Visual Arts - Sounding Like a Mountain (Banff Centre)

Application Deadline: November 18, 2026
Program Dates: May 17 to June 18, 2027
For more information and to apply.

Drawing on concepts inherent to acoustic ecology and taking the mountains of Banff as inspiration, participants are invited to explore how sound activates multiple temporalities – shaped by land use, migration, ecological disruption, colonial infrastructures, and so on. The Earth can be thought of as a field of relations in which biological, geological and social processes co-create one another. Participants will reflect on ecological and ethical listening and sounding as it informs thinking, art-making and presentation.

Description

Visual Arts residencies at Banff Centre are structured programs of faculty-led activity and mentorship, supporting project-based studio practice.

This program supports: 

• the development of theoretical concepts and artistic ideas through independent research alongside a structured program of faculty-led activities and workshops
•  one-to-one faculty mentorship through studio visits and faculty meetings
• the development of technical skills through experimentation and skill-based learning assisted by staff technicians
• peer-to-peer informal learning related to studio and professional practice
• the development of a professional community towards developing and sustaining an artistic career.

Artists are assigned individual studios with access to shared production facilities. Knowledgeable staff are available to provide technical assistance.

Please take note of the program itinerary when planning your project proposal. 

Facility access is based on availability of facilitators and priority goes to those requesting access in their initial applications. 

Requirements 

This residency is for individual artists or duos (no more than two collaborators) at any stage of their career.

 Applicants should

• be available to participate over the entire five-week period of the program
• have completed formal training in visual arts at the post-secondary level, or
• have equivalent experience and recognition from their peers acquired through traditional knowledge and practices.

The program is designed to cater to visual artists working in, but not limited to, practices in

• ceramics
• digital media
• painting, drawing, printmaking, and papermaking
• performance art
• photography 
• sculpture and installation.