CALL TO ARTISTS
PoetryXCollage Residencies Spring 2026
Kolaj Institute is seeking submissions for participants in one of two PoetryXCollage Residencies in Spring 2026:
The Elusive X: Virtual PoetryXCollage Residency: A five-session virtual residency, 21 February-22 March 2026
Early Deadline to Apply: 31 January 2026
Final Deadline to Apply: 14 February 2026
Fragment as Verse on the Wall: In-Person PoetryXCollage Residency: An in-person residency in New Orleans, Sunday, 12 April to Thursday, 16 April 2026. (Virtual Meetings on Thursday, 2 & 9 April)
Early Deadline to Apply: 28 February 2026
Final Deadline to Apply: 8 March 2026
Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis until space is filled. Artists are encouraged to apply well before the deadline. Also, please note, responses may not be sent out until two weeks after the deadline.
Poetry is an art form that uses language and rhythm to express ideas, convey emotions, and share stories. In poetry, the aesthetic qualities of language make deeper meaning out of words, condensed language, and fragmented text. At its heart, collage is the juxtaposition of visual imagery composed in such a way as to do the same. Each of these art forms invites their audiences to revel in the complexity, richness, and nuance of contemporary life. Since 2022, Kolaj Institute has explored the intersection of poetry and collage. In Kolaj 32, Rod T. Boyer’s article “Mind the Gap: Collision and Context in Haiku and Collage“ compares the disjunction that occurs in haiku with a similar phenomenon in collage. Since then, we organized a series of residencies to explore the intersection of poetry and collage. We are interested in found poetry, blackout poetry, collage poems, haikus, centos, response collages, response poems, word scrambles, concrete poetry, scatter collage poems, and other poems and artwork that inhabit this world. Kolaj Institute’s PoetryXCollage project explores and documents the intersection of poetry and collage through a series of residencies, workshops, exhibitions, and PoetryXCollage, a printed journal of artwork and writing that operates at the intersection.
In April 2026, Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans will present the exhibition, “The Fragment as Verse”, where all of the work in the exhibition stands at the intersection of poetry and collage. Often work at the intersection of poetry and collage is made for the page. In this exhibition, we will consider how artwork at the intersection operates on the gallery wall. When viewing this work, we are encouraged to think of the fragment which may be text or image as a verse in a complete poem.
To support artists working at the intersection of poetry and collage, Kolaj Institute is organizing two residencies. A virtual residency led by poet and collagist Jennifer Roche will take place between 21 February and 22 March 2026. An in person residency will take place at Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans 12-16 April 2026, and be led by Ric Kasini Kadour. In each of these residencies, artists will explore the intersection of poetry and collage, consider the role of these two artforms in their artist practice, and develop strategies for diffusing their artwork on the page and the gallery wall.
In the Virtual Residency,”The Elusive X”, artists will concentrate on the intersection between Poetry X Collage, the dynamic space where these two methods of creativity intersect and inform one another. Our core path of exploration will be: How do we bring the visceral, linguistic precision of poetry and the fragmented, material nature of collage together? Jennifer Roche will lead participants on a journey of inquiry to explore what poetry and collage means for them, their work, and our culture. Interdisciplinary Poet S. Erin Batiste will join the residency as a guest speaker, where she will present her own work and what those working in the tradition of Radical Black Feminists are doing at the intersection of poetry and collage, why now and why it matters. Ric Kasini Kadour will share PoetryXCollage’s history and speak about the curatorial and editorial visions which guide the project.
The focus of the In-Person Residency, “The Fragment as Verse on the Wall”, will be about making artwork for the exhibition, “The Fragment as Verse”. From 10AM on Sunday, 12 April 2026 to 2PM on Friday, 16 April 2026, artists will have 24-hour access to the gallery, studio, and material library where they can work in community to make collage poetry. In daily meetings, artists will share work and get feedback from one another. Prior to the residency, artists will meet virtually where Ric Kasini Kadour will make presentations on the history of the project, artist practice, and the ecosystem of PoetryXCollage and Jennifer Roche will present on her observations of the intersection. Through in person discussions, artists will explore how the art they make at the intersection of poetry and collage exists on the printed page and on the wall of a gallery. Artists will be invited to present their work at the opening of the exhibition, “The Fragment as Verse”, on Saturday, 18 April 2026, 2-4PM. The in-person artist residency at Kolaj Institute Gallery will coincide with the New Orleans Poetry Festival (16-19 April 2026) where we hope artists will connect with poets, editors, and publishers.
OUTCOME
After the Residency, artists will be invited to submit work for the PoetryXCollage journal and for an exhibition on Poetry & Collage at Kolaj Institute Gallery in April and May 2026.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Residencies are intended for self-motivated writers and artists, at any stage in their career, who want to develop their practice by exploring the intersection of poetry and collage while working in community with others. Writers and Poets who want to explore collage and visual artists who want to explore writing and poetry are encouraged to apply. Residencies are open to any artist over the age of 21 from anywhere in the world.
HOW TO APPLY
Learn more and apply HERE.
COST
VIRTUAL RESIDENCY:
The cost of the Virtual Residency is $600 USD per artist. A limited number of grants of $250 is available to offset the Virtual Residency fee and reduce barriers to participation in the program, particularly for those artists coming from places in the world that face historic economic disadvantages.
