Applications are closed now.
“It is not my business to tell you what it’s about. My business is to get excited about it, to bring it to your attention. I am a raving maniac of the cinema.” – Jonas Mekas
Jonas Mekas spent a lifetime making film, media, and art accessible to everyone through his relentless pursuit to document the everyday and raise the profile of makers not in the mainstream. It is in this spirit that the Monira Foundation and the Jonas Mekas Studio open a Residency Fellowship that welcomes media curators, artists and practitioners, or theorists whose practices operate at the intersection of art and media to apply for a 6 month supported Residency and Fellowship in Jersey City. Interested applicants may propose a 6 month project that utilizes the Jonas Mekas Studio as a resource to produce a new work, research presentation or curated exhibition or screening.
The two residency slots will be:
For the Residency, selected persons will have 24/7 access to reserved studio space and selected equipment for production or research for 6 months. Residents will also be given opportunities to engage with other Monira Residents, access the Mekas archives for their own research and materials, and to schedule studio visits and reviews with outside curators. At the end of 6 months final works will be presented at the Monira Foundation for the public (as fitting to the project) Artists, curators and theorists working in and across video, sound, performance cinema, and installation are invited to apply.
During the 6 months selected persons will commit to 6 hours of weekly work with Sebastian Mekas and the Jonas Mekas Studio for a $750 monthly stipend. This work will include supporting archiving activities or being present open for public hours to welcome other researchers or viewers.
You may apply for this program in one of two categories:
Artist: The residency program lends itself to the creation of a wide variety of work including film, video, photography, sound or audio works, or experimental media works.
Researcher: Artists, scholars, curators, archivists, writers, poets, and theorists are invited to propose new or in-progress research in the area of emergent media arts practices towards the publication of critical texts, scholarly research, or production of curatorial projects.
Applicants pick a direction their work most identifies with for this application to help frame their proposal.
Review Process:
Our panels will be composed of one person from the Monira Foundation, one from the Jonas Mekas Studio, and 3 outside community members which include curators and media arts leaders. Full panel will be announced after the review process in an effort to maintain equity for applicants. The process will be overseen by Residency Director, Anne Muntges. Each panelist rates applications on a 1-5 scale (1 being very weak and 5 being very strong) to the degree a given application meets each of the following criteria:
- Artistic Merit covers the technical, artistic, and intellectual merits of the proposed project. This is assessed through both the project proposal and the submitted work samples.
- Feasibility considers whether the proposed work can be accomplished within the time and resources offered by the residency with the available resource.
- Potential covers the possible life the work of art will have upon completion, through exhibitions, publications, presentations, festivals, and/or the applicants own goals for their work. This is assessed through both the project proposal and the submitted work samples.
Panelists spend a maximum of 15 minutes with each project proposal, which includes viewing work samples. Reviews will be completed on Slideroom. Panelists then convene to discuss the top 15-20 rated applicants from the shortlist and deliberate on the final recommendation of 5-7 applicants for the residency. Monira Foundation and Jonas Mekas Studio staff will invite recommended applicants for interviews and make final selections based on the interview and overall application.
Application and Selection Process:
Applications will open June 12, 2023. In each application we ask you to provide a short cv, provide a project descriptions addressing a 6 month project, and to submit 5 images,videos writing samples, or publications of your work as it relates to your proposed project. No pdf files with multiple images please. they will not be reviewed. One work sample per upload. You may share video links. Each link will be viewed as part of the 5 and not additional to. Please note in the description which sections to view and remove and password restrictions. Videos, images, and statements cannot have artist names or identification on them as we work hard to keep our applications blind. Please use the description area to address title, media, year, and relevant information including collaborators and their roles in the submitted work. Our aim is to keep this application equitable and heavily focused on the work submitted. Reviewers will not see applicant names during the process and only have access to the artist statement, the program statement and the portfolio. They will not spend more that 10-15 min with each application so plan accordingly.
Each application will also ask for general information and a recent resume for internal use only. Please make sure your Slideroom account is up to date when submitting as we rely on their system to communicate during this process.
The Monira Foundation will convene a panel of arts professionals from New Jersey and New York to select the 2 fellows for the this program. This panel will only be announced after the each cycle (about 10 weeks after the open call ends). We will likely send notifications in late September or early October. For application questions please contact Anne Muntges at anne@monirafoundation.org
The Monira Foundation is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and fostering mutual respect for the diverse beliefs and values of all individuals and groups regardless of age, sex, race or ability. The Monira Foundation will not discriminate among any of these grounds and encourages all established artists who would benefit from this program to apply.
Applications are closed now.
There is a modest $5 fee for each application. 5 dollars goes to Slideroom and the remaining $10 goes directly into supporting this program.
