Residencies

WATER TIME | EARTH TIME | PLANT TIME

Swale Lab + Urban Soils Institute are hosting tandem residencies on Governors Island, NYC, available in one-week to one month increments from May 5 to November 10, 2024. We try to find space for everyone who applies, so please reach out!

Do you have a research project related to food, water, soil, poetry or eco-fiction? We are looking to support artists, writers, and ecologists engaged in environmental justice, regenerative agriculture, and issues around the climate crisis with space to do their work. We have access to a house on Governors Island, with one room devoted to artistic tools for river research, another devoted to an Ecotopian Library (writers residency), a Food/Art/Tech research room, and the Urban Soils Institute’s Project Soils Room.

Swale has a new collaborative residency/research space at house #11 on Governors Island, featuring a desk, wall space, porch and outdoor space, and access to:

An ecotopian library collection (an expanding resource including books, natural and cultural objects people note as tools for change)
USI’s on-site soil lab
A public space to share your project
A soil library
Tools including a hydrophone and microscope
Soil scientists and monthly soil testing workshops
A growing community eager to be in dialog with and support of your work

We specifically encourage writers, artists, scientists + collaborations. Week-long residencies are Monday to Sunday (up to 2 consecutive), with private work time during the week and public engagement on the weekends. We want to hear about your project ideas and how we can support them.

What we ask of prospective residents:

Commit to being present for weekend open hours from 11am-5pm Saturday + Sunday, and commit to opening the house + interacting with visitors 1 day each weekend
Submit a paragraph-long proposal outlining how the space and resources will be used
Submit a link to 5 images or 3 writing samples that explain your work
Select a month and/or propose three different time increments that would work for a residency, in order of preference

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Residents explore the intersections of climate, soil, culture, water and food, punctuating studio time with a weekend public interaction or event.

Send us a proposal for a residency! We’d love to hear from you.

Name

First Name

Last Name

Residency (Swale Lab, USI, River Lab, Ecotopian Library Writers Residency)

Your Proposal

Links to images or writing samples:

Website

http://

Preferred Residency Length

Preferred Residency Dates

3 weeks that would work best for you, from Monday to Sunday:

More Details: All Residency requests are evaluated on a rolling basis and run in tandem with the Urban Soils Institute residencies and the Governors Island season, May 1 to October 31. All writers, artists, ecologists and scientists interested in having a residency with the Swale Lab or NYC Urban Soils Institute’s Art Extension Service may apply for a weekend, a week, a month, or more during the season. We welcome your new questions, lingering questions, your emerging or your established art / science/writing practice.

A small amount of public engagement related to your residency project is part of both Swale Lab and Governors Island’s request of participating artists. Public programming may happen inside or outside of the house.

We have a lovely front porch, yard space, and a little bit of inside space. We host research groups, organize around public food, learn from ecosystems and with each other. Pitch your project ideas, let’s see how we can help.