Special Residency Programs for Arquetopia Alumni


These long-term programs are offered by special invitation only,
to outstanding Arquetopia residency alumni.

1. ARQUETOPIA HONORS ALUMNI RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Unburdening the Practice: Art, Ethics and Radical Kindness
 
Honors Alumni Residency Program 2024 2026 Arquetopia


The Arquetopia Honors Alumni Residency Program is a special academic program for the most outstanding Arquetopia Artist-in-Residence alumni. Designed as an invitation-only, long-term residency, it offers an 18-month program combining an on-site residency with a flexible duration of 4 to 6 weeks, an instructional option focusing on a specific artistic technique, and up to a 17-month long-distance advisory process.

The program is aimed to expand the notion of art by placing an emphasis on the artistic practice, rather than the discourse of art. The goal is to apply new critical methodologies in the process of conceptualizing the work, expanding the visual vocabulary through artistic techniques and materialities. The program will emphasize the artistic voice through intuition in the process of research, learning and art making, also tackling larger questions of the artist’s own unique journey. By offering both individual and collective support in the process of conceptualizing and formalizing art practices, this program considers the potential ethical questions arising from process at the intersection of technique, form, concept and context, alongside a research component to help consolidate ideas.

During the long-distance advisory process mentored by Arquetopia co-founding director and independent scholar Francisco Guevara, and Arquetopia’s educational staff, each artist will set individual artistic goals and projects. The process includes an on-site self-directed or instructional residency at Arquetopia Puebla, Arquetopia Oaxaca or Arquetopia Peru, where each artist will fully dedicate a minimum of 4 weeks to consolidate their ideas and projects. With the goal of building and expanding the transnational community, as part of the online sessions, every other session will be held as a virtual group/collective session with all of the honors alumni to exchange ideas, expand on questions, and share the development of each individual project. The program includes a research component, access to Arquetopia’s online classroom platform, critical readings, advisory sessions, and general professional guidance for the entire duration of the program.

Candidates are nominated based on exceptional aspects of their artistic practice, reflecting a high level of commitment to social change and specifically to Arquetopia’s mission, taking into consideration their level of engagement during their previous residency, goals achieved, and unexpected outstanding outcomes of their previous residency. This program is offered biennially and by invitation only, taking into consideration alumni from the immediate past five years of residencies. The online program will begin in March of 2024 and artists will be able to complete the on-site component within the following year (between April 2025 and March 2026). The program will be completed within a period of 18 months total plus the 4-week on-site residency at Arquetopia Puebla, Arquetopia Oaxaca, or Arquetopia Peru.

PROGRAM GOALS
The Arquetopia Honors Alumni Residency Program 2024-2026 is a special academic program for the most outstanding Arquetopia Artist-in-Residence alumni. Designed as invitation-only, it offers an 18-month program combining an in-person, on-site residency with a flexible duration of 4 weeks, and a 18-month long-distance advisory process. The goal of the program is to consider radical agency in the practice of art while tackling the burden of history and place as art and ethics intersect.

During the long-distance advisory process mentored by Arquetopia founding Co-Director and curator Francisco Guevara, and Arquetopia’s educational staff, each artist will set individual artistic and project goals. The process includes an on-site residency at Arquetopia Puebla, Arquetopia Oaxaca or Arquetopia Peru, where each artist will fully dedicate a minimum of 4 weeks to consolidate their ideas and project(s). The program includes a research component, access to Arquetopia’s online classroom platform, critical readings, advisory sessions, and general professional guidance for the entire duration of the program.

SELECTION REQUIREMENTS & DURATION
Candidates are nominated based on exceptional aspects of their artistic practice, reflecting a high level of commitment to social change and specifically to Arquetopia’s mission, taking into consideration their level of engagement during their residency, goals achieved, and unexpected outstanding outcomes of their previous residency. Selected artists will begin the program in the spring of 2024 and will complete their on-site residency component within 2025. This program is offered at Arquetopia Puebla, Arquetopia Oaxaca or Arquetopia Peru.

