Headlands Center for the Arts

Headlands Center for the Arts provides an unparalleled environment for the creative process and the development of new work and ideas. Through a range of programs for artists and the public, we offer opportunities for reflection, dialogue, and exchange that build understanding and appreciation for the role of art in society. 

Our artists programs provide meaningful resources—time, space, community, and financial support—to working artists at critical moments in their careers. These programs are competitive and generous, demonstrating the caliber of artists receiving awards, and the real need for deep and dedicated support of artists’ experiments in developing new work. Unique among programs for artists, Headlands’ dynamic residency program is home to local, national, and international Artists-in-Residence working at varied stages in their careers, regional affiliate artists and graduate fellows, visiting alumni artists working on new projects, as well as guest artists and curators. Our programs emphasize a balance between an artist’s individual practice, the value inherent in exchange with other artists and visitors, and a meaningful engagement with place. 

Art looks, feels, and sounds different at Headlands. Our public events pull back the curtain and invite visitors into the heart of the creative process, where forming new ideas and making new works of art can be messy, challenging, and exhilarating. Seasonal Open House events, artist-guided walks, communal dinners, exhibitions, performances, hands-on thematic sessions, and daily open studios connect visitors with artists and their processes of bringing new work to life.