Residencies

Overview 

 Application Deadline May 21, 2025

The Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award recognizes outstanding emerging Canadian dance choreographers or companies, celebrating new voices, ideas, and approaches to professional dance. Established in 1978 by the Clifford E. Lee Foundation, the award supports the creation and development of innovative choreographic work.

Applicants must submit a proposal for a full-length piece that explores a contemporary approach to dance in any style, designed for an ensemble of up to five dancers. The selected recipient will receive a cash prize, along with a creation residency in December 2025 and a production residency, subject to scheduling.

Description

The Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award is a combination of a $14,000 CAD cash prize for the commission of a new work and two residencies at Banff Centre. Banff Centre can support a company with up to five Canadian dancers, and a small team, including Choreographer, rehearsal director, stage manager, and designers. Both residencies include meals and accommodation for all company members at the Banff Centre.

First Residency (December 8–18, 2025):

• Focus on research and development.
• Provides studio space without technical support.

Second Residency (Dates TBD):

• Focus on production development.
• Scheduled based on project timeline and Banff Centre availability.
• Takes place in a venue space that is suitable for the project.
• Includes three technicians (lighting, sound, and staging) for two weeks.
• Concludes with a public performance.

Requirements

• Open to emerging Canadian choreographers (citizens or permanent residents) who have had only one or less mainstage presentations of a full-length dance work.
• Open to any style of contemporary dance.
• Applicants should have access to a company of up to five dancers for the creation and production of the work. If an applicant does not have access to a company, Banff Centre can facilitate arrangements with a suitable professional company on site.

Due to the generous support of Clifford E Lee Foundation all program fees including accommodation and meal plans for both residencies are fully covered.

Apply now

Created by the friends and family of the late artist Barbara Spohr, the Barbara Spohr Memorial Award for Photography encourages the development of Canadian contemporary photography by providing financial and creative assistance to a mid-career artist making a compelling contribution to the field. 

This annual award supports one mid-career Canadian artist (Canadian citizen or permanent resident) working in photography to undertake a fully funded residency at the Banff Centre.

Description

During this month-long self-directed residency, the award winner will have

• 24/7 access to the Crich Studio, a Leighton Artist Studio featuring private analogue darkroom facilities.
• access to digital photographic production.
• production support from the photography facilitator at Banff Centre.
• the option of giving a public talk with an associated fee at CARFAC-based rates.

Please note that limited darkroom supplies are available for purchase. The award winner should anticipate bringing supplies as needed for their project.

This residency is designed for participation over the entire program period. Variable dates will not be considered.

Requirements

Applications are open to Canadian mid-career photo-based artists with a strong exhibition record. 

For the purposes of this program, mid-career is defined as having

• a strong body of work with a minimum of ten exhibitions in a professional context, such as artist-run centres, public art galleries, recognized photo festivals, etc.
• 8 to 15 years of professional arts experience.
• demonstrated commitment to professional practice.

Applicants should demonstrate proficiency with darkroom processes, with an awareness of safety procedures.

The program suits those focused on

• working on a specific project.
• creating new works.
• exploring and researching innovative ideas.

Application Deadline: June 18, 2025
Program Dates: Jan 19, 2026 - Feb 13, 2026

For more information and to apply: https://bit.ly/4ksP5fU

Banff Centre’s Spring Writers Residency provides participants with the time and space for creative exploration away from the constraints of everyday life. Writers will be able to delve deep into their creative project, meet with a community of artistic peers, and take advantage of workshops and mentorship opportunities with faculty Eden Robinson, Nicole Sealey, Vidyan Ravinthiran, and professional guest Stephen Motika (Nightboat Books). 

This flexible program with optional program elements allows writers to choose the amount of support they are looking for. 

This two-week self-directed residency provides writers with individual accommodation and a small private studio for them to focus, reconnect, and re-energize their writing practice. In addition, participants will be able to engage with other writers on the program as well as specialist faculty. 

Since all program elements are optional, participants can customize the residency according to the writing support needed.

Optional elements include:

• talks from faculty Eden Robinson, Nicole Sealey, Vidyan Ravinthiran, and professional guest Stephen Motika.
• one-on-one mentoring sessions with faculty to discuss ideas, experiences, and obstacles.
• Q & A sessions.
• workshops to discuss useful techniques, devices, and aspects.
• public readings.

The program is designed to cater to emerging and established writers with a proven publication record seeking a period of dedicated time to work on a project in any genre.

Participants will benefit most if they are comfortable working autonomously in an unstructured environment. The program suits those focused on:

• working on a specific project.
• creating new works.

Participants are provided with individual accommodation and a small private studio to focus on their writing practice.

This program is run in English and only accepts projects that are being written in English. English is the language of Banff Centre correspondence.

Application Deadline: October 15, 2025
Program Dates: Mar 16, 2026 - Mar 27, 2026

For more information and to apply: https://bit.ly/41zo3vE

This 19-day self-directed residency offers the opportunity to work away from the constraints of everyday life, delve deep into a creative project and take advantage of a community of artisic peers. 

Deep Winter Writers provides opportunities for consultations with exceptional mentors Holly Pester, Divya Victor, and Nasser Hussain and professional guest Joshua Rothes (Sublunary Editions), and optional group sessions that allow writers to explore useful literary tools, aspects, and devices. 

Faculty are on-campus for the first two weeks of the residency. The third week allows residents to dive deeper into their writing and apply the learning from the first two weeks.

This three-week residency has a flexible format that allows participants to choose the amount of programming and support they are looking for. 

Optional elements include:

• thematic talks from specialist faculty and guests.
• one-on-one mentoring sessions with faculty to discuss ideas, experiences and obstacles they may be encountering in their writing across genres.
• Q & A sessions.
• workshops to explore techniques, aspects, and devices writers may find useful in their practice.
• public reading opportunities.

Participants are provided with individual accommodation and a small private studio to focus on their writing practice.

The program is designed to cater to writers in all creative genres. The program is designed for emerging and established writers with a proven publication record seeking a period of dedicated time to work on a project.

Participants will benefit most if they are comfortable working autonomously in an unstructured environment. The program suits those focused on:

• working on a specific project.
• creating new works.

This program is run in English and only accepts projects that are being written in English. English is the language of Banff Centre correspondence.

Application Deadline: August 20, 2025
Program Dates: Jan 12, 2026 - Jan 30, 2026

For more information and to apply: https://bit.ly/43hwfSx