Chicago Park District’s Public Studio Residency nurtures site-specific, community-engaged artistic practices with year-long funded placements at Chicago Park District Cultural Centers. Resident artists must be both self-sufficient and socially-engaged. They must be willing to build relationships with culture workers, organizations, community leaders, young people, park staff, and stakeholders. Public Studio  empowers deeper creative engagements, amplifying and actualizing neighborhood priorities at the intersection of culture and other quality-of-life aspects like education, affordable housing, intergenerational connections, violence prevention, etc.

Public Studio is part of the Culture in My Neighborhood (CIMN) effort, supported by the Chicago Park District, the Mayor’s Office, and Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE). Additional funding comes from the Walder Foundation.

BUDGET

Public Studio Residency offers an artist fee of $15,000 (roughly 500 hours at $30/hour), and a discretionary materials budget of $5,000. Both amounts are paid directly to the artist and can be moved from one category to the other. The residency is designed for one lead artist, with support from a Cultural Liaison for the Chicago Park District. A Cultural Center Enhancement Fund of $10,000 is available to support programs and projects that will have a lasting impact on the Cultural Center. This fund is available for discretionary spending by Park Leadership. 

TIMELINE

Residencies run from the time of acceptance in the Spring through the end of the calendar year in December, and are split into four phases: Seed, Sprout, Bloom, and Preserve. April and May (Seed) serve as onboarding months; June through August (Sprout) offer plenty of time for planning, connecting with park stakeholders and the surrounding community, and finetuning creative engagements; September through November (Bloom) will be activation months whether it is through programming or public offerings; and lastly, the residency wraps up at the end of the year (Preserve) with a final archive-ready artist talk.   

SPACE

Additional material offerings are available at Hamilton Park such as shared space usage in the Large Dance Room, Teen Center, and Large Clubroom on the first floor of Hamilton Park. The Park Supervisor encourages active use of park space, and efforts to bring visibility to the creative ecosystem within it.  

RESIDENCY DELIVERABLES

While deliverables are variable for each unique project, we recommend a residency plan that organically combines your creative interests and expertise with generous opportunities for authentic relationship-building with the park community. Your residency plan should center on building authentic and healthy Relationships and thoughtful and culturally relevant Creative Engagements:

1. Relationships: Artist-in-Residence first priority should be augmenting and deepening relationships amongst and across park staff, park patrons, community leaders, local artists, young people, educators, and neighborhood organizations. Relationships should nurture connections between residents, neighborhood and park ecologies, and local organizations and collectives working to uplift the community. Relationships should be strengthened, where possible, to sustain beyond the tenure of the resident artist. Park Staff will welcome new perspectives that can expand their cultural competency, and increase points of connection with the surrounding community.
2. Creative Engagements uplift Hamilton’s cultural priorities (youth engagement), needs (positive narratives of the park and neighborhood), and capacity (weekdays after school). Cultural Center staff will be included in the planning of any and all programs. The Artist-in-Residence is expected to take an active role in all aspects of creative engagements, including development and outreach. Successful programs will rise out of the Artist-in-Residence's interests, skills, resources, and capacity. Shared space usage in the Large Dance Room, Teen Center, and Large Clubroom on the first floor of Hamilton Park are all available for these creative engagements.

RESIDENCY OPPORTUNITIES: A Public Studio Practice

1. Ongoing Creative Practices are a welcome focal point for Public Studio. Space and materials will be coordinated with park staff. Open Studio events that connect the Artist-in-Residence with the public and other creatives are highly encouraged.
2. Site Specific Projects are possible but need to be well articulated and approved by park staff and, in some cases - like those of outdoor public sculptures and murals and gardens - will need to be approved by a larger reviewing body within the Chicago Park District (Park Enhancement Committee) and/or the city. These types of projects are welcome, but require additional time, commitment, and care from the Artist-in-Residence, potentially up to a year beyond the scope of the residency. Cultural Liaisons will be able to support as capacity allows, but ongoing stewardship of projects beyond the residency terms is not guaranteed.
3. Social Offerings to the Englewood Community are strongly encouraged. These can be in support of local artistry or businesses, marginalized communities, social uplift efforts, and so forth. Offerings might include workshops, exhibitions with gallery hours, roundtables, performances, poetry nights, open rehearsals, book clubs, (dry) sip and paints, communal dinners, photoshoots, and so on. 

HAMILTON PARK CULTURAL PRIORITIES

1. Youth-focused (ages 8-13) engagements*
2. Utilize designated park space outside of youth engagements to feed artist’s creative process 
3. Build and sustain relationships with park staff and neighbors 
4. Create safer spaces and highlight the untapped potential of Hamilton Park
5. Community outreach via social media, events, and programming

*youth ages 8-13 with an emphasis on a weekday after-school presence, ideally on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays

Notes on eligibility:

Applicants must reside in Chicago. The application begins by requiring a current address for applicants to ensure eligibility. Applicants must also be eligible to work in the United States, and agree to these terms before beginning the application. This requirement is to ensure eligibility for payment.