Young Space, no.67
Don't forget to the look at the stars.
“Painting becomes interesting when it becomes timeless.” —Peter Doig
In response to my newsletter last week, the wonderful Jodi Hays mentioned one time when a fellow artist said something along the lines of, "If you have thought about quitting, then you are not an artist.” Bah!
It made me think about other weird or terrible advice that we hear in classrooms, workshops, or peer critiques. I was reminded of an English class I took in high school, in which the teacher—who incidentally I thought was a real badass so I listened to her quite carefully—one day emphasized the point that if one has a talent and they choose not to use it, then “screw you.” She was speaking to the class, but for some reason I remembered it as if she had been speaking directly to me.
I was a senior and thinking about going to art school. I could draw pretty well and my art teachers were encouraging me to put together a portfolio and apply to a few programs. But I wasn’t sure. I liked the idea of art school, but I didn’t feel like my interest in drawing or painting was enough to compel me down that route. In hindsight it was a gut feeling, but at 17 years old, it just felt confusing.
I took to heart that I owed it to—I’m not sure, my teacher? the world?—to use my supposed talent just because I had a little bit of it. But I didn’t really feel that it was a career I wanted (or knew how) to pursue in a way that felt right for me. So I just ended up feeling lame and guilty about it throughout college, sheepish about it as if I’d “given up” when I decided to focus on art history and research instead. I still sometimes think about it. Like, should I have tried harder?
Moments like this remind me how we don’t often see or comprehend others’ vulnerabilities, challenges, or periods of questioning, and even off-hand comments can have astonishingly long-lasting effects. And sometimes it’s really helpful to remember that really sideways advice is actually the sort of thing the advisor should probably be turning on themselves. For example, did my English teacher feel resentful about missing an opportunity where she could have applied her talents earlier in her life? Perhaps.
Thinking about this for the past few days has just reminded me to be cautious and mindful about not only giving pointers here and there but thinking carefully about the difference between solid advice and things I personally wish could be different. Little quips can sometimes lodge the longest.
See you next week.
—Kate
P.S. I also love Mark Manson’s—author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck—“How to Give Advice to Others.”
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What you’ll find below:
Featured artist: Luján Pérez
Four exhibitions to see in Budapest, London, and New York City
Fifteen opportunities for artists with deadlines coming up soon
Featured Artist: Luján Pérez
Nearly totally monochrome reliefs emerge from assembled elements in the work of Luján Pérez, whose work explores the cycles of life, the relationship between earth and spirit, and universal questions of love and belonging.
Pérez employs a range of materials including oil paint, crayons, handmade inks, bark, sawdust, botanicals, plywood, and more. In her recent pieces, she incorporates vessel motifs, which are filled with images of animals or figures embracing, drawing on art historical themes. Flowers, grasses, and other botanicals emerge from vases or encircle the compositions, serving as symbolic connectors and, sometimes, references to landscape.
The artist’s solo exhibition, Grief Carries Infinite Colors, opens at Galerie LJ in Paris in mid-March. Find more on her Instagram.
Exhibitions
LONDON | JOSH LILLEY
Ryan Mosley: Heavy is the Mountain
I’ve long been a fan of Mosley’s dreamlike compositions, his narrative style and stunning palette often referencing art history, myth, fable, and landscapes. “This suite of vibrant, expansive paintings augments the artist’s ornate cast of long running characters with compelling new additions.”
Runs through February 22
BUDAPEST | MIRA DALMA MAKAI
Mira Dalma Makai: Don’t Forget to Look at the Stars
Maria Makai’s ceramic reliefs celebrate the possibilities of figurative abstraction, as puzzle-like pieces fit together in surreal, vibrant, playfully grotesque compositions.
Runs through February 28
NEW YORK CITY | MAGENTA PLAINS
Jon Kessler: Petrified
Jon Kessler’s sculptures draw on multiple influences, including Alexander Calder’s “stabiles” and the Japanese tradition of ikebana flower arrangements. Three large-scale, freestanding works are composed of repurposed bronze spills and other scavenged materials like German porcelain figures and pieces of glazed clay.