REQUIRED TEXT
There will be no required text; however, in order to expand on the practice and better understand the topics that pertain to the focus of this program, a series of methodological, historiographical and philosophical texts will be provided. The books and essays will be made available to the artists electronically via Google Classroom.

TIMETABLE
Sessions will be scheduled monthly and bibliography will be assigned individually for each individual session. Program content will be covered in a total of 13 sessions, plus the in-person on-site residency. All sessions will be scheduled a month in advance.

WHAT THE ARQUETOPIA HONORS ALUMNI RESIDENCY PROGRAM 2024-2026 IN-PERSON, ON-SITE RESIDENCY INCLUDES
• Each resident artist meets weekly with our directorial and curatorial staff for personalized mentoring, research assistance/resources, project guidance, and critique
• Introductory sessions
• Monthly critical readings and online meetings for the long-distance phase of the program: Regular, individualized meetings with our directorial and curatorial staff for personalized mentoring, research assistance/resources, project guidance, and critique for a duration of 6 months
• Access to Arquetopia’s online resources (classroom platform, video calls, email address, etc.)
• An individualized curriculum organized in periodical chapters combining diverse critical readings
• An on-site production residency at Arquetopia Puebla, Arquetopia Oaxaca or Arquetopia Peru, with a standard duration of 4 weeks, up to a maximum of 6 weeks. Residents could also choose to add an instructional residency in addition to the program.


Accommodation and Studio Workspace (Puebla, Mexico):
Detailed on this page of our website: https://www.arquetopia.org/puebla


Accommodation and Studio Workspace (Oaxaca, Mexico):
Detailed on this page of our website: https://www.arquetopia.org/oaxaca


Accommodation and Studio Workspace (Cusco, Peru):
Detailed on this page of our website: https://www.arquetopia.org/peru


2. ARQUETOPIA LAB ALUMNI RESIDENCY PROGRAM 2023-2024
Women, Cyborgs, and the Roots of the Rebel Body
 
Women Cyborg Rebel Body Arquetopia Alumni Program


Arquetopia Lab Alumni Residency Program 2023-2024: Women, Cyborgs, and the Roots of the Rebel Body
6-Month Advanced Program
3-Week In-Person Instructional Residency, and 6-Month Long-Distance Advisory Process
Instructor: Francisco Guevara
Online component August 2023 through January 2024
On-site Instructional Residency spring or fall 2024

PROGRAM GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Arquetopia Lab Alumni Residency Program is designed as a 6-month critical hands-on experimentation laboratory that includes a long-distance advisory process, and an instructional on-site component either in Puebla, Mexico or Cusco, Peru, focusing on a specific chosen technique (Electroetching Printmaking, Organic Painting, Natural Pigments, Gold Leafing or Andean Weaving). As an overall theme, the program will concentrate on the roots of the rebel body, as it intersects with questions of time/space and the production of non-dominant local knowledge.

PROGRAM CONTENT
The beginning of the 21st century has presented new questions as we continuously face the challenge of embodiment. From the perspective of social change and justice in this world, the falling of monuments, the #MeToo movement, and Black Lives Matter, have set the stage to rethink this new century, taking into account the long history of colonialism, imperial expansion, nationalism and globalization. However, is social justice achievable when considering what John Stuart Mill pointed out more than a century ago: everything which is usual appears natural, and any departure from it quite naturally appears unnatural.

“Body”, even in the 21st century, has continued to be an artistic and academic fetish, failing to convey the complexity of our individual experiences, our interconnection with diverse communities, and our shared histories of extermination. Images, and especially art, have the power to fix the body in place and in history. However, we are much more than a body, and prior to language there is no choosing, nor a constitutive agent; therefore, body is an illusory idea of who we should be. In fact, body is a cultural interpretation, a historical situation, rather than a natural species. It is a manner of doing, dramatizing, performing in public, and an active process of embodying certain cultural historical possibilities. However, the active process of moving (embodiment) makes us powerful and capable of provoking change; or as RuPaul says, “We are all born naked, and the rest is drag.”

