Residency Format

Past Format

For the first seven years The Croft residency’s format was to support as many artists as our budget would allow during the summer months. After a couple of years of extending personal invitations to artists near and far, our third season allowed for the majority of The Croft’s residents to find us through our Rootstock and RADicle open calls. The few Rootstock artists that we did not find through our open call and juried selection process were curated choices made by the artistic director. During our fourth season of operations we initiated our Axial residencies in collaboration with the University of Michigan and eventually Alma and Smith Colleges. Due to the nature of this specific branch of the residency, the residents were chosen by their respective academic institution.

Current Format

Starting in 2024 we shifted our residency format to an every-other-year, in-person format. This new model allows us to support residents at The Croft one summer (even years). The following summer (odd years) we will continue our relationship with the artists by supporting them with a stipend, however, they will not travel to The Croft (see below for explanation as to our why). Artists will still apply for residencies through our open calls. Instead of open calls happening every year, they will now be on odd numbered years in preparation for the following (even year) summer of in-person residencies. We are in conversation with our partnering academic institutions as to how we will shift the Axial residencies.

Reason for Format Shift

We made the choice to alternate years as a way to acknowledge the fossil fuels that are consumed by artist travel to and from The Croft. As The Croft residency was designed to invite people into listening to, and with, the land, we feel this decision is integral to staying in alignment with our mission, vision and values. By no means a solution to the climate chaos unfolding all around us, and yet it is a gesture towards acknowledging our willingness to listen and our awareness of our interdependent and interconnected nature with the Earth and all of her other-than-human kin. During the seasons when artists are not traveling to The Croft (odd years), we will invest the money that would have gone towards artist’s travel reimbursement towards making The Croft land more regenerative, and, thus, grow our capacity to be in relation with our organizational impact on the environment. We will do this through various land-based and sustainability infrastructure projects. We will also do this through embodied support of other local non-profits who are tending to our local ecosystem and other-than-human community with care.