The Residency Project (TRP)

The Residency Project (TRP) provides time and space in support of creative research and artistic experimentation, with an emphasis on creating opportunities for practitioners who are traditionally underrepresented in the arts—women, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ artists, artists with disabilities, and parents—as well as artists who give consideration to the environmental impact of their work and who actively pursue sustainable practices.

Based in a lively urban neighborhood in Pasadena, California, The Residency Project @ 880 provides space to live and work in an intimate, shared-living environment with access to the thriving arts scenes, diverse cultural landscape, and natural resources of Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley.

Winter/Spring 2025
Residency Season

Application Opens:
Summer Solstice
Thursday, June 20, 2024

Deadline:
August 20, 2024

Decisions by:
September 20, 2024

What’s provided:

$300 Stipend ✦ Private Room ✦ Studio Space ✦ Fully Stocked Self-Service Kitchen ✦ Pantry Basics ✦ Welcome & Farewell Dinners ✦ Peer Mentoring ✦ Optional Excursions ✦ Transport to/from Burbank Airport*

* Flight into Burbank is not required, but if flying into LAX or Ontario, ground transportation to The Residency Project is the responsibility of the artist.

What is the length of the residency?

Three weeks. You’ll be asked to indicate your dates of availability at the time of application.

What’s the financial cost/benefit?

Application Fee: $25
Program Fee: None – $0
Deposit: $150 (refunded to the Artist at end of residency)
Stipend: $300 (paid to the Artist at start of residency)

A $150 deposit is required to secure your spot in the program, which is refunded upon passing inspection of your room and the studio space at the completion of the residency.

Who should apply?

Artists at any stage of their career and from any disciplinary background for whom our Residency Philosophy resonates! Individual artists and partnered applicants are welcome to apply. “Partnered applicants” refers to intimate partners, as they will share a bedroom and queen bed. Both partners should maintain an active creative practice, either collaborative or independent from one another.  If your partner does not have an active creative practice, we ask that you apply as an individual applicant. 

We invite applicants of all races, ethnicities, national origins/citizenship (international applicants are welcome), religious affiliations, gender identities, and sexual orientations.

TRP awards these stipended residency spots to only a few outstanding artists each year. Pursuant to our mission, our priorities lie in providing opportunities to traditionally underrepresented artists (artists from marginalized communities, BIPOC/AAPI/Latinx artists, artists with disabilities, immigrants, women, LGBTQ+ artists, and parents), as well as artists who actively pursue environmentally sustainable practices.

Can writers apply?

Yes, we absolutely accept applications from writers! Generally speaking, a strong applicant will be one whose work is interdisciplinary and/or experimental, deviating from traditional formats and modes of output, publication, or distribution. 

When submitting your writing samples, please keep each to a “bite sized” excerpt of just a page or two. We will really just be looking to get a gist of your unique artistic voice and how your conceptual interests are explored through the medium of language and text.

Can I apply with my intimate partner?

We encourage you to apply with your partner if you both maintain a creative practice, either collaboratively or independently from one another. Please keep in mind that you will be sharing accommodations.

If your partner does not maintain a creative practice, we ask that you apply as an individual applicant. During your residency, your partner may visit for a short-term overnight stay at no charge with prior written notice and permission.

What’s the financial cost/benefit?

Application Fee: $25
Program Fee: None – $0
Deposit: $250 (refunded to the Artist at end of residency)
Stipend: $250 (paid to the Artist at start of residency)

In addition to the $250 stipend, TRP provides residents with weekly grocery essentials (an approx. total value of $150-300 depending on length of residency). A $250 deposit is required to secure your spot in the program, which is refunded upon passing inspection of your room and the studio space at the completion of the residency.

