Fellowship Program
KALA FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
How to Apply
Visit kala.slideroom.com to apply by the February 2nd, 2025 (9:00 PM PST) deadline.
A Full Fellowship Application Includes:
– Completed application questions
– Artist resumé or CV
– Work samples, up to 15 images and/or 5 minutes of video
– Two References
– $25 Application Fee
About
Kala Fellowship is an artist residency for international, national, and local artists producing innovative work in and across multiple media. For over 30 years, Kala Art Institute has provided artists with equipment, time, space, and financial support for their work through Kala Fellowship. The Fellowship is geared towards supporting artists in completing specific projects or bodies of work that would benefit from Kala’s specialized equipment.
Each year Kala provides fellowships to artists from a variety of disciplines based on conceptual creativity, originality, and artistic excellence. In 2025, Kala will support up to 6 artists with a $3000 stipend, 1 month of housing for artists outside of the 9 Bay Area counties, 24/7 access to Kala’s facilities for 1-9 months, a Kala class or workshop, and a culminating group show in the Kala Gallery.
– $3000 Fellowship stipend
– 24/7 access to Kala’s facilities for 1-9 months
– 1 month of free housing for fellows outside of the 9 Bay Area Counties
– Free Kala Class or Workshop
– Group Exhibition at Kala Gallery
Artist Resources
Artists receive 24/7 access to a shared 8,000 square-foot print studio, digital lab, black and white darkroom, 600 square foot sculpture lab with woodworking tools, kiln, and sewing machines, and 3 individual artist project spaces (150 sq feet) available to visiting artists.
New this year:
Artists can apply in one application at kala.slideroom.com for:
– Fellowship
– Artist-in-Residence
– Veterans Residency
Applicant Resources
– How to Apply
– Residency Experience
– Kala Facilities
– View the work of Fellowship alumni
– Questions: please reach out to Artist Residency Manager Leyla Rzayeva at leyla@kala.org or kalaair@kala.org, T:510.549.2977 x 303 (Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm PST).
Stay in Touch
– Join Kala Newsletter
– Follow us on Instagram and Facebook
2024-2025 Fellowship Artists:
Simone Bailey (San Francisco, California)
Cristine Blanco (Oakland, CA) Special thanks to Sustainable Arts Foundation for supporting this Parent Fellow.
Mahwish Chishty (Springfield, Massachusetts)
Leonard Reidelbach (San Francisco, California)
Javier Enrique Piñero (Long Island City, New York)
Nicole K Shaffer (Oakland, California)
The 2024-2025 Fellowship submissions were juried by Kala’s Co-Director Mayumi Hamanaka, Fellowship alum Weston Teruya, and Anthony Graham, Senior Curator at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), and chaired by Kala’s Artist Residency Manager Leyla Rzayeva.
2023-2024 Fellowship Artists:
Philip Crawford (Berlin, Germany/Philadelphia, PA) @_philipac_
Alison Chen (Los Angeles, CA) @_alisonchen A special thanks to the Sustainable Arts Foundation for supporting this Parent Artist.
John Yoyogi Fortes (Sacramento, CA) @jy4tes
Helia Pouyanfar (Berkeley, CA) @heliapouyanfar
Georgina Reskala (Santa Monica CA) @reskala
rhiannon skye tafoya (Cherokee, NC) @r.skye.t
The 2023/24 Fellowship cohort was selected by Kala’s Artistic Director Mayumi Hamanaka, and two guest jurors: MoAD Interim Director of Exhibitions & Curatorial Affairs Selam Bekele, and Fellowship alum Alisa Ochoa.
2022-2023 Fellowship Artists:
Khadijah Morley (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Sungjae Lee (Chicago, IL) – Instagram: @thony0806
Jessica Doe (née Mehta, Tyner) (Hillsboro, OR) A special thanks to Sustainable Arts Foundation for supporting this Parent Artist.
Rayelle Gardner (East Elmhurst, NY)
Paola de la Calle (San Francisco, CA ) – Instagram: @paoladelacalle
Lani Asunción (Boston, MA ) – Instagram: @lani.asuncion
Honorary AIRs:
Jenny Lin & Eloisa Aquino (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
The 2022-2023 Fellowship competition was selected by Kala’s Artistic Director Mayumi Hamanaka and two guest jurors: Fellowship alumni artist Natani Notah and invited Bay Area arts professional, Kim Acebo Arteche, Co-Director at Berkeley Art Center.
