Djerassi Resident Artists Program | Application Guidelines

The Djerassi Resident Artist Program has awarded over 2500 writers, visual/media artists, composers, choreographers, filmmakers and scientists for the past 41-years the gift of time and space with a one-month residency on our 583-acre ranch in Northern California's Santa Cruz Mountains. All at no cost to the artists.

Thank you for your interest in applying to the Djerassi Resident Artists Program
The 2025 application opens August 12, 2024 and will remain open through September 12, 2024.

Residencies are awarded competitively, at no cost, to national and international artists in the disciplines of choreography, literature, music composition, visual arts, media arts, technology and science. There will be four Artists residency sessions in 2025: Three are 4 weeks long and one, the Leonardo@Djerassi session, (the intersection of art and science), is 5 weeks long and includes an Open House/Open Studios.

We seek applications from emerging and mid-career artists, for whom appointments as resident artists may make a significant difference to their careers, as well as from established artists with national and/or international reputations. Applicants are evaluated by panels of arts professionals in each category.

Djerassi Resident Artists Program is designed as a retreat experience to pursue personal creative work and share collegial interaction within a small community of artists. In this spirit, residents are expected to commit themselves for the entire residency session they are awarded.

Our Program chef prepares communal dinners Monday through Friday, and stocks the artist’s kitchen. Residents prepare their own breakfasts, lunches, and weekend dinners using ingredients supplied by the Program. We offer vegetarian and gluten-free meals.

No shortened or partial residencies are offered and all session dates are based on the availability and sustainability of the program and are subject to change or cancellation.

Eligibility & Re-applications

National and international visual artists, composers, choreographers, media artists, writers, and scientists (for Leonardo@Djerassi) are eligible. Alumni must wait five seasons before re-applying for a return residency. Example: 2017 residents can re-apply for the 2022 residency season. Artists who were placed on alternate status may re-apply for the next season. Please note the application form, resume, and all support materials must be in English.

Eligibility recently expanded to include degree-seeking students. Please feel welcome to apply.

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Djerassi Statement of Equity

All people, their culture and their art contribute to the meaning and understanding of our humanity and should be honored and celebrated.
Artists, their art, their process, and the organizations they create and support, play a unique role in witnessing, demonstrating, and providing inspiration to resolve societal inequity and injustice.
The Program encourages and welcomes the participation of artists and scientists from all backgrounds and does not discriminate with regard to age, race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, religion, marital status, or nation of origin in its admission policies.
The Program structures its selection process and residency partnerships to value a continuum of aesthetic points of view, ensuring each resident session reflects a microcosm of the world of creative professionals.

Artistic Disciplines

Applicants should apply in the category that best represents their work. Applicants may apply to only one admissions panel, and in one genre, at a time. Applicants with concerns about the choice of the panel should contact the Residency Coordinator before submitting an application.

Literature: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, translation, and librettos
Visual Art: painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, mixed media, and installation art
Music Composition: instrumental forms (symphonic, chamber music, band), vocal forms (opera, choral, songs), electronic music, and music for film.
Choreography: artists working in choreography.
Media Art/New Genres: film, video, multi-media, performance/experimental theater, sound art, and radio.
Science: biology, chemistry, physics, math, environmental or agricultural science.

Work Sample Requirements

Visual Arts:

Submit six jpeg images to best present your work.
Provide 6 Images (up to 5 MB each)

Media Arts/New Genres:

You may submit more than one type of media to best present your work.
Excerpts of video work and film segments are requested. The panel may only watch the first five minutes.
Provide 1-6 items.
Images (up to 5 MB each), Video (up to 250 MB each), Audio (up to 30 MB each), and PDFs (up to 10 MB each). You may also link to media from YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud

Choreography:

Excerpts of work requested if applicable. The panel may only watch the first five minutes.
Accepted media files (mov, wmv, flv, mp4)
Provide 1-5 items. Video (up to 250 MB each). You may also link to media from YouTube and Vimeo

Music Composition:

You may include 2 separate musical scores (PDF). This is optional not required. For works created without a score, a brief statement describing the recorded music should be included. You can do this after you upload. All audio samples need to be uploaded as MP3.
Provide 1-5 items. Audio (up to 30 MB each) and PDFs (up to 10 MB each). You may also link to media from SoundCloud

Literature:

Submit work (PDF) in only one genre per application.
Provide 1-5 items. PDFs (up to 10 MB each)
Prose: fiction, creative non-fiction, translation. Double-spaced typescript totaling no more than 30 pages
Drama: scripts, screenplays, librettos. Double-spaced typescript totaling no more than 30 pages
Poetry: 10 short, one-page poems or appropriate excerpts of a longer poem. Please include all poems in one file. no more than 10 pages
Graphic Novels: graphic novels

Collaboration, Couples, and Guests

Collaborations: Artists who plan to collaborate during the residency must submit individual applications. Work space needs should be clearly specified (i.e. whether or not separate studios are required). Also indicate if you are interested in attending as an individual artist.

Couples: Couples must apply separately with the understanding that each applicant will be reviewed separately by their discipline’s panel. If both artists are selected, we will make every effort to schedule you at the same time and arrange appropriate accommodations. Separate studios will be assigned unless otherwise requested. Please note on your applications if you would like to share the same living quarters.

Guests: Accommodations are limited to selected individual residents only. No accommodations for spouses, partners, or children are available. Friends or family who are in the area for brief visits cannot be accommodated overnight at the facility. They are welcome for day visits and dinner at the ranch. No personal pets are allowed.