Calling the Curious and Creative
Welcome! This is the place to
get more information on applying to the Swale House Residency,
pitch your soil project to potential collaborators,
propose a panel, project or artwork for our soil symposium,
find out how you can volunteer or
simply get on the mailing list to learn about public programs and our annual symposium.
Please make sure to choose a subject line in the drop down menu below!
We welcome your new questions, your lingering questions, your emerging or your established art / science practice. From Philly to Chicago, Conakry to Tokyo, our residents claim space on the long arc of producing the globally relevant and resonant knowledge we need to maintain life in the 21st century and beyond.
Our Residency requests are evaluated on an ongoing basis, with a preference to finalize the schedule by early April for that summer’s season, but we are happy to add folks even after the season starts, if space allows.
Our residencies run in tandem with the the Governor’s Island season, which is May 1 to October 31. All curious and creatives, artists and scientists, interested in having a residency with the NYC Urban Soils Institute may apply for a one week, two week or month in-person residency during the season. Since COVID, we have added a Virtual Residency component. Just ask.
A small amount of public engagement related to your residency project is part of both Swale House and Governor’s Island’s request of participating artists. This is how we monitor the house and its contents, as there is no staff, just residents. Public programming may happen inside or outside of the house. USI’s residency comprises one residency within the larger Swale House, which hosts its own additional residencies. We have a lovely front porch, yard space, and a little bit of inside space… and since Covid, we’ve added hybrid and virtual residency offerings… with connections, conversations and access to world class soil scientists. Pitch your project ideas, let’s see how we can help.
Our application process is intentionally uncomplicated. As scientist, historian and writer Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga says well and often — science is removed from its social context, yet science is a social activity. We operate under culturally narrow rituals of knowledge production and USI’s Art Extension Service is a place for those who disrupt these conventional rituals. The work to hold, understand, and communicate the complexity and beauty of our soils, and of all those who live in and on earth’s soils, is hard; finding the space to listen, watch and think deeply about them shouldn’t be.
Onward!