Thank you to everyone who applied in March 2012.  We hope to be in touch with all applicants in May 2012.

Next application deadline: Spring, 2013.  Full details forthcoming.

About Recess

Recess facilitates every-day interactions between artists and audiences in order to promote the productive space of the working artist as a site of valuable visual and intellectual interactions. Our endeavors promote critical exposure for the artists we support while fostering an inclusive environment in which artists and the public can engage in a meaningful exchange of art and ideas.

About Session at Recess

Recess is free and open to the public, and we encourage artists to engage with their audience in a manner specific to their creative goals, using Recess as a studio, exhibition space, stage, and/or experimental platform. Artists have access to their space for the full duration of their residency and are expected to work on a daily basis or the equivalent of at least twenty hours per week. They will be given a small honorarium and a stipend based on the material needs of their residency. In conversation with Recess staff, artists designate their own work hours and the degree to which they coincide with public hours.

Artists may open their doors to present work, to stage performance-based activities, and/or to engage with public audiences while they work. Most resident artists will choose to be present during public hours (Tuesday – Saturday 12-6; Thursday 2-8), connecting with visitors through visual material, participatory or performance-based activities. If the artist chooses to work in private, when the space is closed to the public, his/her presence will be implied by the site-specific, workshop environment of work in process. Artists will be given keys to the space and may work when the space is closed.

About Recess Space

Recess is currently operating out of two spaces. Applicants can indicate if they have a preference between the spaces.

Recess’s original space is located at 41 Grand Street in Soho, one of New York City’s first artist communities. The 1,200 square-foot space features high ceilings, a small courtyard, and natural light from the glass storefront and two rear windows, all of which create a physical openness that links artists to the street, the neighborhood, and the public. To see photos and a floor plan of the space visit our Flickr page.

In summer of 2012, Recess will collaborate with Dustin Yellin by opening an additional space for Session at the new arts space, Recess at Pioneer & King, located in Red Hook, one of Brooklyn’s prominent arts destinations. To see photos, visit our Flickr Page. Please note that these photos do not depict the finished space, which is still being built out. The height of the ceilings in the atrium space is about 60 feet. That space, however, is not available for Session projects. Recess has a project room for Session and its approximately 500 square feet, with roughly 12-foot ceilings that looks onto the atrium.

Selection Process

Recess residents will be selected based on the conceptual rigor and artistic quality of their proposal and their ability to work productively within the program. Successful applicants will articulate a particular need to work in a manner that expands beyond traditional studio method and gallery exhibition.
In an effort to decentralize visual authority while maintaining a level of critical cogency a panel consisting of former Recess artists in residence, leaders from the contemporary arts community, and arts practitioners with programming experience will review Recess’s applications. Visit the Artist Review Panel page for specific panelist information.

Selection Criteria
1. Quality of the Proposed Project: Based on submitted project proposal
2. Need to work in Recess’ non-traditional studio/exhibition space: Based on project, description and artists’ statement
3. Project Feasibility and Appropriateness: Based on project description and proposed budget
4. Artistic Merit and Professional Record: Based on artists’ statement, resume, and the artists’ submitted sampling of past work

Recess will only consider proposals submitted in the correct format. Please read submission criteria carefully.
Please see specific information about applying as a group in our FAQ section below.

The following items must be included in your application:
Please save each as an individual file with your first initial, last name and description. Ex: jsmith_Application Form, jsmith_Resume

1. Application Form 2013: Forthcoming. Please answer the questions on this form and upload it with the rest of your materials. The form is a fillable PDF so you may type or select your answers and save using Adobe. Applicants may also print out and hand write their answers, but typed responses are encouraged. You may also replicate the questions and fill out your answers using Word, or a similar program.
2. Resume
3. Artist Statement
4. Project Proposal (roughly 1000 words) Please address the following points within your project proposal:

a. General description of project (materials, scale, conceptual and technical goals, etc.).
b. Specific interest in Recess’ Program.
c. Desired Length of Residency (generally residencies are 2-3 months in length)
d. Proposed means of public engagement
e. What you envision our space will look like throughout your residency. What, physically, will be in the space?

5. Proposed Budget: Estimated total and annotated list of possible expenditures (these need not be final numbers. If selected, budget will be discussed with Recess staff).
6. Work Samples (CHOOSE 1 of the following representations). Documentation should show past work and/or renderings of proposed project.

a. 10 Jpeg images (12 images if applying as a group), at 72 DPI resolution minimum, no dimension to exceed 1,000 pixels
b. OR up to two video or audio samples sent as links to online work (preferred) or quicktime files no larger than 3 MB (no longer than 3 minutes each)
c. OR 1 video or audio sample (no longer than 3 minutes each) and up to 5 Jpeg images.
d. Media files should be titled with your first initial, last name, and number: ex.: jsmith1.jpg, jsmith2.jpg.
e. Video and audio submissions must be Mac compatible. Each clip viewed will be no longer than 3 minutes.

7. Work Description/Image List/Video Script: A numbered list of images, audio, or videos with title, year, size, and medium of work. Include a brief (2-3 sentences) description of work if necessary.

If you have any technical problems or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us:

Email: info@recessactivities.org
Phone: 646.863.3765

FAQ’s:

Q. Are Recess’s residencies open to non-US citizens?
A. Yes! We love receiving international applications. However, materials stipends will be reported to the IRS for tax purposes. Thus, we do ask that non-US citizens have either US residency status (with a valid Social Security number) or a valid work visa that runs through at the least the end of the residency period.

Q. Should members applying as a group each provide a resume, artist statement, and examples of past work?
A. Each person in your group should submit a resume and artist statement. Groups can send up to 12 images, divided amongst members as you see fit. If you have worked together in the past, please submit examples of past collaborations. If this is your first time working as a group, individual work is fine.

Q. Can I submit more than one application if the proposals are totally different?
A. Please select the idea you think is most in line with Recess’ mission. You can always reapply with new ideas, but please only one application each round.

Q. Can I build costs of travel and accommodation, and/or an artist’s fee into my budget?
A. Artists receive stipend that should be used towards purchasing the materials needed to realize their proposed project. At this time, we cannot offer financial support for living, travel and accommodations. The honorarium can be spent however you see fit.

Q. How much should my budget propose?
A. You should propose a budget as close to your projected materials costs as possible. If granted a Session, artists will revise and finalize budget with Recess staff. Generally, materials stipends range from $500-2,500 with occasional exceptions on both ends of that spectrum. NOTE: We can’t cover living expenses.

Q. How do I fill out the application form?
A. The form is a fillable PDF so you may type or select your answers and save using Adobe. Applicants may also print out and hand write their answers, but typed responses are encouraged. You may also replicate the questions and fill out your answers using Word, or a similar program.

Q. What are the dimensions of the Red Hook Space?
A. The Red Hook space is still being built out. The building will house many projects separate from Recess’s Session program. Recess has a project room for Session and its approximately 500 square feet, with roughly 12-foot ceilings that looks onto the atrium depicted in the photos on our Flickr page.