Organizer Information
Surel's Place is a nonprofit artist-in-residence program located in Garden City, Idaho, operating out of a home and studio built in 1988 by local artist Surel Lee Mitchell. Following Mitchell's death in October 2011, her daughter Rebecca Mitchell Kelada and close friend Matilda "Tilley" Rose Bubb, then Boise City's Cultural Planner, founded Surel's Place in January 2012 to continue her legacy of supporting artists. It is Idaho's only live-in artist-in-residency program and now anchors the Surel Mitchell Live/Work/Create District, a neighborhood named in her honor, located near the Boise Greenbelt and the Boise River. The program draws artists-in-residence from across the country and internationally, and also hosts free or low-cost public events, including workshops, readings, performances, and exhibitions.
Title & Description
Surel's Place Artist Residency Program
Surel's Place offers professional visual, literary, and performance artists — including painters, writers, musicians, architects, filmmakers, and choreographers — dedicated time, shelter, and professional support to focus on their work. In exchange, residents are asked to give back to the Garden City community through a public workshop and a final public event, such as a show, lecture, or reading. Each cycle, one of the program's five residencies also includes an outreach component to local schools through the Surel's Place PARTNER Schools Program. The program does not accommodate loud or messy artistic processes (such as welding or blacksmithing) due to the property's residential setting, and work that is predominantly conceptual — requiring explanation to attract a viewer — tends to be less favorably received by the jury.
Categories
- Residency
- Visual Arts
- Writing
- Sound/Music
- Architecture
- Filmmaking
- Dance
- Playwright
- Screenwriting
- Poetry
Eligibility
- Open to professional visual, literary, and performance artists (painters, writers, musicians, architects, filmmakers, choreographers, and other disciplines)
- Applicants must be 25 years of age or older
- Applicants must be non-smokers; the non-smoking policy is non-negotiable, and any evidence of smoking on the property is grounds for early termination of the residency
- Applicants must be willing to interact with the public through at least one workshop and one final public event
- The program is not able to accommodate artistic processes that are loud or produce significant mess, such as welding or blacksmithing
- For the next application cycle, Surel's Place will not be reviewing applications from playwrights or screenwriters; these will next be considered after the March 1, 2027 deadline, for residencies taking place between July and December 2027
Program Benefits & Awards
- One-month residency (longer stays may be possible if justified within the application)
- Free rent, utilities, and Wi-Fi
- Modest living stipend of $100 per week
- $300 travel stipend
- Use of well-maintained bicycles for local transportation
- Free or discounted tickets to local art events and movies
- Marketing support via the Surel's Place website, social media, targeted emails, and online public calendars
- Event hosting support, including logistics and installation assistance
- A dedicated community host who helps orient residents, introduces them to other local artists, and shares information about nearby events and opportunities
- Partners are welcome to join residents (no more than two adults total may live at Surel's Place during a residency; a utility surcharge may apply); children and pets cannot be accommodated, and partners seeking their own concurrent residency must apply and be accepted separately
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Applications and all supporting materials are submitted electronically to info@surelsplace.org, beginning with the Online Artist in Residence Application.
Key Dates
Surel's Place holds two annual deadlines:
- September 1: for residencies during January–May of the following year, beginning four months after the deadline
- March 1: for residencies during July–November of the same year, beginning four months after the deadline (this is also the relevant deadline for playwrights/screenwriters applying for July–December 2027 residencies)
Location
Garden City, Idaho, United States
Additional Details
- Applications are reviewed by juries of accomplished artists, writers, and fine arts professionals; all applicants are notified of decisions by email
- Residents must focus solely on their stated residency goal, with no other employment or work occurring simultaneously during the residency
- Visual artists must donate one piece of art to Surel's Place for future fundraising efforts
- Writers must allow Surel's Place to publish a free-standing excerpt of their residency work in books, broadsides, posters, or similar materials
- Surel's Place takes a commission on sales connected to the residency: 35% of retail price generally (45% for offsite ticketed events requiring contracted services, calculated after administrative expenses); a reduced 15% commission applies to sales of books, CDs, merchandise, or other work tangential to the artist's primary medium