Call for Applications: Centre A Artist Residency

ABOUT THE PROGRAM: 

Blessing & a Curse & a Practice is Centre A’s second bi-annual artist residency program, supporting local emerging 2SLGBTQIA+ BIPOC artists. This is a 7-week paid residency  from June 10 - July 25, 2026, followed by a four-week exhibition at our gallery of new works created during the residency from August 1 - September 5, 2026. 

This residency affirms the necessity of sustained 2SLGBTQIA+ BIPOC artistic labour in times marked by collective uncertainty, contradiction, and ongoing ecological and political instability. It offers space, resources, and compensation to nourish practices that persist even under strain.

The theme reflects the lived conditions of artistic practice under pressure — where what sustains us may also exhaust us, and where the labour that shapes our worlds is often structurally undervalued. For 2SLGBTQIA+ BIPOC communities, global crises often register as intimate and embodied pressures. Artistic labour, in turn, faces disproportionate precarity. 

In this context, artistic practice can feel both life-affirming and exhausting. Visibility can offer protection and exposure at once. The work that nourishes us may also deplete us.

Rather than asking whether this labour is a blessing or a curse, this residency turns toward practice as repetition, ritual, and return. Practice as something that shapes us as much as we shape it. 

As artists are applying for the residency, we invite them to consider the following: 

• What do we return to, when things get difficult?
• How does repetition of gesture, material, stories, or relations shape your artistic practice? 
• How does artistic labour sustain and strain us at once?
• When does visibility protect, and when does it expose?
• How does your practice provide nourishment? 

The residency will run alongside Centre A’s 2026 Art Writing Mentorship, with formal and informal opportunities for the artists to connect with writers in residence through artist talks, studio visits, group gallery trips, and more. During the residency, artists will have a paid opportunity to develop new works in our space using available equipment, to connect with the public through programming, to work with their cohort and Centre A’s curatorial team, developing essential professional skills and networks. 

The artists will showcase their work in an established gallery and be paid a CARFAC standard fee for a group exhibition. Centre A will invite curators and institutions within the greater Vancouver area to connect with the artists and their work, providing further networking opportunities for the participating artists beyond the residency. 

 

PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY:

The program is open to emerging BIPOC artists residing in Metro Vancouver. We encourage all members of underrepresented and marginalized groups to apply, including but not limited to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, and/or disability.

Criteria for Emerging Artists:

Be at least 18 years old

• Are enrolled in, or have specialized training in the arts. Past training could include mentorship, self-study, workshops, etc. Training in an academic institution is not mandatory. 
• Are in the early stages of their career; have been pursuing their artistic practice within the last 5 - 10 years.
• Have yet to establish a reputation for themselves, and usually do not have a considerable body of work or any major exhibitions under their belt.
• Are looking for support and resources to build confidence in their practice.

The applicant must be able to commit to the entirety of the program’s duration (7 weeks). This includes planned weekly events such as group sessions, public open studios, gallery visits, and other programming:

 

BENEFITS:

• Hands-on experience working with BIPOC artist peers
• Daytime access to a shared studio space at Centre A located in Vancouver’s Chinatown, within walking distance of numerous galleries and arts organizations
• Networking opportunities with established local artists, curators, and arts and culture workers
• Opportunity to work with Centre A’s Artistic Director and Programming team to realize a month-long group exhibition at Centre A
• Curatorial, administration, and marketing support, including event assets such as social media promotion, postcards, and exhibition photos
• An artist’s fee of $2,000 and material reimbursement of $250 for each artist upon successful completion of the program, and standard CARFAC fee for the group exhibition ($1,288/artist) and any additional public programming

 

PROGRAM DETAILS:

Location: Centre A, 205-268 Keefer St., Vancouver, BC. See more accessibility details below in the “About Centre A” section.

Commitment: Participants are expected to attend weekly programming (approx. 3-5 hours each week) and utilize the studio space on a weekly basis during the residency period.

Important Dates: 

• Wednesday, June 10 – July 25 studio residency period 
• Monday, July 27 – July 31, 2026: group exhibition installation
• Saturday, August 1, 2026 – exhibition opening 
• Saturday, August 1 –  September 5, 2026 – exhibition run 
• Monday, September 7 – 12:  group exhibition deinstallation

 

HOW TO APPLY:

Deadline to submit: Tuesday March 31, 2026, 11:59 PM PST

Please read eligibility and application criteria carefully. Submit the documents below in a single PDF by email to info@centrea.org with “Residency Application 2026” in the subject line.

Your application should include:

• A project proposal (750 words maximum) outlining what you intend to create during the residency in relation to your background and artistic interests;
• A curriculum vitae (2 pages maximum);
• 3-9 images or videos of three past works (any photos or videos that are sent through URL links, please ensure the link is publicly accessible) ;
• An image list corresponding to the images, including title, year, material, size, any collaborators, and a brief description of each work (100 words max. each).
• Contact details for one reference;
• Any access needs. 

A total of three applicants will be chosen for the program. Successful applicants can expect to hear back by April 30, 2026. Due to the large volume of applications, we are unable to provide individual feedback at this time.

 

ABOUT CENTRE A:

Established in 1999, Centre A is the only public art gallery in Canada dedicated to contemporary Asian and Asian diasporic perspectives. We are committed to providing a platform for engaging diverse communities through public access to the arts, creating mentorship opportunities for emerging artists and arts professionals, and stimulating critical dialogue through provocative exhibitions and innovative public programs that complicate understandings of migrant experiences and diasporic communities. In addition to our exhibition space, we house a reading room with a collection of books on transnational Asian art, including the Finlayson Collection of Rare Asian Art Books.

Centre A is located in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown, on the second floor of the Sun Wah Centre Mall. The gallery is located on the second floor of a wheelchair-accessible building which has an elevator. Bathrooms are gendered with accessible stalls. Please contact us at info@centrea.org for full details, including any accommodation requests.