Vizcaya offers South Florida artist $12,500 stipend for first residency

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is seeking a South Florida artist for its first dedicated residency, offering a $12,500 stipend and up to $25,000 in production funding to create new work inside the historic Miami estate.

The Vizcaya Arts Residency + Commission will select one artist for a seven-month residency running from May through November 2027, Miami New Times reported.

The completed work will be exhibited in Vizcaya's Main House from November 2027 through May 2028.

Applications are open to visual artists based in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2.

Historic Chicken House becomes artist studio

The selected artist will work in a 375-square-foot studio inside the historic Chicken House, a newly rehabilitated building in Vizcaya Village.

Located across South Miami Avenue from the Main House and formal gardens, Vizcaya Village includes buildings that once supported the daily operations of industrialist James Deering's winter estate.

The residency's inaugural theme, "Holding Time," invites artists to explore the Main House's architectural history, material changes and collective memory.

Proposals must respond to the historic setting, and the resulting exhibition must engage both floors of the Main House.

Vizcaya curator Helena Gomez, who joined the museum in 2022 to revive its contemporary arts programming, said providing dedicated studio space was a natural extension of the museum's previous artist commissions.

"We were already providing access for research and engagement with the property in advancement of producing new work," Gomez told Miami New Times. "So all we needed to do really was add the physical space for artists to be working on site."

Residency expands contemporary arts programming

The new residency succeeds the Vizcaya Contemporary Arts Program, known as CAP, which began commissioning site-specific works in 2006 before a four-year hiatus.

The program now operates under Vizcaya Arts, a broader initiative supporting contemporary artistic engagement with the historic estate.

Visitors will have opportunities to observe the selected artist's creative process through open studio hours during Vizcaya's Sunday Farmers Market.

The artist will also lead two public programs during the exhibition, according to the museum's open call.

Because Vizcaya is a historic property, the commissioned work must meet preservation requirements. Artists may not drill into historic walls or paint historic surfaces. Outdoor installations must withstand Miami's weather and be removable ahead of tropical storms.

The selected artist will retain ownership of the commissioned work after the exhibition ends.

Applications close Nov. 2

The residency is open to emerging, midcareer and established visual artists working in any discipline who are based in Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties.

Applicants must submit a biography, artist statement, curriculum vitae, portfolio, a proposal addressing the "Holding Time" theme and one letter of support.

Applications close at 11:59 p.m. Nov. 2.

Full application requirements and a recording of the Sept. 23 information session are available at vizcaya.org/opencall.

Questions can be sent to [email protected].