For 2023-2024, the Arquetopia Lab Alumni Residency Program will explore the roots of the rebel body, as it intertwines with historical ideas, invention of place and history, while intersecting with local knowledge as means of resistance. The program will emphasize the difference between artistic intention and artistic agency, by offering individual support in the process of conceptualizing and formalizing art and design practices. This program considers diverse potential ethical questions arising from process and artistic technique, alongside a research component to help consolidate ideas. It is designed as an experimental laboratory offering the possibility of hands-on research and experimentation through a 6-month critical long-distance advisory process, and an instructional on-site component focusing on a specific artistic technique. The Arquetopia Lab Alumni Residency Program is only offered either in Puebla, Mexico or Cusco, Peru, and applicants will choose one of the following instructional programs:

Arquetopia Puebla:
Electroetching Instructional Residency (3 weeks)
Organic Painting Instructional Residency (3 weeks)
Gold Leafing & Estofado Instructional Residency (3 weeks)
Printmaking (3 weeks)

Arquetopia Peru:
Natural Pigments Instructional Residency: Fiber Dyeing (3 weeks)
Peruvian Textiles Instructional Residency: Andean Weaving (3 weeks)
Gold Leafing & Estofado Instructional Residency (3 weeks)

PROGRAM GOALS
The Arquetopia Lab Alumni Residency Program 2023-2024 is a special academic program for the most outstanding Arquetopia Artist-in-Residence alumni. Designed as invitation-only, it offers a 6-month program combining an in-person, on-site instructional residency with a flexible duration of 3 to 4 weeks, and a 6-month long-distance advisory process. The goal of the program is to consider the legacy of visual culture and explore the diverse ethical challenges arising from diverse art practices, while considering non-dominant knowledge in the process of resistance, movement and embodiment.

During the long-distance advisory process mentored by Arquetopia founding Co-Director and curator Francisco Guevara, and Programs Director Nayeli Hernández, each artist and designer will set individual artistic and project goals. The process includes an on-site instructional residency at Arquetopia Puebla, or Arquetopia Peru, where each artist/designer will fully dedicate a minimum of 3 weeks, up to 4 weeks, to consolidate their ideas and project(s). The program includes a research component, access to Arquetopia’s online classroom platform, critical readings, advisory sessions, and general professional guidance for the entire duration of the program.

SELECTION REQUIREMENTS & DURATION
Candidates are nominated based on exceptional aspects of their artistic practice, reflecting a high level of commitment to social change and specifically to Arquetopia’s mission, taking into consideration their level of engagement during their residency, goals achieved, and unexpected outstanding outcomes of their previous residency. This program is offered by invitation only, taking into consideration alumni from the immediate past five years of residencies. Selected artist will begin the program in the fall of 2023 and will complete their on-site residency component within 2024. This program is offered only at Arquetopia Puebla or Arquetopia Peru.

REQUIRED TEXT
There will be no required text; however, in order to expand on the practice and better understand the topics that pertain to the focus of this program, a series of methodological, historiographical and philosophical texts will be provided. The books and essays will be made available to the artists electronically via Google Classroom.

TIMETABLE
Sessions will be scheduled monthly and bibliography will be assigned individually for each individual session. Program content will be covered in a total of 6 sessions, plus the in-person on-site residency. All sessions will be scheduled a month in advance.

WHAT THE ARQUETOPIA LAB ALUMNI RESIDENCY PROGRAM 2023-2024 IN-PERSON, INSTRUCTIONAL ON-SITE RESIDENCY INCLUDES
• Each resident artist meets weekly with our directorial and curatorial staff for personalized mentoring, research assistance/resources, project guidance, and critique;
• 27 hours master instruction (9 hours per week)
• Introductory sessions
• Monthly critical readings and online meetings for the long-distance phase of the program: Regular, individualized meetings with our directorial and curatorial staff for personalized mentoring, research assistance/resources, project guidance, and critique for a duration of 6 months.
• Access to Arquetopia’s online resources (classroom platform, video calls, email address, etc.)
• An individualized curriculum organized in periodical chapters combining diverse critical readings
• An on-site instructional production residency at Arquetopia Puebla or Arquetopia Peru, with a standard duration of 3 weeks, up to a maximum of 4 weeks, choosing one of the instructional programs listed above