TRP offers these fully-subsidized and stipended residency spots to only a few outstanding artists each year. By applying through this open call, you may also be considered for an Artist Sojourn: an abbreviated fee-based residency that requires a modest financial investment. (Read more about our Artist Sojourn here.) If your application is not selected for a subsidized residency, there’s a chance you may be offered the opportunity of an Artist Sojourn. Only a handful of artists are invited to participate in the Artist Sojourn program each year, so it is still considered to be a coveted competitive opportunity.

In March 2020, TRP began offering fully-subsidized residency spots as an integral step in our ongoing effort to align our actions with our values and to specifically support traditionally underrepresented artists including artists from marginalized communities, BIPOC/AAPI/Latinx artists, artists with disabilities, immigrants, women, LGBTQ+ artists, and parents. Our monthly cost to operate the Residency @ 880 is roughly $2,000 per resident. To avoid passing the cost burden on to our residents as much as possible, we do a significant amount of fundraising each year. Therefore, we strongly encourage residents and alumni who are able to “pay it forward,” to please support this important work and to help keep the residency program free of charge to as many artists as possible by contributing a tax-deductible donation through our Support page.

Tell me more about the space @ 880!

The property at 880 in Pasadena, California is a quaint Craftsman home built in 1914 with a backyard garden “urban oasis”, located in a lively residential neighborhood. The house is a 3 bedroom-2 bathroom bungalow, with a spacious upstairs loft studio that is shared among residents. The bungalow sits on a 9,344 sq ft lot—providing plenty of space to work, sketch, write, read or just relax with a morning cup of coffee and observe the active backyard birdlife.

Common areas include a sunlit parlor/reading room and dining nook, a living room, kitchen, laundry facilities, an expansive deck with an outdoor living room and dining area, and a generous yard and garden.

Please note:
There are steps leading from the street up to the main level and a staircase leading up to the studio.
TRP Stewards Matt & Sarah Umles and their dog Kugel share the house with the residents.

What are the accommodations like?

Artist accommodations include a fully furnished bedroom with comfy queen bed. Depending on your residency, you may have a private bathroom or a shared bathroom with other residents.

What is the studio like?

Residents have access to a shared upstairs studio and are free to respectfully use other common areas of the house, including the back porch and garden, for their creative work.

The upstairs loft is a spacious dry studio with ample sunlight during the day. The studio is an unfinished space with insulated ceilings, exposed rafters, and sub flooring. It is a raw space that invites experimentation. Please note that the studio does not have walls for hanging artwork.

There is wifi connectivity throughout the property and electrical outlets throughout the house as well as outdoors.

What meals are provided?

The TRP stewards will warmly welcome you and bid you farewell with hosted meals. Residents have access to a fully equipped self-service kitchen at 880. Artists are responsible for preparing and cleaning up after their own meals. Upon your arrival, the pantry and fridge will be stocked with basic essentials like rice, beans, bread, peanut butter, jelly, coffee, tea, nut milk, spices, olive oil, eggs, oatmeal, and granola. TRP also collects and provides weekly grocery requests. All other provisions and meals are the responsibility of the artist.

What are the optional excursions like?

Excursions provide residents with an insider experience of life in Pasadena. It may be a peaceful hike through the woods to a waterfall, a trip to an artist’s enclave hidden in the hills, a folk concert in a speakeasy music venue, a visit to a secret garden… Whatever we get up to, it’ll be fun!

What about equipment and resources?

Equipment

• color ink jet printer/scanner/copier
• projectors & screen
• TV monitors
• bluetooth speakers
• hand tools
• easel
• dropcloths
• ladders
• sewing machine

If there is equipment you need that we do not have, we may be able to partner with local organizations or borrow from one of our many local resources.

Library & Art Collection

The Residency Project offers a small-but-growing collection of art history and contemporary theory books. This reference library is made readily available to our artists-in-residence. We also have a small-but-growing art collection. This collection is made available as a resource to our artists-in-residence and to members of the general public through rotating exhibitions at the residency space. Residents are welcome but not obligated to donate a work to the collection.

Website link: TRP @ 880 — The Residency Project