IN-PERSON RESIDENCY
The cost of the residency is $750 USD per artist. A limited number of grants of $250 is available to offset the In-Person Residency fee and reduce barriers to participation in the program, particularly for those artists coming from places in the world that face historic economic disadvantages. NOTE: Travel to and from New Orleans, accommodations in New Orleans, and all meals are the responsibility of the artist. Financial aid is not available to offset the expense of travel, accommodation, or meals.
BOTH VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON RESIDENCIES:
The cost to take part in both Residencies is $1200 USD per artist. A limited number of grants of $250 is available to offset the Combined Residencies fee and and reduce barriers to participation in the program, particularly for those artists coming from places in the world that face historic economic disadvantages. NOTE: Travel to and from New Orleans, accommodations in New Orleans, and all meals are the responsibility of the artist. Financial aid is not available to offset the expense of travel, accommodation, or meals.
The Elusive X: Virtual Residency Schedule
Saturday, 21 February 2026, 2-4PM EST
Sunday, 22 February 2026, 2-4PM EST
Sunday, 1 March 2026, 2-4PM EST
Sunday, 8 March 2026, 2-4PM EDT
Sunday, 22 March 2026, 2-4PM EDT
Fragment as Verse on the Wall: In Person Residency Schedule
Sunday, 12 April 2026 (10AM) through Thursday, 16 April 2026 (3PM). Artists are welcome to attend the New Orleans Poetry Festival, taking place at the New Orleans Healing Center, 16-19 April 2026.
There will be two virtual pre-meetings for the residency over Zoom, Thursday, 2 April and Thursday, 9 April 2026, 7-9PM EDT.
QUESTIONS
If you have questions, send an email.
ABOUT JENNIFER ROCHE
Jennifer Roche (Chicago, Illinois, USA) is a poet, writer, and collage artist. She is Pushcart Prize-nominated and the author of two chapbooks: The Synonym Tables (The Poetry Question, 2021) and 20, erasure poems from Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Alternating Current Press, 2020). Her poetry work has appeared in SWWIM; Storm Cellar; Tule Review; Footnote: A Literary Journal of History; and Oyez Review. She was named a “Writer to Watch in 2019 & Beyond” by the Guild Literary Complex. Roche took part in Kolaj Institute’s first Poetry & Collage Residency in 2022 and her work was featured in PoetryXCollage, Volume 1.
ABOUT S. ERIN BATISTE
S. Erin Batiste’s (Brooklyn, New York, USA) practice is rooted in accumulation and maximalism, and she is influenced by beauty, otherworlds, waymaking and migration, divination and astrology, Americana, archives, and what remains. Her work examines themes of freedom, the complexity of memory, what we consider history, and the ways we all inherit and collect possessions and stories. Providence (self-published, 2024) and The Glory Will Be Revealed (University of New Orleans Press, forthcoming, 2026) draw on early 20th century mugshot photos of Black women and girls. The book itself is a performative intervention. Batiste is a 2025-2028 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow in Literature and a 2025 Powerhouse Artist Subsidy Program Recipient working with the PHA Printshop. Batiste runs Revival Archival Cards, Collage & Salvage—a mobile arts studio in Brooklyn. The artist took part in Kolaj Institute’s New Orleans Collage Artist Lab: City as Archive in 2022; the Collage Magic Artist Residency in 2023; and was a presenter in the symposium, COLLAGE::BOOKS at VolumeMTL in October 2025.
ABOUT RIC KASINI KADOUR
Ric Kasini Kadour, a 2021 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Curatorial Fellow, is a writer, artist, publisher, cultural worker, and the director of Kolaj Institute. His curation work includes exhibitions in Louisiana, New Mexico, Quebec, Scotland, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Vermont. Kadour is the editor and publisher of Kolaj Magazine, as well as the editor of the Kolaj Institute journals, PoetryXCollage and Folklore Collage Society. He has written for a number of galleries and his writing has appeared in publications including Hyperallergic, OEI, Art New England (where he was the former Vermont editor), and Wissenschaft und Frieden. Kadour maintains an active art practice and his photography, collage, film and sculpture have been exhibited in and are part of private collections in Australia, Europe and North America. In January-February 2020, he was artist-in-residence at MERZ Gallery in Sanquhar, Scotland. He holds a BA in Comparative Religion from the University of Vermont. Kadour splits his time between Montreal and New Orleans.
ABOUT THE NEW ORLEANS POETRY FESTIVAL
From the organization’s website: “The mission of the New Orleans Poetry Festival and Small Press Fair is to create a space for an inclusive and diverse group of writers to collaborate, share and influence each other while also being immersed in the distinctive literary culture of New Orleans. Our goal every year is to bring in poets and performers from across the globe to share their work and research in topics not only specific to writing but to all aspects of the Humanities, including cultural, political, ecological and historical disciplines relevant to contemporary New Orleans, Louisiana, and the world. We showcase the best writers New Orleans has to offer to our visitors, and to the local community we try to offer the most compelling authors from across the nation and the globe. The Festival is highly participatory with events ranging from workshops where you will be generating writing to open mics where you can share your work, from formal readings and panels to the most informal and collegial interactions and collaborations. For both locals and visitors we invite the active inspiration of four days of poetry immersion and collaboration, hopefully fostering further explorations and creations that continue beyond the time spent here in New Orleans.” The festival runs 16-19 April 2026. www.nolapoetry.com