Free Columbia Residency Program Crowdfunding

Spring Crowdfunding! The Free Columbia Residency program is now in full swing after one year in operation and ten total residencies. We currently have five artists in residence, in areas including ceramics, painting, and music, and are excited to welcome more throughout a fully booked 2025 with projects around stone sculpture, graphic design, poetry, storytelling, and more. As Free Columbia has responded to a changing world, we have sensed a real need in young people today to have intentional space to pursue their inspirations and artistic understandings of the world and of themselves, and have been determined to be an organization that can offer a place to do this.

Each resident comes with a self-designed project to undertake during their time in the program, and is supported by the other artists in residence, community members, mentors, and the facilities and contagious creative energy that envelops Free Columbia. Every week, we host a potluck for about 20-40 people which transitions after dinner to an artistic sharing space for one of the residents to offer a window into their work, ideas, and process, as well as receive feedback and support from the community. These sometimes look like performances or artist talks, other times like workshops, and others like an experiential and participatory creative space.

The nature of these residencies is different for each person who comes, and residents are able to find their own unique rhythms around creativity and artistic process. Residencies are offered on a sliding-scale and range between three to six months, depending on the project. In order to make sure there are no financial barriers to participate in these residencies, and ensure the ongoing existence of the residency program as a whole, we rely on grassroots fundraising from our community and people all over the world who are interested in supporting the accessibility of arts and culture, particularly around youth and education. So far, this residency program has been unbelievably rich in creativity and community, and we hope to only expand that going forward. Thank you!

Learn more about the residency here.