Art Center College of Design
950 South Raymond
Pasadena, CA 91105
The selected resident will be provided with project space in the MDP’s Wind Tunnel studio—a former supersonic jet testing facility—on Art Center’s south campus for between 7 and 14 weeks. The resident will receive a 5,000 USD stipend and a 5,000 USD budget for materials and support along with access to the College’s shops and production facilities, ranging from letterpress to video editing to rapid prototyping. The resident can work with a project team of 2–5 graduate student research assistants (media designers/design researchers) for a total of 7 consecutive weeks.
We define “media” broadly. Therefore the residency is open to a range of disciplinary perspectives and practices. Projects that are the best fit will address some aspect of digital culture, pervasive computing, information and communication technology, screen culture, or social media—as part of the subject or process of the work.
Given the modest budget and time frame, the residency provides an opportunity to explore a discrete question as part of a larger investigation and/or an opportunity to test a new idea. Applicants should demonstrate an ability to successfully document and disseminate experimental design and research projects.
The residency cannot fund commercial projects—projects for which the researcher is being paid by a client—however we are not averse to projects that have potential commercial applications. The jury is not interested in supporting the latter stages of a project’s “finish”—the selected project must allow for discovery through making during the residency period.
For more details and application procedures, click here.
About Media Design Practices/Lab
The MDP brings new design practices to a world of cultural and technological change. Graduates get an MFA in Media Design through one of two tracks: Lab or Field.
In the Lab Track, students work with emerging ideas from technology, science and culture. External partners—from Caltech scientists to Silicon Valley engineers—bring expertise, resources, and the latest advances into the studio. Using design as a mode of critical inquiry, students investigate and innovate in a rigorous design curriculum guided by an interdisciplinary faculty and thought leaders from around the world. By working with the summer research residents and other guest researchers, students have the opportunity to work in a design-as-research context as part of their education.
