CALL TO ARTISTS
Poetry & Collage Residency-New Orleans 2025
at Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans
8-12 April 2025, with two preliminary virtual sessions on 2 and 6 April 2025
A five-day, in-person collage artist residency in New Orleans
Early Deadline to Apply: Friday, 28 February 2025
Final Deadline to Apply: Friday, 15 March 2025
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.
Since 2022, Kolaj Institute has explored the intersection of poetry and collage throughout its history. 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. The artists heard from guest speakers Kevin Sampsell, Renée Reizman, Rod T. Boyer, and the Poetry Foundation’s Fred Sasaki and were challenged to create page spreads to be included in PoetryXCollage, a printed journal of artwork and writing at 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. To date, seven volumes of PoetryXCollage have been published.
To support artists working at the intersection of poetry and collage, Kolaj Institute is organizing an in-person artist residency at Kolaj Institute Gallery. The residency will coincide with the New Orleans Poetry Festival. From 10AM on Tuesday, 8 April to 2PM on Saturday, 12 April, 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 Kolaj Institute Director Ric Kasini Kadour will make presentations on the history of the project, artist practice, and the ecosystem of Poetry & Collage. 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. At noon, on Saturday, 12 April, artists will be invited to present their work and at 6PM, artists are invited to the opening of the exhibition, “Joy & Grief” at Kolaj Institute Gallery. By participating in the New Orleans Poetry Festival, 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 Fest New Orleans 2025.
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. By participating in the New Orleans Poetry Festival, we hope artists will connect with poets, editors, and publishers.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Collage Artist Residencies are intended for self-motivated artists, at any stage in their career, who want to develop their practice by exploring a topic or working method and collaborating with others to produce a final product. 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
The cost of the residency is $750 USD per artist. A limited number of grants is available to offset the workshop 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 above 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.
RESIDENCY LOGISTICS
Wednesday, 2 April (virtual): History of Kolaj Institute’s Poetry & Collage Project, Preparing for New Orleans, & Introductions
Sunday, 6 April (virtual): Artist Practice & The ecosystem of Poetry & Collage
Tuesday, 8 April: 10AM Orientation at Kolaj Institute and Poetry/Collage Making
Wednesday, 9 April: Poetry/Collage Making, Noon to 2PM Discussion
Thursday, 10 April: Poetry/Collage Making & NOLA Poetry Festival Opening Night at 7PM
Friday, 11 April: Poetry/Collage Making & NOLA Poetry Festival
Saturday, 12 April: Noon to 2PM, Presentation & Discussion of works; 6PM to 9PM, Opening of the exhibition, “Joy & Grief”.
QUESTIONS
If you have questions, send an email.
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 10-13 April 2025. www.nolapoetry.com
FACULTY
15″x11″; book illustrations and collage on watercolor paper; 2024. Courtesy of the artist.
Ric Kasini Kadour
Ric Kasini Kadour, a 2020-2021 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Curatorial Fellow, is a writer, artist, publisher, and cultural worker. Working with the Vermont Arts Council, Kadour curated four exhibits: “Connection: The Art of Coming Together” (2017) and Vermont Artists to Watch 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2017, he curated “The Art of Winter” at S.P.A.C.E. Gallery in Burlington, Vermont. In 2018, Kadour curated “Revolutionary Paths: Critical Issues in Collage” at Antenna Gallery in New Orleans, which bought together collage artists whose work represents the potential for deeper inquiry and further curatorial exploration of the medium; followed in 2019 by “Cultural Deconstructions: Critical Issues in Collage” at LeMieux Galleries in New Orleans, which furthered the conversation; and “Amuse Bouche”, also at LeMieux Galleries in 2023 and 2024. Since 2018, he has produced Kolaj Fest New Orleans, a multi-day festival & symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society. As Curator of Contemporary Art at Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vermont in 2019 and 2020, he curated three exhibitions, “Rokeby Through the Lens” (May 19-June 16, 2019), “Structures” (August 24-October 27, 2019), and “Mending Fences: New Works by Carol MacDonald” (July 12-October 25, 2020). He also curated “Contemporary American Regionalism: Vermont Perspectives” (August 17-October 20, 2019); “Where the Sun Casts No Shadow: Postcards from the Creative Crossroads of Quito, Ecuador” (November 1-30, 2019); and “Many Americas” (August 20-November 27, 2022) in the Wilson Museum & Galleries at the Southern Vermont Arts Center. “The Money $how”, co-curated with Frank Juarez, was presented at the AIR Space Gallery at Saint Kate-The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (April 10-September 12, 2021). For Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival in Birr, County Offaly, Ireland (August 13-20, 2021), he curated “Empty Columns Are a Place to Dream”, which traveled to the Knoxville Museum of Art in January-February 2022. At 516 ARTS in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kadour co-curated with Alicia Inez Guzmàn two exhibitions: “Many Worlds Are Born” (February 19-May 14, 2022) and “Technologies of the Spirit” (June 11-September 3, 2022). In 2023 at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Kadour curated “Where the Sun Casts No Shadow: Postcards from the Creative Crossroads of Quito, Ecuador” (January 9-February 16, 2023) and “Mythical Landscape: Secrets of the Vale” (March 17-May 28, 2023). In September 2023, he curated “Word of Mouth: Folklore, Community and Collage” at A’ the Airts in Sanquhar, Scotland. His first short film, The Covenant of Schwitters’ Army, debuted at Collage on Screen during Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2023. His second, Joy Is Paper, debuted at Collage on Screen during Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2024.
At the Kolaj Institute Gallery, Kadour curated “Kolaj Institute Grand Opening Exhibition” (March 9-April 14, 2024); “Collage the Planet: Environmentalism in Art” (April 19-May 26, 2024); “Magic in the Modern World” (June 1-August 11, 2024); “Advanced Wound Healing Techniques: Collage by Robbie Morgan” (August 16-October 6, 2024); “Temporal Geolocation: How Place & History Inform Identity in Collage” (October 11-November 24, 2024; and “Camera & Collage” (November 29, 2024-January 25, 2025).
Kadour is the editor and publisher of Kolaj Magazine. He has written for a number of galleries and his writing has appeared in Hyperallergic, OEI, Vermont Magazine, Seven Days, Seattle Weekly, Art New England (where he was the former Vermont editor) and many others. Kadour maintains an active art practice and his photography, collage, 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. www.rickasinikadour.com