2021-2022 Fellowship Artists:
Ting Ying Han (Los Angeles, CA)
Sass Popoli (Chicago, IL)
Alisa Ochoa (Costa Mesa, CA) A special thanks to Sustainable Arts Foundation for supporting this Parent Artist.
Mariana Ramos Ortiz (Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico) – Instagram: @la.habicuela
Ron Moultrie Saunders (San Francisco, CA )
Lena Wolff (Berkeley, CA ) – Instagram: @lenawolffstudio
Honorary AIR Awardees:
Ann Johnson (Houston, TX) – Instagram: @solesisterart
Pamela Ybanez (Oakland, CA)
The 2021-2022 Fellowship competition was selected by Kala’s Artistic Director Mayumi Hamanaka and two guest jurors: Print Public alumni artist Imin Yeh and Bamidele Agbasegbi Demerson, Chief Curator at the African American Museum and Library in Oakland.
2020-2021 Fellowship Artists:
Anthea Black (Oakland, CA)
Tavarus Blackmon (Sacramento, CA)
Elnaz Javani (Chicago, IL)
Natani Notah (Alameda, CA)
Jessica Sabogal (Oakland, CA ) and Shanna Strauss (Montreal, QC)
tamara suarez porras (Berkeley, CA )
Honorary AIR Awardees:
Sydney Cain (San Francisco, CA)
Adia Millett (Oakland, CA)
Nasim Moghadam (Palo Alto, CA)
Stuart Robertson (Stanford, CA )
courtney m sennish (Emeryville, CA )
2020-2021 Media AIR Awardees:
Alexa Burrell (Bay Area, CA)
Pegah Pasalar (Chicago, IL)
Naomi van Niekerk (South Africa)
The 2020-2021 Fellowship competition was juried by Kala’s Executive Director, Gallery Director and Artist Residency Manager, and a panel that included Media Award alumni artist Veronica Graham, and one invited Bay Area arts professional, Jovanna Venegas, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art SFMOMA.
2019-2020 Fellowship Artists:
Pavel Acevedo (San Francisco, CA)
Jonathan Herrera Soto (Minneapolis, MN)
Pascaline Knight (Montréal, QC)
Sara Press (Sebastopol, CA )
Aay Preston-Myint (Oakland, CA )
Honorary AIR Awardees:
Michael Koehle ( Oakland, CA)
Jessica Sabogal (Berkeley, CA)
Gabriela Yoque (Oakland, CA)
The 2019 Fellowship competition was juried by Kala’s Artistic Director and Gallery Director, and a panel that included Fellowship alumni artist Golbanou Moghaddas, and one invited Bay Area arts professional, Rhonda Pagnozzi, Curatorial Assistant, Oakland Museum of California.
2018-2019 Fellowship Artists:
Dahn Gim (Los Angeles, CA)
Malisa Humphrey (Los Angeles, CA)
Yen-Hua Lee (Taichung City, Taiwan R.O.C.)
Mary V Marsh (Oakland , CA)
Keith Secola (Berkeley, CA)
Honorary AIR Awardees:
Cynthia Brannvall (Berkeley, CA)
Phillip Hua (San Francisco, CA)
Jennifer Justice (Alameda, CA)
The 2018 Fellowship competition was juried by Kala’s Artistic Director and a panel that included one Fellowship alumni artist, Leah Rosenberg and one invited Bay Area arts professional, Cecile Puretz, Access & Community Engagement Manager of The Contemporary Jewish Museum.
2017-2018 Honorary AIR Awardees:
Myles Dunigan (Lawrence, KS)
Casey Gardner (Berkeley, CA)
Joyce Ertel Hulbert (Berkeley, CA)
Anais Lera (Brussels, Belgium)
Cathy Lu (San Francisco, CA)
Our jurors in 2017 were Jamil Hellu, Alumni Fellowship Artist and Sage Perrott, arts professional and Adjunct Professor at Utah State University.
2016-2017 Honorary AIR Awardees:
Julia Goodman, Oakland, CA
Tom GreyEyes, Oakland, CA
Galen Jackson, Berkeley, CA
Our jurors in 2016 were Terry Berlier, Alumni Fellowship Artist and Cathy Kimball, Executive Director and Chief Curator, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art.