Residencies

CONTEXT

Elsewhere residents live and work within the living museum, creating site-specific projects that investigate, repurpose, preserve and transform Elsewhere’s building and material collection.  Elsewhere’s environment is a highly stimulating, sensorial, conceptual, and public experience. Residents are encouraged to engage Elsewhere’s Living Museum (open Wed-Sat 1-10pm), as a place for research, curatorial experiment and public engagement.  The museum’s collection, of which nothing is for sale nor permanently leaves, becomes part and parcel of an evolving archive, material history, and interactive installations made by residents, curators, fellows, and museum visitors.  Elsewhere’s curatorial team works with residents to develop projects that investigate and advance the living museum. Public Studios–Storefront Theater, Living Library, Fabric + Wood Workshops, Kitchen Commons, Alley Garden and City departments– support and inform work.  The landscapes and histories of downtown Greensboro offers unique context to explore the role of art in civic life.

CONSIDERATIONS

• Elsewhere hosts site-specific projects, and prefers proposals to evolve from a direct experience in and with the collection and Greensboro.
• Residents propose a project to Elsewhere’s curatorial team during their first week. The curatorial team offers conceptual and material guidance and coordinates documentation, event opportunities, intern and volunteer assistance, and online presence.
• All collection objects and artworks are part of the living museum, and are available for continued transformation by future creatives.
• Residents staying less than three weeks are encouraged to explore modes of research, directed museum interventions, and smaller scale projects. Those seeking intensive material applications with the collection should plan a longer stay.
• Best practices are to work site-specifically and sustainably with the collection, help bridge new audiences with the work and future artists with the museum, and further evolve the function, form, concept and appearance of the living museum.

LIVING

Living at Elsewhere is to be immersed within a transforming artwork. It is also a public home set in an historic building with aging architectures and the promise of daily encounter with millions of things.  Six artists are in residency at any given time, and shared accommodations are provided on the museum’s second floor in a former 1950s boarding house. The creature comforts are set amidst art installations created from the boarding house rooms. The summer months are hot and rainy, and the fall and spring are crisp. There is no central heat or AC and it can be quite dusty. We think you will be comfortably surprised if you think of it as indoor camping.

Residents participate in our FOOD CO-OP, which sources from local markets, a CSA, and our small kitchen garden. Vegetarian dinners occur 5 nights a week with a rotating team of staff and resident chefs, and the full kitchen stocks self-serve breakfast, lunch and snacks 24/7. Residents participate in a weekly chore schedule. Most find Elsewhere’s communal live-work environment an inspiring component of their residency experience.

LOGISTICS

• Living fees are $50 per week.
• Residents are expected to keep house-museum politely, carefully, and consciensciously
• Residents are obligated to participate in a weekly cooking team, after-dinner chores, and a weekly house meeting + musuem clean.
• Elsewhere hosts 6 residents at any given time, as well as live-in staff and interns. Residents share their rooms with one roommate, and there is a single residency bathroom and shower.
• Residents receive YMCA access, including sauna, pool, workout area, and sports of all sorts. The YMCA is a 15-minute walk from the museum.
• Residents may request off-site housing and living at their own expense and logistics, and will not have to pay living fees. However, this is strongly discouraged except in special need cases or for Greensboro-based residents. The residency programming fee still applies.
• We welcome special need residents but our building is not fully accessible. We are open to an honest conversation about accommodation and would encourage a site visit if possible.
• We cannot accommodate significant others, family or friends, children, or pets. We do offer a camper’s charge for very short stays by collaborating visitors.

RESIDENCY TIMELINE

Deadline for Applications: January 4, 2013

Residency Season: April–November
Residency Duration: 2-6 weeks. Residents must arrive and depart on Wednesday (no exceptions).
Residency Fee: $500 + $50 per week for room+board. A non-refundable $250 deposit reserves your residency spot upon acceptance, and is applied toward your program.

Application Process: ROUND 1: All applications will be reviewed by a committee of Elsewhere artists, cabinet members, and curators. ROUND 2: 30-minute interview over Skype with a committee member. INTERVIEWS are tentatively scheduled for January 14 – January 25, 2013, with FINAL NOTIFICATION on February 1, 2013.

The application committee will look favorably on residents that demonstrate a commitment of applied skills, design intention, and public engagement, alongside interests that align with our 2013 themes: media storytelling, building restoration, and community movement.