Residency Unlimited worked as a custom-made facilitator for the production of new work, and more importantly, as a sort of synergetic operator between the artist, his work and the art world allowing for the creation of art that could break the intrinsic rules while simultaneously being part of the game.

My Residency Unlimited experience was a very valuable one. I have been to many residency programs. However, this program definitely distinguishes itself. It provides so many great opportunities, such as meetings with curators, critics and artists; It is like a ladder to many artists for them to step up and reveal their talents. RU offers a very encouraging atmosphere. I am amazed by RU’s passion for the Art Industry. With all the work RU puts in, I never could have accomplished the things the way I had planned. “RU, I would like to thank you once again for such devoted service and very personal experience. May God bless you and keep you”.

My time with Residency Unlimited and Casita Maria was an incredibly valuable. I was provided with production support, excellent studio visits with art-world professionals who are directly related to my work, and a community of wonderful people – artists, curators and writers. Casita Maria itself was a fertile location for my work, and I am surprised and delighted by the project that I developed their with their steady support.

I would urge all US-based artists who want to broaden their connections in the art world, and deepen their studio practice, to pursue a residency here.

Intelligence, Knowledge, Experience, Boldness, Consistency, Sense of Humor, Availability and Network …
… this is everything that an artist dreams of having at his side, permanently, for the execution, production, implementation, and dissemination of his work.

Tomaz Hipólito

Our residency at Residency Unlimited was an exceptional experience, very stimulating and inspiring. The environment is highly professional with really amazing team working at RU. We appreciate the excellent facilities provided where we could engage in critical discussions and talks. We are very grateful that they provide us with an elaborative overview of the NY art scene, its mode of operation and valorization. We would specially emphasize their good will and help around the exhibition and the whole research.

Its been a privileged being at RU and we highly recommend it.

My experience of working with Residency Unlimited has proved being highly satisfying.

The staff capacity to put in common their knowledge of the art world, their various strengths and skills makes the program versatile and unique.

The unusual formula of the residency, which can be at first slightly unsettling, puts forward its vast network and expertise instead of focalizing on a physical location for the art making. This quickly proves being completely adequate and enjoyable; it gives you the impression that the city can be yours and makes it less intimidating. Contrarily to other former international residencies that left me disappointed in terms of networking, RU offers a structure that makes the encounter with NYC art world easy and fluid; it is perfectly adapted to the city.

More concretely, I was provided during my three months stay with frequent studio visits with professionals of the art world, with a complete availability of the staff to fulfill my needs – ranging from finding a suitable working place, organising exciting field trips, providing technical workshops to ameliorate my website, putting me in contact with relevant personalities, etc – and with the chance of exhibiting my work at the Abrons Art Center gallery space. The latter experience took place in a context of full support and professionalism by the RU staff. And what is as valuable as the residency, is the certitude that the ties that were forged during my stay extend beyond these three memorable months.

My RU experience was a very rewarding experience. Not only did the creative and vivid environment influence my work and make me move forward but what has remained with me is the feeling that the RU people are trusting and helping and inspiring people. This experience will continue and it doesn’t just end with the residency in it’s time and space frame. I found this very beautiful.

My RU/ Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education residency was the first residency of my art career. I was elated that it took place in the Bronx, the place where I was born, raised and lived. I wasn’t sure what to expect and really just thought that there would be a room I could work in and a chance to work with kids from my own neighborhood.

But there was so much more to my residency than I had ever expected. My weekly studio visits at the RU headquarters in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn were enlightening and informative and helped me to see my work from an outside perspective and gain exposure to curators that wouldn’t normally have known my work. The entire staff at RU are an amazing and diverse group of warm, generous and knowledgeable people. I had the help of a RU intern, Doreen St. John, who worked with me in my Bronx studio. I ambitiously took on a large scale sculpture made out of discarded women’s shoes for an upcoming exhibition at Hunter College. My RU and Casita Maria residency supplied me with 90% of those shoes, over 450 were needed and with the generous and continual support of this partnership, I attained my goal with minimal cost to me through donations.

As a NYC artist, the challenges to succeed always seem to outweigh the rewards. There are always opportunities that leave you wishing for more support, but my Residency Unlimited experience was rewarding, supportive and career changing. I have encouraged other fellow artists to apply to any program that RU is associated with. I am always happy to know that I am a part of the RU community of artists even after I am no longer in my residency. I look forward to all their amazing work and I hope to take part in another RU opportunity in the near future.

Through the guidance and genuine help from Residency Unlimited I was able to meet and discuss my work and the process like never before. I now understand why I do what I do. Invaluable as far as i am concerned.

