GALLERY (150 words max. each, written at a grade 8 reading level)
- Question prompts: How will you use the unique features of the Dry Goods Gallery Space (narrow footprint, high ceiling, glass window, etc.?). How will your exhibition be animated from day to night? Is your proposed exhibition site specific (i.e., does it respond to local histories, the neighborhood, or the origin of the building?) What sort of artworks do you propose showing?
- Proposed community engagement programming (150 words max. each, written at a grade 8 reading level).
- List of options: artist talk, interactive workshop, workshop for tots and parents, visual essay, open studios, etc. Describe your proposed activities.
- In brief, what is your personal philosophy on community engagement? (50 words)
3. Will you require any accommodations to apply or complete your residency? Please note that this will not impact your eligibility or submission. (Present your application verbally. Extra or flex time to complete the application or the residency. ASL Translation or translation services. Special or modified equipment or services.)
4. Is there a local/regional organization or individual that you would like to connect with to support your project/practice? (No, Yes, Please specify)
5. Timeline: Please mark in order of preference (1 (preferred) to 2)
- June, July, August 2024 (Dry Goods Gallery exhibition from mid-August to October)
- September, October, November 2023 (Dry Goods Gallery exhibition from mid-November to mid-January)
Need help with your application? Click here to view the 2023 RBC Emerging Artist in Residence information session. This information session was recorded live on May 11, 2023.
If you require any assistance or accommodations to apply, contact Sophie Hinch at shinch@artwindsoressex.ca. Please note that this will not impact your eligibility or submission.
Note: It is recommended that participants apply for the Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance Program. For application information and guidelines for this program, please visit OAC’s website.
Click here to download the DRY GOODS GALLERY floorplan.
Questions? Please contact Sophie Hinch, Education and Public Programs Coordinator at shinch@artwindsoressex.ca.
