Free Creative Writing Residencies

Bundanon

Illaroo, Australia

Bundanon's Artists in Residence program, set within the cultural and natural landscape of Australia, is one of the most extensive of its kind nationally. Established by Arthur and Yvonne Boyd, the program has been operational since 1997, supporting over 250 artists annually across all creative disciplines, including visual arts, writing, music, and performance. Located in a region renowned for its scenic beauty, this program not only offers a retreat for artists but also a vibrant community space for creative exploration and public engagement. The residency facilities at Bundanon include studios, rehearsal spaces, and accommodation in single and shared apartments, as well as self-contained cottages capable of hosting up to 10 people. The program is designed to encourage artistic development without the pressure of specified outcomes, allowing for experimental and exploratory approaches to art-making. This supportive environment is supplemented by various fellowships and awards, aimed at providing financial assistance and facilitating creative growth. Structured through collaborations with various arts organizations and cultural agencies, Bundanon’s residency program serves as an incubator for innovative practices and a forum for cultivating deep connections among artists from around the world. With its commitment to diversity and inclusion, the program particularly encourages applications from First Nations artists, artists with disabilities, culturally and linguistically diverse artists, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Akademie Schloss Solitude

Stuttgart, Germany

Akademie Schloss Solitude is an international and transdisciplinary artist-in-residence program in Stuttgart, Germany, awarding 50-60 residencies every two years to artists, researchers, and cultural professionals across all disciplines. It provides space for concentrated work, interdisciplinary exchange, and networking, with fellows receiving furnished live/work studios, a monthly stipend of €1,300, and travel support for 6- or 9-month stays.[1][2][3]

Atelier Mondial

Basel, Switzerland

Atelier Mondial is an international and interdisciplinary artist residency program in Basel, Switzerland, hosting guest artists from partner institutions worldwide in its seven studios for stays typically lasting three to six months. It provides live-in studios, stipends for living expenses, and opportunities for open studios and exhibitions at Salon Mondial. The program also offers grants to regional artists from Basel, South Baden, and Alsace for residencies abroad in fields like visual arts, literature, fashion & textiles, dance & performing arts, and curation.

Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA)

New Smyrna Beach, Florida, United States

Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA), nestled in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, stands as a beacon of interdisciplinary artistic collaboration and excellence. Established in 1977 by the visionary Doris Leeper, ACA fosters a nurturing environment where artists across multiple disciplines can converge, create, and share ideas. The center is renowned for its Mentor Artist-in-Residence Program, which pairs emerging and mid-career artists with distinguished mentors to explore new projects, experiment, and engage in rich dialogues across artistic fields. Beyond its core residency, ACA extends its creative reach through community arts and wellness initiatives, offering a broad spectrum of programs that underline the center's commitment to artistic innovation and community engagement.

Blue Mountain Center (BMC)

Blue Mountain Lake, New York, United States

Founded in 1982, Blue Mountain Center (BMC) is located in the Adirondack wilderness on historically Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe lands. Originally a 19th-century golf resort, it now serves as a nurturing refuge dedicated to social justice for artists, activists, writers, and cultural workers. Blue Mountain Center focuses on providing a space that facilitates both the creation of transformative works and the rejuvenation of its residents. The center emphasizes the integration of its residents with the local and global communities, providing a serene environment conducive to creative and restorative practices. BMC operates on the core values of racial, economic, and environmental justice, and gender equality, welcoming a diverse group of applicants particularly those producing work that reflects social and ecological concerns. BMC offers month-long residencies from June to September each year, supporting a range of creative disciplines including writing, filmmaking, and visual arts, among others. Residents are selected by an admissions committee of accomplished authors and artists through a process that prioritizes work aimed at a general audience with a clear social conscience. The residency provides studio space, accommodation, and communal living areas, all set against the backdrop of the scenic Blue Mountain Lake. This setting not only inspires artistic endeavors but also encourages personal well-being and community interaction, free from the distractions of everyday life such as cell phones and constant internet connectivity.

