Young Space, no.70
Everything gives a little and takes a little away.
“You can make very complicated things, but then your own complication gets in your way. Everything gives a little and takes a little away.” —Frank Stella
What’s worse: starting things and pivoting (perhaps too) often or getting stuck in a rut doing the same thing over and over? Reflecting upon putting yet another project on pause (*ahem* Dovetail), that meme about “my toxic trait” popped to mind and I couldn’t help thinking that mine is something along the lines of starting and stopping too many things.
But then I caught myself and thought—who cares? Start and stop as much as you want, Kate. I of course don’t go full-steam into any project with the plan to call it quits; these things just organically happen. I get bored easily, and this is something I’ve known for a long time. I also just really, really love beginnings. “Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it’s the only one you’ve got,” writes Michael Bungay Stanier, author of Do More Great Work and How to Begin.
When I was in fourth grade, my teacher had a half-hour story time on Friday afternoons, where she would sit in front of class, lights dimmed, and read to us. I distinctly remember her reading the first book of The Boxcar Children, and I was hooked. I thought, I need to go read the next ones! Immediately! But I lost interest quickly. It’s something I’ve reluctantly come to grips with: I don’t often care what happens in the second book or the third… just give me the setup.
I love trying new things. What I tend to do, though, is go all-in with a lot of presumptions about how things will be. I’ll design the website, get all the materials and supplies, dive into the branding, install signage, or whatever, and almost invariably will end up totally changing my mind about a lot of these things a few weeks in. I also almost always overestimate how interested I will still be a few months down the road. (It’s worth considering whether this is because of overload.)
My challenge to myself lately has been to dial back expectations about what something should look like and instead whack some que será, será in there. It feels exciting to start lots of new things—it’s the commitment that takes the real work. Inspiration begets innovation and productivity; dedication and discipline create and sustain the space for it.
Striking that balance is one of the most challenging aspects of maintaining creativity in life and work. It’s one thing to find the medium that we feel we can express ourselves through—painting, clay, writing, building houses, gardening—but another entirely to spend time with it as if it’s a close companion, a relationship requiring constant nurturing, so that it doesn’t turn into a chore.
See you next week!
—Kate
P.S. Tatum Dooley, who publishes Art Forecast, compiled a great list of art-related Substacks. I’m grateful for the Young space shoutout, and it’s worth checking out and subscribing to AF and many more on her list.
Consider becoming a paid subscriber and directly support this newsletter. You’ll be the first to see new opportunities, with access to the entire list all in one place—updated a few times each week!
What you’ll find below:
Featured artist: Vinna Begin
Exhibitions to see in Brussels, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, Paris, and Taos
Thirteen opportunities for artists with deadlines coming up soon
Featured Artist: Vinna Begin
Gorgeous washes of color spill across atmopsheric expanses in Vinna Begin’s paintings. Sometimes evoking landscapes with changing weather or undulating forms redolent of botanical patterns, I love that there is only ever a fleeting moment of recognition before the sweeping color fields and amorphous forms return to near total abstraction.
Explore more on Begin’s website and Instagram.
Exhibitions
LOS ANGELES | 12.26
J.A. Feng: Daylight, Burning
“Feng's new body of work encounters organisms en route through corporeal environments. These creatures come and go through their proximate ecosystems, feeding on nearby resources such as light, provisions, shelter, and even time. The life forms consume their locale, generating a process of constant proliferation and waning.”
Runs through March 8
DALLAS | TALLEY DUNN GALLERY
Women’s Work
A group exhibition celebrating half of Talley Dunn Gallery’s roster and many more besides, Women’s Work celebrates a diverse range of work by 17 national and international women artists.
Runs through March 15
LOS ANGELES | FOYER-LA
MUDROOM
Mudroom is a salon-style group project with artists who have been a part of FOYER-LA, plus one friend-fellow artists they have selected to participate.
Runs through March 22
LONDON | REBECCA HOSSACK GALLERY
David Surman: After the Flood
“Surman’s bold, vital, subtly-affecting images of animals are infused with elements of personal memory, anthropomorphic projection, ancient mythology, and the subversive aesthetics of cuteness.”
Runs through March 29
More shows worth a peek:
Stefan Rink: The Four Seasons of My Soul at Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels, through March 8
Zoë Stiler: The River, The Cyclone, and Other Stories at The Valley, Taos, through March 15
Hamish Chapman: Forget-Me-Nots at Brigitte Mulholland, Paris, through March 15
Bryan Ali Sanchez: Recuerdos Del Horizonte at Baert Gallery, Los Angeles, through March 22
Joanna van Son: Intermission at General Assembly, London, through March 29
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!
Cove Park Emerging Visual Artist Residency 2025
Deadline: March 7
Cove Park’s Emerging Visual Artist Residency is for a visual artist based in Scotland and in the early stages of developing their practice. This four-week fully funded residency offers time for self-directed studio work and the development of new ideas and projects. The artist will receive a fee, a travel allowance, and a research/materials allowance. The residency will run from June 30 to July 27, 2025.
