Call Description

PlatteForum has been serving artists, youth, families, and the Denver community since 2002. The organization hosts an award winning youth development program, a long-standing Resident Artist program, and a slate of other arts education and community engagement programs.

PlatteForum pairs youth from the ArtLab Internship program with professional artists from our Artist Residency together in learning laboratory settings to build meaningful connections and to collaborate on creative projects. These collaborations culminate in public art exhibitions.

PlatteForum values accessibility and equity and therefore offers resources for youth, families, and artists.

The goals of PlatteForum’s Artist Residency are to: support working artists to create new work to catalyze conversation and action for social change; to offer professional development for working artists including supported teaching experiences; to foster mutually beneficial and generative connections and education between professional artists and youth; and to engage the artist’s work in the larger context of Denver’s arts and culture community. 

The Artist Residency at PlatteForum is competitive with only 3 slots awarded each year. Residencies happen one at a time for 8-10 weeks and will adhere to the following schedule for 2026-2027:

Resident Artist 1: Sept-Nov 2026
Resident Artist 2: March-May 2027
Resident Artist 3: June-July 2027

The Artist Residency program is open to artists in all genres and disciplines. Applications from established professional artists, emerging artists, and graduate students are welcome. We encourage local, national, and international artists to apply. Former Resident Artists may apply again after a 3-year waiting period. For example, a Resident Artist from the 2022-23 season is not eligible to apply until the 2025-26 season.

Please send application questions to info@platteforum.org

SELECTION PROCESS: A diverse selection committee will consider applications for the residencies. Care will be given to selecting artists who represent a diversity of disciplines, genres, life experiences and backgrounds, and ideas. Finalists will be asked to complete a virtual interview with PlatteForum staff in April/May. Selected artists will be notified of their acceptance into this program no later than May 31, 2026.

STIPEND and SUPPORT: PlatteForum provides Resident Artists a working stipend ($350/week) and a materials stipend (up to $750). Resident Artists also receive a flexible studio and gallery space, artist housing (for occasional out of town artists), and staff support in the creation, marketing, installation, and coordination of their exhibition. PlatteForum offers an additional $200 stipend for pre-residency workshop curriculum planning in collaboration with PlatteForum youth program staff. Please note: the Resident Artist will sign a contract outlining these terms prior to their residency.

FACILITIES and SERVICES: Resident artists will have 24 hour access to our studio and gallery space. 

INTERNET ACCESS: Wireless internet, and wireless printers are available at the facility.

RESIDENCY FEES: None.

ADDITIONAL EXPECTATIONS and COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: A strong theme of PlatteForum’s Artist Residency involves strengthening individual practice through collaboration. Resident Artists dedicate 4-6 hours each week (plus planning time as necessary) to work with a group of high school-aged youth from historically marginalized communities in intensive workshops that build upon the ideas and forms of the Resident. In collaboration with PlatteForum staff, the Residence Artist will create, organize and facilitate a series of youth workshops on Saturdays at our ArtLab program. Each Residency culminates in a public exhibition or performance where the work and ideas of the Resident Artist and the youth are presented together. For more information about these expectations, please reach out.
 

Testimonials:

"The chance to work with a diverse group of interns at PlatteForum on a social justice theme is what drew me to this residency. It’s an inspiring group of teens who are eager to create art, especially art that carries important social meaning.” - April Werle, 2025 Resident Artist

“Participating in this residency allowed me to challenge myself in new ways while also forming connections with ArtLab interns, learning from them, and creating something bigger than ourselves together. Having discussions with the interns, gallery visitors, and attendees added so much to the work I had the pleasure of experimenting with and its thoughtful curation from the PlatteForum team. This experience will surely continue to inform future projects and community engagement.” - Catie Michel, 2025 Resident Artist

“My time as an artist in residence with Platte Forum was deeply meaningful and generative. I got to learn about the history of environmental justice in Denver, work with a group of fantastic young creatives, and experiment with new materials in a way that will impact my studio practice for a long time.” - Lucy Holtsnider, 2025 Resident Artist

Application Requirements

1. Artist Statement: Briefly talk about your practice, its ideas, intentions, and the larger issues that frame your work in today’s world. Please articulate how this residency might positively impact your goals as an artist. (1,000 character limit including spaces)

2. Residency Statement: Describe the work you might create for this residency, how you envision working with the youth within your creative practice, and what social justice topic(s) you might address. (1,000 character limit including spaces)

3. Resume/CV

4. Work Samples: Please share 6-10 work/media samples. (Literary artists may upload a file through form question #4. All other artists should submit through "my portfolio" > "choose work samples")

Eligibility Criteria

The Artist Residency program is open to artists in all genres and disciplines. Applications from established professional artists, emerging artists, and graduate students are welcome. We encourage local, national, and international artists to apply. Former Resident Artists may apply again after a three-year waiting period. For example, a Resident Artist from the 2022-23 season is not eligible to apply until the 2025-26 season.