Cove Park

Helensburgh, United Kingdom

Cove Park is an international artist residency centre on a 50-acre rural site overlooking Loch Long in Argyll, Scotland, near Helensburgh, hosting national and international artists, writers, researchers, and creative practitioners across all art forms and career stages.[1][3] The program supports research, experimentation, development, and production of new work in a supportive environment with communal facilities and events.[1][2] Residencies vary from funded opportunities with stipends and housing to self-funded stays, typically lasting 2-4 weeks.[1][2]

Fogo Island Arts

Fogo Island, Canada

Fogo Island Arts is an international residency program founded in 2008 that invites professional contemporary artists, curators, writers, filmmakers, musicians, designers, and thinkers to live and work on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada, fostering creation, research, and connections around themes of sustainability, ecology, economy, and belonging.[1][2][3] Residents stay in saltbox houses within local communities, with access to individual studios in scenic locations, and are expected to engage publicly through presentations or workshops.[1][2] The program, part of the Shorefast Foundation, supports a range of disciplines and has specific opportunities like the fully funded 6-8 week Newfoundland and Labrador Artist Residency.[5]

Les Récollets

Paris, France

Les Récollets is an 80-unit furnished international residence in Paris's 10th arrondissement dedicated to hosting established researchers, scientists, and artists from around the world. The center provides accommodation with hotel-like services and fosters interdisciplinary creative exchange among residents from diverse fields. It serves as a space for artists and researchers to develop specific projects while engaging with Paris's cultural institutions and community.

Marble House Project

Dorset, Vermont, United States

Marble House Project is an expansive, multi-disciplinary artist residency program situated in Dorset, Vermont. It emphasizes the importance of collaboration, sustainability, and community engagement by offering artists from a wide array of disciplines a place to live and work harmoniously. Focusing on conservation and organic food production, it invites artists to integrate with the natural surroundings and local community, aiming to foster both individual artistic growth and communal enrichment. With sessions running from mid-April through October, the program curates a diverse mix of approximately 60 artists annually, both from the United States and abroad, across all creative fields including visual arts, writing, choreography, music composition, performance, and culinary arts.

Pro Helvetia

Zürich, Switzerland

Pro Helvetia's residency programme enables artists from Switzerland and regions covered by its liaison offices to spend up to three months immersed in a different daily context, offering possibilities for artistic exchange, reflection, and the emergence of new work, collaborations, and ideas.

Rimbun Dahan

Kuang, Malaysia

Rimbun Dahan is a private arboretum and arts centre in Kuang, Malaysia, established in 1994, offering residencies primarily for visual artists, choreographers, writers, and researchers from Southeast Asia to develop their work in a serene garden setting.[1][2][5] It provides various programs including the Southeast Asian Arts Residency for ASEAN artists (2 months, with accommodation, studio, stipend, and limited travel support) and paid options for non-ASEAN artists longer than one month.[1][4] The centre hosts 16-20 artists at a time across 5 studios, focusing on Malaysian and regional creators while welcoming international engagement.[2]

Sacatar Foundation

Itaparica, Brazil

Instituto Sacatar is the longest continuously-operating artist residency in Brazil, founded in 2001 on the island of Itaparica across the bay from Salvador, Bahia. The residency provides fully-funded fellowships to artists of all disciplines from around the world, hosting up to eight artists at a time across five annual sessions. Since its inception, Sacatar has awarded residencies to over 550 artists from more than 75 countries.

Villa Decius

Kraków, Poland

The Villa Decius Institute for Culture in Kraków, Poland, operates the Artists' Residencies Centre, hosting multiple residency programs for writers, translators, visual artists, scriptwriters, playwrights, and persecuted creators from around the world. Each program provides housing in comfortable rooms at the historic Łaski's House within the Renaissance palace-park complex, along with monthly scholarships, travel reimbursements, and opportunities for professional development and cultural engagement. Specific initiatives include the Krakow UNESCO Residency, ICORN for at-risk artists, Artistic Scholarship for visual artists focused on Polish heritage, and others like Arts in Exile for literature, visual arts, and music.