Runs through March 1
LOS ANGELES | ANAT EBGI
Faith Wilding: Inside, Outside, Alive in the Shell
To be overwhelmed again and again by the duality of life. To find pain bandaging my flesh and no comfort. To realize that the only action possible is to “keep the divine vision in time of trouble.” To find a way to teach this to my body. To be neither cynical, resigned, falsely optimistic, nor lethargic. To find the well-springs of ecstasy to carry me through. To be bound faithfully to my passion and to preserve this passion and carry it every day. Not to give in and not to give up. To resist without becoming bitter. To keep leaning into the keen wind. To discard husk after husk till nothing remains but the monumental core, white as bone. To continue stretching the spirit outward from the core of the body. To gather the mantle of flesh around me, to gird my loins and stand undefeated.
—Faith Wilding, 1977
Runs through March 1
Artist Opportunities
Young Space emphasizes fully-funded opportunities with low or no entry fees and programs that focus on creative and professional development for visual artists and curators. Deadlines are coming up soon to apply for these grants, fellowships, residencies, and more.
Paid subscribers, check out the whole list anytime at yngspc.com/opportunities and enter the password you received in your signup email. Can’t find it? Just shoot me a note. Thank your for your support!
Catalyze Grant for Central Arkansas Artists
Deadline: February 18
Combining money, mentoring, and management, the Catalyze program ignites change in the careers of individual artists in central Arkansas and the Arkansas Delta. Catalyze fellowships of $10,000 are awarded annually to 25 artists, who may choose how best to use the funding in support of their creative practices.
Submission fee: none
Bethany Arts Community Emerging Artist Fellowship 2025
Deadline: February 19
This fellowship is designed to offer a creative home to emerging artists as they transition and deepen their professional careers and artistic practice. With provided support from BAC, Emerging Artist Fellows will be able to devote uninhibited energy towards creativity. The Emerging Artist Fellowship cohorts run for about sixteen weeks each, May 22 to September 11, 2025, and July 24 to November 13, 2025. Artists are provided room and board, a private studio, and a $250 stipend per week.
Submission fee: none
Contemporary Craft National Artists-in-Residence
Deadline: February 20
Contemporary Craft’s National Residency program supports artists working in small metals, jewelry, fibers, weaving, paper-making, book arts, and small-scale woodworking. CC offers two types of National Residencies (for artists living outside of a 100 mile radius of Pittsburgh): a short-term residency for a period of one month and a long-term residency for a period of six months. All National Artists-in-Residence will receive free furnished housing in a four-bedroom home, a semi-private work space at Contemporary Craft, a $1,200 stipend (monthly for long-term residencies), and access to fully equipped studio spaces.
Submission fee: none
Regional Arts Australia — National Regional Arts Fellowship
Deadline: February 23
The National Regional Arts Fellowship Program is a strategic project supported by the Regional Arts Fund and delivered by Regional Arts Australia. Fellowships provide guaranteed income for regional artists and arts workers to develop work, skills, networks, or research. In 2025, proposals are sought a focus on economic, cultural, and/or environmental sustainability. Two awards are available:
The Creative & Professional Development Fellowship provides $20,000 to regional artists and arts workers to support creative practice or professional development.
The Early Career Development Fellowship provides $10,000 to regional artists and arts workers who are in the early stages of their practice or career and have had less access to funding opportunities.
Submission fee: none
Bernheim Arboretum L+A+N+D Call for Proposals
Deadline: February 24
L+A+N+D (Landscape + Art + Nature + Design), is an exciting, new arts initiative that annually celebrates innovative design concepts for immersive outdoor installations on a grand scale that spark imaginations, conversations, and a deeper appreciation of the natural world. The selected works are implemented via a stipend to the applicant(s) and a construction budget for materials, fabrication, and installation expenses.
Submission fee: none
Gasworks London Residency for Artist based in Georgia
Deadline: February 24
This residency open call is for an artist at a pivotal point in their career based in Georgia. The eleven-week, fully funded residency will take place at Gasworks in London from July 7 to September 15, 2025. Gasworks provides administrative, pastoral, and curatorial support throughout the residency but expects residents to be self-motivated and to lead on the research and production of their own work during their time in residence.
Submission fee: none
Jackson's Art Prize
Deadline: February 25
Jackson's Art Prize is a juried international fine arts competition that presents 23 awards and 2 exhibitions.
