History[edit]

Artist groups resembling artist residencies can be traced back to at least 16th century Europe, when art academies began to emerge.^[3] In 1563 Duke of Florence Cosimo Medici and Tuscan painter Giorgio Vasari co-founded the Accademia del Disegno, which may be considered the first academy of arts.^[3] It was the first institution to promote the idea that artists may benefit from a localised site dedicated to the advancement of their practice.^[4] In the 17th century, the state of France funded the Prix de Rome, a scholarship financing artists to train for three to five years in institutions such as the palazzo Mancini in Rome and the Villa Medici in Florence.^[4] During the 19th century in Europe, artist communities began emerging in the countryside, where the outdoor setting was considered a catalyst for inspiration and the collaborative development of artistic ideas among the communities.^[5] A century later in 1919, the Staatliches Bauhaus emerged as a "counter-reaction to the model of academic education, where the artist is isolated from society".^[4]


The mid-20th century saw a large wave of artist residencies, particularly during the 1960s.^[5] The Artist Placement Group (APG) is widely considered to be one of the earliest iterations of an artist-residency, and was the first of its kind in the United Kingdom.^[6] The APG was founded in 1962, by visual artists Barabara Steveni and John Latham.^[6] The group is significant to the history of artist residencies, as it was one of the first major residencies to introduce visual artists into institutions.^[6] Steveni conceived the idea of an artist residency program whilst sourcing material to use in her artistic practice from a factory.^[7] The visit led Steveni to consider what benefits might come from a program which directly engaged artists in private institutions.^[7] The APG's objective was to promote the influence of art on society, and the influence of society on art, by "bridg[ing] the gap between artists and people at work so that each may gain from the other's perspectives and approaches to an activity".^[8] The wave of artist residency programs emerging in Europe in the 1960s may be attributed to several factors, including: the emergence and growth of regional arts associations; government changes in arts policy framework; and a shifting preference towards "community arts".^[9] In the United Kingdom, the increase in artist residencies during the mid-1960s coincided with a new Labour government, and in particular the new government’s writing of the 1965 White Paper, Policy for the Arts: the first steps, and redrawing of the Arts Council's Royal Charter in 1967.^[10] According to arts academic Kevin Stephens, "the key change [in the new charter] was its reference to 'the arts' rather than 'the fine arts exclusively'".^[11] This shift away from the predominance of high arts encouraged more experimental practices, which were facilitated by the model of artist residencies. These artist residency programs consisted almost exclusively of visual arts residencies. Although throughout the 1960s residency opportunities for poets, composers, and musicians appeared, the scene was nevertheless dominated by visual artists.^[9]


During the 1970s and 1980s, residency opportunities became increasingly common. They began to develop similar tendencies, indicating an emergent field of artist-in-residence programs.^[5] During the 1980s and 1990s, increased globalisation allowed residencies to become more accessible to artists from overseas, with institutions opening up their residency programs to international artists.^[5] The expansion of the internet in the early 2000s further globalised artist residencies, as cheaper and more immediate forms of communication allowed the organisation and application processes of international artist residencies to become easier and timelier. By the 2010s, artist residencies had become widely considered by artists to be "an indispensable part of their career".^[5]