Lanesboro Early Career Artist Residency 2027

Lanesboro Arts runs an artist residency in Lanesboro, Minnesota — a town of about 754 people in the bluff country of the state's southeastern corner. The Early Career Artist Residency Program is supported through 2027 by the Jerome Foundation and awards two or three residencies per year. The 2027 cycle is open for Round One applications through May 30, 2026.

The program is built around place and community rather than studio isolation. Residencies run two or four weeks and ask the artist to either apply their work to the people and places of Lanesboro or let the rural context inform their practice. All disciplines are welcome, with photography listed alongside drawing, fiber, glass, media arts, music, painting, performance, printmaking, sculpture, wood, interdisciplinary, and writing.

Eligibility is narrow geographically. Applicants must be legal residents of Minnesota or one of the five boroughs of New York City and must have lived there for at least a year before applying. The 'early career' definition is precise: at least two years of presenting one's own projects but no more than ten years of such experience. First-time creators and established artists are both out of scope.

Applications run in two rounds. Round One asks for basic biographical and project information and closes May 30, 2026; Round Two, due August 1, asks for fuller project plans and pays a $75 honorarium on completion. Notification of Round One results comes June 9. Selected residents receive a $1,000/week stipend, housing, and studio space; materials and transportation come out of the stipend. Application is free.