Submission fee: none
1646 x ReCNTR Residency in The Hague
Deadline: March 7
With an international focus and valuing the circulation of perspectives, this fully funded residency program is set up as a retreat to nourish work and develop ideas and connections. The call proposed by ReCNTR and 1646 is open to both artists and researchers interested in investigating relevant social and political issues through multimodal and artistic methods. The residency runs for 2 months, and participants receive an artist fee of €2,000 (incl. VAT), a production budget of €1,000 (incl. VAT), a 5 x 3-meter studio space inside the 1646 building, one of 1646's small studio apartments, and more.
Submission fee: none
Cross Artist Residency in Iceland for Artists in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
Deadline: March 9
Nýlistasafnið (Reykjavík, Iceland) and Artistes en résidence (Clermont-Ferrand, France) offer a cross residency for two artists, one living and working in Iceland and one living and working in the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France. This call is only for the artists living in the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France. The call for the artists living and working in Iceland will open in April 2025. The selected artist will benefit from a six-weeks residency in Reykjavík, a stipend of €3,000, a mentorship from Nýló's team, a studio, and a living space within the facilities of SÍM residency.
Submission fee: none
Gasworks London Residency for Artist based in India
Deadline: March 10
This residency open call is for an artist at a pivotal point in their career based in India. 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
Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants
Deadline: March 11
These grants of up to $5,000 support direct treatment expenses that have been incurred, or are needed, for medical, dental, or mental health treatment. Artists practicing in the visual arts, film, video, electronic, digital arts, and choreography are eligible. The program is offered approximately every two months in rolling cycles.
Submission fee: none
AHRC International Fellowships for PhD and Early Career Researchers 2025
Deadline: March 13
Apply to undertake a funded fellowship at an international cultural institution. You must be either a PhD student currently funded by AHRC (or ESRC for Library of Congress only) or an early career researcher based at a U.K. research organization eligible for AHRC funding. Fellowships are available at:
USA: Harry Ransom Center, Huntington Library, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, Yale Centre for British Art
Japan: National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU)
China: Shanghai Theatre Academy
You will receive £1,000 for travel and visa costs (£1,200 for travel to Japan and China) and £1,925 for each month of the fellowship. You can apply for two to six months of funding.
Submission fee: none
BRIClab 2025-26 Residency
Deadline: March 14
BRIClab is a multi-disciplinary residency program created to advance opportunities for visual artists and media makers. The program’s three tracks are Contemporary Art, Film + TV, and Video Art. Each track offers unique resources and opportunities designed to meet the needs of varied artistic practices. All tracks include a $2,500 stipend, access to BRIC spaces and programming, and more.
Submission fee: $5
Grants for Artists | Creative Projects for Oklahoma Artists
Deadline: March 15
Creative Projects grants fund up to $1,500 and are for creating new work that will culminate in a public event focused on artist’s own work. Applications are evaluated by measuring career altering potential, quality of work, concept, and ability to complete project.
Submission fee: none
The RAiR Foundation Artist Residencies
Deadline: March 15
For over fifty years the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program has provided talented artists a year-long opportunity to focus on their creative work. The Roswell Residency is not project-based nor engagement driven, providing the artist an opportunity to look inwardly. The Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art (AMoCA) invites fellows to have a solo exhibition of their work toward the end of their stay, however, this opportunity is optional. AMoCA then offers to purchase a piece from the artist for permanent display. Six residencies will be staggered throughout the year with start dates between January 1 and August 1, 2026. Monthly stipends are available.
Submission fee: $25
Shandaken: Storm King Residency
Deadline: March 16
Shandaken: Storm King is a free, process-focused residency that is collaboratively produced by Shandaken Projects and Storm King Art Center, and that takes place at Storm King. Each resident is given a private bedroom and a private, 9-by-14-foot studio for 2 or 4 weeks each (the studios do not have electricity). The 2024 residency season will take place June 16 through October 5. It is open to cultural practitioners internationally (please note that travel costs are not provided for).
Submission fee: $25 (fee waiver may be available)
Penington Friends House — Bayard Rustin Residency
Deadline: March 15
Beginning in September 2025, this residency will provide up to one year of room and board to a person who demonstrates a strong project that addresses ending systemic racism and who has a necessity to be in New York City for up to one year. Areas of focus of their work can include activism in the arts, policy change, human rights, community organizing, and other areas of activism focusing on ending racism and strengthening equality.
Submission fee: none
Center for Craft Teaching Artist Cohort
Deadline: March 17
Thirty mid-career craft artists who teach will receive $10,000 grants and join a 6-month cohort experience that supports their artistic and teaching career development with programs, mentorship, and peer-to-peer learning creating an enriching impact on the communities they engage, developing a network of teaching craft artists.
Submission fee: none
Cannonball Arts Open Call for Proposals from West Coast Artists and Curators
Deadline: Rolling
Occupying 66,000-sq.-ft., Cannonball Arts exhibits and celebrates artists working across disciplines, mediums, and genres. The center is seeking 20 proposals from West Coast artists and curators.
Submission fee: none
National Lottery Project Grants for U.K. Artists
Deadline: Rolling
National Lottery Project Grants is always open for project grants between £1,000 and £100,000.
Submission fee: none
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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