Submission fee: £6.50 until February 18; £7 from February 19 to 25
Bader + Simon Empowerment Grant
Deadline: February 25
The Bader + Simon gallery, scheduled to open in 2025 in Cincinnati’s vibrant Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, will showcase the work of emerging, underrepresented artists and the subjects that matter most to them. The Bader + Simon Empowerment Grant is for U.S individuals and emerging artists without a MA or MFA degree and extensive exhibition experience. The exhibition opportunity comes with a stipend of $7,500.
Submission fee: none
Minnesota Center for Book Arts — McKnight Fellowships
Deadline: February 26
Minnesota Center for Book Arts is pleased to partner with the McKnight Foundation to offer two fellowships to beyond-emerging artists living and working in Minnesota who show sustained experience in the book arts. They demonstrate achievement, commitment, and high level proficiency in their practice that contributes to the book arts field while impacting and benefiting people in Minnesota. Benefits include an unrestricted $25,000 award; studio visits from a national critic/curator; $1,000 travel stipend to attend a conference; and opportunity to participate in public artist panel; a $2,000 educational stipend; two years of MCBA studio access; the opportunity to attend an artist residency with stipend; and participation in a group exhibition in MCBA’s Main Gallery.
Submission fee: none
Salettl 2025 Artist-in-Residence
Deadline: February 26
The Salettl am Gemeinschaftshof, near Vienna in Donaustadt, was originally designed and built as an educational space for organic farming. Since 2020, it has been transformed into a cultural, educational and event space for sustainable development. This year's call is directed towards artists who submit a project specifically for the context of the Kleine Stadt Farm community project with reference to the district of Donaustadt's annual theme of "social cohesion." The residency runs from June 1 to 30, 2025, with a final presentation on June 27. Living and working space is provided, along with a stipend of €1,800.
Submission fee: none
Ottawa School of Art International Printmaking Residency 2025
Deadline: February 28
This year's residency theme is Social Justice and/or Ecology. OSA covers return travel to Ottawa, accommodations, and living expenses during the residency, as well as local travel and expenses. Basic studio supplies will be provided to the winning resident. This opportunity is open to artists outside of Canada and will be a minimum of one month or up to three months. The residency must be completed between September 1 and November 30, 2025, or between January 1 and March 31, 2026.
Submission fee: none
Bridge Awards Residencies at Cove Park
Deadline: February 28
In collaboration with The Bridge Awards, Cove Park offers four fully funded residencies in 2025 for artists based in Scotland whose careers have been impacted by a breast cancer diagnosis and who have undergone successful treatment and are up to five years in remission. The four residencies will run parallel for ten days, from May 19 to May 29, 2025.
Submission fee: none
John Michael Kohler Arts Center Arts/Industry Residency
Deadline: February 28
For more than fifty years, Arts/Industry has been connecting artists with the resources, technology, and materials of Kohler Co., and providing a place to explore new ideas, processes, and perspectives. Artists from all disciplines are encouraged to apply. Each year, up to twelve artists are selected for residencies in the Pottery or Foundry areas of the factory through a competitive jury process. No experience with clay or cast metal is required, just an interest in pursuing a new body of work and being open to new ideas.
Arts/Industry residencies are three months in length and divided into three cohorts. There are four artists-in-residence in each cohort—two in Pottery and two in Foundry. Residents are expected to commit to the full three-month period. Artists-in-residence receive 24-hour access to studio space, industrial materials, use of equipment, technical assistance, photographic services, housing, round-trip transportation, and a modest weekly stipend.
Submission fee: none
New American Paintings Open Call for Midwest Region
Deadline: February 28
Forty winners of each competition receive a four-page, full-color spread in New American Paintings. The Midwest competition is open to artists in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. This edition is juried by Stephanie Fox Knappe, Ph.D, Sanders Sosland Senior Curator of Global Modern and Contemporary Art and Head American Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO.
Submission fee: $50
See all opportunities
Paid subscribers can access a full list of all current opportunities anytime—updated at least a couple of times each week.
Whether you’re a free or paid subscriber, you can also browse through listings in earlier digests in the archive.
If you are part of an organization or art business that offers opportunities or services you think artists should know about, consider a featured listing or post. Email me at kate@young-space.com or just reply to this email for more info.
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