Financing your residency with international institutions or self-management by the artists with letters of acceptance

Sally Mizrachi is the co-founder and director of the art residency Lugar a Dudas that operates since 2005 in Cali, Colombia. She explains how to finance her residency.

As Lugar a Dudas is an autonomous project, the residency does not receive financial support from the government, and the founders had to come up with new ideas to support their activities. “The residency program is often supported by collaborations with other institutions at the international level, where we have created a relationship that often lasts for a certain period of time,” explains Sally Mizrachi.

For instance, with cultural organizations and international networks that support artists, a residency in Lugar a Dudas is offered as a prize, and the costs are supported by the organizations and networks. Over the years, Lugar a Dudas worked that way, receiving artists from all over the world thanks to these awards. Among the partner organizations, we can cite the Sala Mendoza in Caracas that regularly sends Venezuelan artists, or Gaswork in England that sends British artists to Lugar a Dudas since its creation. “Many times, these exchanges are not two-way exchanges in which we can send artists, but it is much easier for artists to come and do a residency, because it is more difficult to get resources in Colombia,” confides the director.

A second way of supporting the residency is by having an ongoing open call to receive artists wishing to come independently. “The artists send a very brief portfolio with their work and a letter of intent. And we are very flexible in the way we select, because what we want is for the artist to have the opportunity to work in a new context and also to contribute to our context,” indicates Sally Mizrachi.

When the artists are accepted, they receive an invitation or acceptation letter that includes the price of the residency. Then, they can use this document to find the necessary funds for their stay. “So the residency program is mostly sustainable based on these associations and the artists who get their own resources,” concludes the co-founder of Lugar a Dudas.