Application Guidelines

APPLICATION GUIDELINES: KALA FELLOWSHIP 

The 2025-2026 Fellowship application will re-open in November 2024.

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Questions: Contact Artist Residency Manager Leyla Rzayeva at leyla@kala.org.

Kala Fellowship is geared towards supporting artists in completing specific projects or bodies of work that would benefit from Kala’s specialized equipment including printmaking, photography, digital media, social practice, film and video, sound, animation, performance cinema, media art installation, and book arts.

International, national, and local artists producing innovative work in and across mediums are encouraged to apply!

Each Kala Fellowship Includes:

Cash Award: $3,000
Studio Residency: One to nine months of studio residency at Kala Art Institute with 24/7 access to communal studio spaces, equipment, and resources. 
Kala Class: One class that will provide training in a chosen area of printmaking and/or digital media.
Exhibition: Each artist selected is included in our annual group exhibition of Fellowship artists. Public programs for artists are also possible and determined on an individual basis with each artist.
Community: Access to a community and network of approximately 75-80 artists working at Kala, participation in Kala events, and support of Kala staff.

Program Period
The 2024-2025 Fellowship program period is from July 2024 through June 2025. Artists must be able to schedule a residency during that time. The group exhibition schedule is to be determined.

The 2025-2026 Fellowship program period is from July 2025 through June 2026.

A Full Application Includes:
-Completed Application Form, you can apply on Slideroom.
-Statement of Interest in working at Kala Art Institute and how a Fellowship Award will affect a specific future project and/or how it will impact your overall practice.
-Artist CV
-Documentation of recent work: Provide 1-15 items. Allowed Media Types: Images (up to 5MB each), Video (up to 250MB each), Audio (up to 30MB each), PDFs (up to 10MB each), 3D Models, External media from YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud
-Two References
-$25 Application Fee

Eligibility: Artists enrolled in a degree-granting program during the fellowship program period are not eligible to apply.  The 2025-2026 Fellowship program period is from July 2025 through June 2026.

Accommodations: Kala now offers artist housing located across the street from Kala’s facilities. Kala has two, two-bedroom apartments and can house 4 artist-in-residence each month.  Please note that Kala’s shared artist apartments are 2 bedroom apartments, meaning you will be living with a roommate and sharing a kitchen, living room, and bathroom. A $200 non-refundable housing deposit to reserve artist housing is due in 2 weeks upon confirming the dates of your stay and will be applied toward the residency costs or the fellowship stipend. An alternative housing list is available that includes local community members who rent out space in their homes; in this case, artists are responsible for securing alternative housing accommodations.

Location description: Kala Print Studio is located at the top of three flights of stairs, a total of 52 steps. Please reach out with any questions to Ellen at ellen@kala.org and Leyla at leyla@kala.org. Kala Print Studio, 1060 Heinz AvenueBerkeley, CA 94710.