Caltech Huntington Art + Research Residency

The Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences (“HSS”) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens (“The Huntington”) seek applications for an artist residency, which is part of the Caltech-Huntington Program in Visual Culture. The Art + Research Residency provides the opportunity to develop a project in conversation with the Caltech and Huntington research communities and to work with Caltech students. It supports artists and other creative practitioners whose work involves research and experimentation and engages art, humanities, science, and technology in society.

Caltech is a science and engineering research institution in Pasadena. Caltech has around 1300 graduate students, 900 undergraduates, and 300 full-time faculty. Caltech has a small but excellent research faculty in the humanities, and since its inception the humanities have played a key role in the education of undergraduates pursuing degrees in math, science, and engineering. The study of the arts at Caltech includes the TACIT Theater Arts program, art + tech courses cross-listed between humanities and engineering, the visual culture speaker series, and the Caltech/JPL/Art Center Data to Discovery summer data visualization summer internship program.

The Huntington is a collections-based research and educational institution serving scholars and the general public. Founded by Henry Huntington in San Marino in 1919, The Huntington comprises a world-class library, art collections, and botanical gardens, and hosts more than 750,000 visitors each year. The Huntington’s art collections feature European and American art spanning more than 500 years. Extraordinary examples of paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, prints, and drawings are displayed in The Huntington Art Gallery, the original home of Henry and Arabella Huntington, and in the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art. Both buildings also showcase smaller, temporary exhibitions that focus on masterworks in the collection, or that place The Huntington’s historic works in conversation with contemporary artistic practice.

Residency duration and dates: 10 weeks full time during academic year 2019–20 (October 1, 2019—June 17, 2020), to take place during one of Caltech’s three academic quarters (Fall, Winter, or Spring).

Funding and resources
Funding: Funding for this residency is provided by and subject to the terms of an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant. The maximum support available for the 10-week residency is an all-inclusive stipend of 30,000 USD. The selected applicant may request a lower stipend in exchange for housing support and/or reimbursement for expenses. Housing is not provided, though the artist-in-residence will have access to Caltech rental properties (availability varies).

Announcement of Residency Appointment: Mid-summer 2019
Number of Residents: 2 per year
Space: The artist-in-residence will have access to an office on Caltech’s campus. No other work space is guaranteed, but applicants should include a description of any work space request beyond an office, which Caltech or The Huntington may be able to accommodate.

Commitment
–Public presentation(s) of your work in a range of possible formats including a lecture, site-specific installation, event or something else you propose.
​–Teach an undergraduate course you propose and design to engage students in research, writing and/or hands-on practice.
​–Participation in the life of the Caltech and Huntington communities including attending lectures, social gatherings, and/or developing collaborations.
*There is a 5000 USD budget available for public programming and student engagement activities or teaching equipment.

Application requirements

Submit the following:
​–Completed application form. (There is no word limit, but please be concise.)
​–Portfolio including any of the following
​–Images up to 25MB total (jpgs) + image list (pdf)
​–List of links to media online (pdf)
​–CV
​–Two references including professional affiliation, phone, and email. (Letters will be requested only for finalists.)
–Applicants must have an MFA or PhD. We will not consider applications from undergraduate students or master’s degree candidates. 

Describe your project. How might you use your time at Caltech and/or The Huntington during the residency? Include the topics, themes, possible artifacts, events, or performances in a project you could pursue. We realize the project will develop and change; we would like to see your vision of the topics and questions you will engage, your approach to discovery, and manifestations of it.

How will your project connect with and benefit from involvement at Caltech and/or The Huntington? Be as specific as possible. Consider your own work, research at Caltech, resources at Caltech and The Huntington, and Caltech’s undergraduate students. To answer this question, we suggest you delve into Caltech’s website and online course catalog and into The Huntington’s website.

How does the project connect with the Caltech-Huntington visual culture program’s aim to advance intersections between art, science, technology, humanities, and society?

Is this project a collaboration with another individual? If so, please elaborate.

Provide context for your work. For instance, this could include an artist’s statement or a statement of research interests.

The residency involves teaching a course at Caltech that you propose and design to engage undergraduate students in research, writing and/or hands-on practice. What topics will you address and/or what hands-on practices will you include? We do not expect you to provide a syllabus or formal course description here. We would like you to give us a sense of how you imagine shaping engagement with students over a 10-week term.

Please outline a possible timeline for the project and fulltime involvement at Caltech and/or The Huntington for one term during Academic year 2019–20.

Academic calendar

Applications will be accepted until midnight (Pacific Standard Time) June 14, 2019. Please submit applications early. Technical assistance will not be available after 5pm June 14.

Interested candidates should apply electronically.

Candidates unable to apply electronically may send their application to: Caltech-Huntington Art + Research Residency, HSS 101-40, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.