Tallgrass Artist Residency (Due Oct. 31)
Tallgrass Artist Residency
Deadline: October 31st, 2025
The Tallgrass Artist Residency is a unique program that offers individual artists/artist teams time and space to retreat and research in a rural, tallgrass prairie setting. Though the experience is rural, it is not meant to be isolating. Artists are provided lodging at Matfield Station in the small community of Matfield Green, Kansas — 20 miles from Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve and home to a number of artists and community builders.
Commitments
Residencies are offered in two-week (10 night) periods between April and September. Residency periods must occur in consecutive ten night blocks.
Residents are expected to give a public program during this two-week period, and will be asked to contribute documentation of their experience through daily Instagram posts and a post-residency summary of their experience for the website (read Written Reflections on artists’ pages).
Residents are also expected to share post-residency work at a time and venue to be determined in coordination with residency staff.
Residents are required to make their own arrangements for transportation to and from the residency. Due to our rural setting, it’s essential for visitors to have their own reliable method of transportation.
Residents are responsible for their own food, but cooking and eating utensils are available in all rooms.
Awards
Artists will be provided 10 nights of lodging at Matfield Station during the residency period.
Artists will be connected with staff at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve and may be granted special access, upon request.
Each artist will receive a $650 stipend from the Kansas Arts Commission for travel and material reimbursement to be awarded after residencies are completed.
Ecoregion exchange artists traveling from 700+ miles away will receive an extra stipend for travel.
Who Can Apply
This residency seeks to create connection and conversation across the Great Plains by cultivating opportunities for artists/artist teams who currently live in a place that is ecologically considered prairie (← click the link to see a general map of this area). However, we also have one dedicated residency period for an artist/artist team outside of the prairie ecoregion, treated as an “ecoregion exchange”.
Ideal applicants will have a strong body of work with a unique voice or perspective, a self-driven dedication to learning about place, and an interest in participating in a contemporary dialogue. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and career levels, media and practice. We’re not currently accepting applications from previous artists-in-residence in the program. We do not currently accept applications from international residents.