Accommodation and Studio Workspace (Puebla, Mexico):
Detailed on this page of our website: https://www.arquetopia.org/puebla


Accommodation and Studio Workspace (Cusco, Peru):
Detailed on this page of our website: https://www.arquetopia.org/peru


3. ARQUETOPIA INTERNATIONAL MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
In Memoriam Dolores Olmedo Patiño

Arquetopia International Mentorship Program in Memoriam Dolores Olmedo

As Arquetopia has become a prominent international foundation, we face new challenges, our role in the development of the arts and the residency field keeps growing, and our mission continues to expand. Through our multiple residency programs, Arquetopia has had the privilege of hosting, guiding, and advising more than 600 artists, designers, writers, art historians, and other professionals in the arts, from 90 countries around the world. With a wide range of backgrounds, methodologies, scopes, critical perspectives, and an extended network, we are proud to have created an international community invested in social change, that continues to expand the dialogue on ethics in the arts into diverse communities around the globe.

Three-time Artist-in-Residence, Residency Scholarship Award Recipient, and International Mentorship Program participant Samar Hejazi (Palestine/Canada)

Samar Hejazi Arquetopia Mentorship Program

Arquetopia honors the memory of one of the most important patrons and collectors of Mexican art, Dolores Olmedo Patiño, who with great vision, generous vocation, and determined participation, played a crucial role in the development of the arts, influencing the political and cultural life of Mexico. Known for establishing a very important museum and donating her vast art collections to the people of Mexico, Dolores Olmedo especially challenged notions of taste and power by questioning national narratives, expanding women’s civic engagement in the public sphere, and creating an important legacy. Following Dolores Olmedo’s example, Arquetopia Foundation is prepared to nurture a new generation of artists committed to social change and to offer them long-term guidance and support.
 

Two-time Artist-in-Residence, Residency Scholarship Award Recipient, and International Mentorship Program participant Caroline Ongpin (Philippines/USA)
Caroline Ongpin Jenny Seastone Arquetopia Mentorship Program
Two-time Artist-in-Residence, Residency Scholarship Award Recipient, and International Mentorship Program participant Jennifer Seastone (USA)

Lance Smith Arquetopia Mentorship ProgramTwo-time Artist-in-Residence, Residency Scholarship Award Recipient, and International Mentorship Program participant Lance Smith (USA)

 
The Arquetopia International Mentorship Program is a special artist residency and advanced educational platform aimed to expand the Foundation’s mission by fostering Arquetopia’s best Artists-in-Residence through a long-term model and international support system. This program is offered by invitation only to a limited number of carefully selected Arquetopia alumni, our most outstanding past residents engaged in more responsible forms of art production and invested in confronting the legacy and discipline of art, who will expand their art practice through innovative methodologies. The Arquetopia International Mentorship Program offers a sustainable model for art practitioners through a comprehensive platform for career development, including mentoring and professional expertise, international residencies, exhibitions, and other professional opportunities. The model is structured in a 12- to 18-month period in which artists will set long-term career goals, create a business plan, and develop an art project with a critical methodology. Beginning with an assessment process and an on-site residency at Arquetopia Foundation, artists will develop a critical research to expand their art production. Followed by a long-distance mentoring and guidance system, they will develop a business plan and marketing strategy setting concrete career goals and continue with the second phase of their artistic project. Production of the art work will continue on a second residency through Arquetopia’s international extended residency network and successfully culminate in an international exhibition.

Artist-in-Residence, Residency Scholarship Award Recipient, and International Mentorship Program participant Louise Fago-Ruskin (United Kingdom)
Louise Fago Ruskin Miguel Keerveld Arquetopia Mentorship Program
Two-time Artist-in-Residence, Residency Scholarship Award Recipient, and International Mentorship Program participant Miguel Keerveld (Suriname)

Priscilla Dobler Arquetopia Mentorship ProgramTwo-time Artist-in-Residence, Residency Scholarship Award Recipient, and International Mentorship Program participant Priscilla Dobler (Mexico/USA)


Meet Our Artists 1

FollowUs1