CALL TO ARTISTS
The River Bends & So Must We: In-Person Collage Artist Lab
An in-person artist lab in New Orleans, Wednesday, 9 September to Sunday, 13 September 2026
Deadline to apply: Sunday, 23 August 2026
Rivers are cornerstones of human civilization. Rivers sustain life and connect us to one another. Fifty-two billion gallons of water pass through New Orleans each day via the Mississippi River. The river shapes the city’s history, its culture, its soul. The country sends its goods down river and New Orleans sends its culture up. New Orleans would not be without its river. Rivers transcend time. They exist in a perpetual state of change. Heraclitus wrote, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he is not the same man.”
“The River Bends and So Must We” is a project of Kolaj Institute that reflects on the Mississippi River as a dynamic force of culture. In 2026 and 2027, we will bring together artists from the International Collage Community to make artwork that imagines and speaks to what lessons the River can teach us about our own humanity. We will consider the history of the River in New Orleans from primordial times, pre-Columbian civilization, and to the present moment. We will examine how the River is an economic force, a tool of power, a natural wonder, and source of magic. We will take up Maya Angelou’s (1928–2014) invitation in her poem, “On the Pulse of Morning”, and “Speak to humankind today. Come to me, here beside the River.”
The goal of the Collage Artist Lab is to equip artists with tools and strategies for picking up the unfinished work of history and speak to contemporary civic discourse around social, economic, and environmental issues. Through interactive sessions, collections research, and collaborative collage making, artists will explore their process and practice; present a slideshow of their work; receive supportive, critical, curatorial feedback about their ideas; and discuss contemporary issues. The Lab will speak to issues of appropriation, copyright, and fair use and explore how the artist’s choice and understanding of material shapes the narrative of the artwork. Artists will leave the Lab with a new perspective on their art practice.
Artists will explore historical materials about the Mississippi River and work together to make a research archive for the project. Drawing from that archive, artists will develop plans for art making. Through a series of presentations, site visits, and walks, artists will explore using archives and history; the role of artist research; develop strategies of making, exhibiting, and publishing collage art that speaks to a sense of place and history; hear about Kolaj Institute Projects and how artists can make art for books and exhibitions around photography and collage, architecture, trash as materials, folklore, poetry, and place as archive.
While in New Orleans, 9-13 September, artists will work side-by-side to make an artwork that will be considered for the “Place as Archive” exhibition at Kolaj Institute Gallery in October 2026 as well as other forms of diffusion. Artists will attend NOLA River Fest 2026 on 12 September. Hosted by the New Orleans Jazz Museum, the annual NOLA River Fest “remember(s) and celebrate(s) the influences of the Mississippi River on New Orleans’ geography, economy, and culture.” Artists will also be introduced to the Williams Research Center at the Historic New Orleans Collection, where they will explore the River as Culture.
After the Lab, artists will be invited to submit 3-5 collages and a statement that will be considered for future exhibitions at Kolaj Institute Gallery, and a book about the “The River Bends & So Must We” Project.
OUTCOME
Artist Labs are designed to develop a proposal for a contemporary art project or body of artwork. Artwork made during and after the lab will be considered for exhibitions at Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans and future publications on Place as Archive. By participating in the River Bends and So Must We Artist Lab, artists will become members of Kolaj Institute’s Place as Archive Project and be invited to submit to exhibitions, contribute to programs at Kolaj Fest New Orleans or Kolaj LIVE Online, and receive curatorial and community support for their projects through one-on-one meetings and virtual meet-ups.
OUTPUTS
Exhibitions
Work made during this Artist Lab will be included in the “Place as Archive” exhibition at Kolaj Institute Gallery in October 2026. Work will also be considered for an exhibition at Kolaj Institute Gallery in September 2027.
Folio of Collages
The working title of the folio is “The River Bends & So Must We”. Images will be printed 11”x15” on 140lb Canson cold press watercolor paper in an edition of 5, plus one A/P. One set of folios will be offered to an appropriate local archive and another set will be included in Kolaj Institute’s collection. The remaining folios will be available for sale with the proceeds going to support the mission of Kolaj Institute. The folio will be available as a traveling exhibition.
Book
The images and texts will be published in a book by Kolaj Institute that will be released in September 2027. The book will include additional commentary by Ric Kasini Kadour.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Collage Artist Labs are intended for self-motivated artists, at any stage in their career, who want to develop their practice while working in community with others. Artist Labs are open to any artist over the age of 21 from anywhere in the world.
COST
The cost of the Artist Lab is $750 USD per artist. A limited number of grants is available to offset the Artist Lab fee and reduce barriers to participation in the program, particularly for those artists coming from places in the world that face historic economic disadvantages. Follow the link in the How to Apply section below to learn more.
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.
HOW TO APPLY
Submit your application HERE.
ARTIST LAB LOGISTICS
The River Bends and So Must We will have two Virtual Sessions before convening at Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans, 9-13 September 2026 when the gallery will be converted into a working studio. Artists will have 24-hour access to the space during the Lab. Artists and faculty will come together as a group for approximately two hours each day for presentations and discussion. The schedule of site visits and other activities will be shared with invited artists.
Artists will have full access to the Kolaj Institute’s Material Library which stocks general collage-making materials such as cutting mats, scissors, a variety of glues, substrates, and books and magazines. If an artist wishes to use specific materials they may be shipped in advance to New Orleans.
APPLICATION PROCESS
The submission process asks applicants for:
• Contact information
• Artist Bio (50-250 words)
• Statement of Artist Practice (50-300 words)
• 5-7 images of artwork
• Statement of expectations
• Asks questions about your work and needs
QUESTIONS
If you have questions, send an email.
ABOUT KOLAJ INSTITUTE’S PLACE AS ARCHIVE PROJECT
Kolaj Institute’s Place as Archive investigates how artists incorporate a sense of place into their collage art as a way of drawing out deeper, more complex stories. The project takes as its premise that the landscape can be viewed as a sort of archive from which artists can draw, not unlike a material archive maintained in an institutional collection. When artists approach a place as an archive, they draw out a deeper, more complex understanding of that place that enriches our understanding of our communities, helps us be better citizens, and empowers us to take better care of our neighbors. With a current focus on New Orleans, Montreal, and Scotland, the project manifests as residencies, articles, exhibitions, and publications. Place as Archive intersects with other Kolaj Institute Projects around photography, folklore, trash as material, and history. Learn more HERE.
ABOUT RIC KASINI KADOUR
Ric Kasini Kadour, a 2020-2021 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. Learn more at www.rickasinikadour.com.
ABOUT NOLA RIVER FEST
Hosted by the New Orleans Jazz Museum, the annual NOLA River Fest remembers and celebrates the cultural, economic, environmental, and inspirational impacts of the Mississippi River and its inhabitants on the Crescent City and the entire Gulf South region. The all-day festival includes live music, presentations and panels, local food vendors, a full bar, and more. Learn more at https://www.nolariverfest.org/river-fest.
ABOUT THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION
The Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC), a museum, publisher, and research center, was founded in 1966 and grew from the collection of its founders, Kemper and Leila Williams.”The Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC) strives to expand our understanding of the past, present, and future through research, stories, objects, documents, and works of art,” wrote the organization. “We share our passion for the meanings of history and culture so people from our diverse communities and beyond recognize their own experiences and relevance to their own lives. Through our respect for the traditions, culture, and history of all people, we welcome everyone in our quest to build an equitable and enlightened future.” Through a no-charge museum on Royal Street and a research center on Chartres Street, HNOC makes history available to the general public and history researchers. HNOC has been an invaluable asset to collage artists who visit New Orleans to research and make art about the city.