Artist in Residence

About the Program

The Jackman Humanities Institute is pleased to announce that through our Artist in Residence program, in partnership with a participating humanities unit at the University of Toronto, we will be able to recognize and offer financial support to working artists across the visual, performing, and literary arts.

The Institute’s Artist in Residence program seeks to support the creation and production of new artistic work and to provide insight into the process of conceptualizing and producing creative work. The JHI aims to situate an Artist in Residence both within a scholarly interdisciplinary community at the Institute and within an artistic academic community in a partnering humanities unit. Artists in Residence present and discuss work at lunch colloquia along with JHI fellows; and share their practice with the broader University of Toronto community through a variety of media practices including, but not limited to, screenings, exhibitions, lectures, concerts, readings, and performances.

A humanities department or program at the University of Toronto must nominate and co-sponsor an artist for residency. The JHI provides a stipend, an office, and an interdisciplinary intellectual community, while the co-sponsoring unit provides a stipend and a production budget. Artists are expected to have substantial interaction with students over the course of the residency, e.g., through teaching, short-term seminars and workshops, public lectures, and open studio events.

Since 2017, the Jackman Humanities Institute has collaborated with the UTM Department of Visual Studies (2017-18); the A&S Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies (2018-19); the UTSC Department of Arts, Culture, and Media (2019-20); the OISE Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (2020-21); and the UTM Department of Historical Studies (2022-23).

Responsibilities of the Artist

The expectation is that, during his/her/their residency, the artist will:

  • Be present and visible to the University of Toronto arts and humanities community during the length of the residency, and provide the University of Toronto community some access to his/her/their working process while work is in progress, e.g., in the form of weekly open studio hours, an open studio event, a presentation or discussion of the work in progress, or some other appropriate activity.
  • Attend the Institute’s weekly Thursday lunches; present their work at one of the weekly Thursday lunches; conduct a workshop for JHI fellows and members of the co-sponsoring unit; and make a public presentation concerning the artistic project to the University of Toronto community, e.g., in the form of a screening, exhibition, lecture, concert, reading, performance, or other appropriate form of public event.
  • Participate in the larger life of the humanities at the University of Toronto through attending Institute programs as well as events in her/his/their co-sponsoring unit.

The authority to negotiate and approve specific residency plans lies with the Chair of the local unit and the Director of the JHI.

Responsibilities of the Partnering Department/Program and the JHI

The Jackman Humanities Institute will provide office space as well as office supplies. The partnering unit may also provide space or access to space for the creation of work in order to facilitate a meaningful presence on the campus as well as administrative support.

The Institute provides to the partnering unit a stipend of $20,000 for the artist. The partnering unit typically provides equal funding support, e.g., in the form of teaching, coaching, and/or a production budget. If work is being completed collaboratively, this amount will be shared at the discretion of the artists—there are no additional stipends for multiple artists.

The Institute will be responsible for working with the artist to support interaction with diverse intellectual and academic humanities communities over the course of the residency, both within the Institute and beyond, so that the wider humanities campus community can be involved in the artist’s work and process.

The co-sponsoring unit will be responsible for working with the artist to create a structure to ensure substantial interaction with students and the artistic community over the course of the residency, both within the unit and beyond, again so that the wider campus divisional community can be involved in the artist’s work and process. Artist interactions with the campus community can be through having the artist teach a course, having students participate in the production process, hosting a series of workshops, or some other series of activities. If the artist is to teach, the co-sponsoring unit is responsible for class scheduling (not on Thursdays), and the teaching position should complement wider engagement with students beyond that class. The co-sponsoring unit will provide studio space as appropriate for the duration of the residency.

At the end of the residency, the co-sponsoring unit will write a brief report on the residency for submission to the Director of the JHI (shared with the relevant Dean).