American Indian Community House Artist in Residency 2026 Application

The open call for the 2026 American Indian Community House Artist Residency is now open.

The American Indian Community House Artist Residency annually seeks to uplift emerging Native & Indigenous artists based in New York City. Each artist is given space, funds, and the ability to showcase their artwork to the greater Native & Indigenous community in New York City.

A highly competitive application will exemplify the following criteria:

Demonstrates a rigorous and innovative artistic practice, with a clear sense of purpose in creating work in New York City. The proposed project is forward-thinking, reflects meaningful and impactful community engagement, is feasible within the given timeframe, and promises to make a significant contribution to the Native & Indigenous artistic community.

Artists who are selected will spend two months traveling to the AICH house on Governors Island on weekends. Artists are given a stipend of $4,000 broken up into two stipend payments in the amount of $2,000 delivered at the end of each month the artist is in residence. In addition, artists will be supplied with cards to use for the ferry during their residency. At the end of their two month residency, artists are expected to present a project they've proposed in their application as the culmination of their residency. Artists are able to request up to $300 for supplies going towards their final project. Artists must provide a description of how they are going to use this extra money (I.E. to pay actors for their reading, for materials, etc).

Past residents have done play readings, rehearsals for a full-length production, writing workshops with other playwrights, gallery work to present to the public, moccasin-making workshops, and spirit bag-making workshops.

*Note: The house on Governors Island does not have water or working plumbing. Public restrooms are a short ten minute walk away from the house. Small quantities of dirty water can be carefully poured down a nearby public restroom sink; all oil paint residue must be removed from the island in a container. The house also has limited electricity throughout the building. Free public WiFi is available.

TIMELINE

The application deadline is March 31st. Decisions are made in mid-April.

Applicants must be available on May 20th for an artist mixer to meet each other and members of the AICH staff.

Are you available for the mixer on May 20th, 2026? *

QUALIFICATIONS

NYC-based artists and/or arts workers of any medium and/or discipline. While open to artists at any stage of their career, emerging artists are encouraged to apply.

During the two-month term, residents must commit to traveling to the Governors Island house every weekend. Exceptions can be made where the awardee makes up time at the American Indian Community House office, subject to approval.

Understanding that innovative artistic practices flourish within a clear, purpose-driven framework, selected awardees will dedicate the two-month program period to completing a proposed project. A strong applicant will demonstrate that the proposed project reflects a forward-looking vision, engages communities in meaningful ways, and contributes substantially to the vibrant Native & Indigenous artist community of New York City.

Artists agree to conduct themselves in a manner that is representative of the American Indian Community House's values and guidelines.

Applicants must be at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, permanent legal resident, O-1 Visa holder, or Tribal ID holder.

Previous Artist Residency awardees are ineligible to reapply for additional award terms.

The American Indian Community House reserves the right to withhold the residency stipend if artists fail to meet these requirements.

QUESTIONS

For questions about application submissions, please email info@aich.org.

APPLICATION MATERIALS

First Name *

Last Name *

Email *

Phone *

Tribal Affiliation *

Address 1 *

City *

County *

Country *

Zip *

The Artist Residency takes place from May-October. Each artist will be paired with another artist for two months at a time.

Please select the two-month residency for which you are available. Select all that apply. *

May-June
July-August
September-October

To complete the application, YOU MUST SIGN UP FOR AN ACCOUNT WITH THE AMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITY HOUSE AND THEN SUBMIT YOUR REQUIRED MATERIALS AS ATTACHMENTS TO YOUR ACCOUNT. You will be asked to create your account after hitting submit below.

Required Materials

Please upload each document in the following format (AICH Artist Residency 2026 - LastName, FirstName - Name of Document)

1. Artist Statement. Please tell us about your artistic practice. This can include your approach, influences, audience or intended impact, and context of the samples you upload. (600-word-maximum)

2. Residency Statement. If selected for the residency, how would this opportunity and its project resources meaningfully advance your artistic path? In what ways does being part of the Native & Indigenous community in New York City influence your artistic work? (600-word maximum)

3. Project Title & Project Description. Please describe a project you’d like to present to the Native & Indigenous community of NYC at the end of your two month residency. Past residents have done play readings, rehearsals for a full length production, writing workshops with other playwrights, gallery work to present to the public, moccasin making workshops, and spirit bag making workshops. A strong application will have a clear idea for what project they are planning on working on during their time with the Community House. (600-word-maximum)

4. Most recent artistic resume.

5. One work sample. See below for details.

WORK SAMPLES

Each work sample must be titled the same as the other documents (AICH Artist Residency 2026 - LastName, FirstName - Work Sample.) If you do not have a work sample to share, please upload a statement describing your style of art. (300-word-maximum)

For images: 3 image samples of completed work, ideally created in the past 2-3 years. Image samples may include multiple views or detailed images of the same work.

For written submissions: Poetry samples must be no longer than three single-spaced pages. Prose samples are limited to eight double-spaced pages. Play submissions may not exceed 100 pages, and short plays are welcome.

For media samples: Total work samples must not exceed 10 minutes.

Optional: Artist Website or social media handle.

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