I know that we are almost wrapping up my residency and would like to use the opportunity to thank you for the wonderful opportunity. I feel I have learned so much from it and still am learning. I had no idea how big the impact on my work will be. I see now how much as an artist the dialogue with another creative person is vital. Once again- THANK YOU!!!!

This was my first art residency outside my country. An opportunity to sharpen the senses, learn a new culture, to create bonds of friendship and mature work. It was an extraordinary experience and a unique opportunity for me.

Pedro Motta

My time in NYC was extremely productive thanks to RU . The support I received from the RU staff helped me maximize my short stay and was extremely beneficial in the organization and production of new work. The studio visits organized by RU were a great introduction to established curators and organizations but also an introduction to the NYC art scene itself.

My 6 month stay in New York was great anyway but without the fantastic support of the team of Residency Unlimited it would have been way harder to take full advantage of my time. Almost every week an organized studio visit with somebody from the art world organized by RU helped me a lot to improve my presentation skills and my own knowledge about my work. It felt almost like studying again. Thanks to that my stay was very productive. For every problem I had they found a solution. They do a great and necessary job for the artists.

I have been working in the AAI Studio Programs as an artist in residence 2011. This year the AAI Studio Program is partnering with Residency Unlimited. RU has provided studio visits for AAI artists, including myself, and it has been tremendously helpful and beneficial personally. I was recently accepted into a museum residency program thanks to the recommendation from Nathalie Angles, Director/Founder of Residency Unlimited. I am very impressed with the specific attention she gave me and how promptly she provided the connection for me. RU understands what artists need and provides a supportive network between artists and the art community.

During my 2010 residency with Residency Unlimited, I maintained a studio at the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park. The space allowed me to work larger than I would have otherwise and to accumulate and store materials, which is integral to my process.

We met regularly with curators and arts professionals, which was very useful in terms of getting feedback on my work as well as expanding my personal network. The RU artists in residence consisted of both local as well as international artists. This dynamic was interesting, and I feel we formed a nice community. Additionally, one RU staffer came to help me with a project while I was under a deadline. RU also provided us with exhibition opportunities. We realized two shows as a group, organized by RU selected curators. Finally, RU connected me to Elastic City, with whom I am developing a walk for September.

During this residency, I received support in many areas: workspace, networking, increasing my knowledge of other programs, exhibition opportunities, and more. I feel that as an organization, RU is flexible and responsive to meet the specific needs of its artists – quite the opposite of a bureaucracy. RU’s approach is a holistic one, which resulted in a very rich experience.

Organizing and managing the project The Missing Link was a very new type of curatorial experience for me. This would not have been possible without the extraordinary commitment of the RU staff during my 6 months residency. Since each artist had exactly three weeks to contribute to the project before passing it on to the next one, the challenge for me was to create and impose rules on the artists (a disciplined time constraint), while offering them total freedom in their contributions. 

The second difficulty was the whole project’s chance factor: I had no idea what the project would look like after six months of  collaboration. This specificity made The Missing Link as unexpected as it was fascinating to observe: each contribution was giving me, the curator, the opportunity to re-adapt and rethink my original aspect. It was like a perpetual challenging and questioning of my original concept and idea, a way of curating that I have previously never experienced. The end result was a 3 days exhibition of the process at the Residency Unlimited event space in December 2010..

What remains of this project in terms of my personal experience and curatorial practice is the discovery of a new type of collaboration, which doesn’t need to be physical, but can exist within constraints of time and space. This immaterial link, created between the artists and between each artist and myself, turned out to be the essence of the project. Once again the support provided by the RU staff was essential.

Residency unlimited offered the opportunity to be part of an international artistic community that I would otherwise have had no exposure to. We had regular discussion groups and RU arranged studio visits with well regarded curators and artists who gave excellent insight and critique to my work. In particular, Martha Kirszenbaum’s decision to curate an art show with RU gave me an opportunity to expand the orbit of my artistic practice. The regular emails and updates that RU sent notifying me of future opportunities were very helpful. As a result, I applied for a subsequent residency at the LMCC Swing Space and was awarded with residency for 2011. I consider what RU is doing an excellent service to the international arts community, will continue to stay in touch, and hope to be included in future projects.

RU residency distinguishes itself with its personal, highly adaptable, and dynamic approach with its residents and the art community from in and out of NYC. The program, through its activities (talks, projects, exhibitions, and meetings) helps build a strong sense of community with the other participants and art professionals. The regular presentation meetings followed by dialogues with RU participants, as well as the laptop studio visit with curators and gallerists, offer a unique richness in network.

This liveliness, the intelligence, and the flexible spirit and shape of the organization is what make [RU] attractive to artists and curators and are what will make it grow.