Open call for 2017 residencies at The Center for Afrofuturist Studies at http://publicspaceone.com">Public Space One in Iowa City, IA. The Center for Afrofuturist Studies (CAS) is an initiative to re-imagine new futures for marginalized peoples by generating safe work spaces for artists of color. Remapping the possibility for what “Black art” should look like, we aim to provide new arts educational opportunities in Iowa and to inspire a new generation of artists to cultivate risk and aesthetic experimentation.

The theme for 2017 is: ecologies. From the Greek root, oikos, meaning “house,” we can understand ecology as the study of habitation and of the systems––environmental, societal, cultural, political, emotional, historical, psychical––that underlie habitation. In 2017, the Center for Afrofuturist Studies is calling for artists and writers of color, across all media, whose work engages with the study of environment, of one’s ‘home,’ of the ways one ‘makes space’ in this world or in other worlds. We also seek to make greater ties, within the lexicon of Afrofuturism, to the environmental, to our own planet Earth and to its changing landscapes, changing atmosphere, diminishing resources. We make a call to sustainability and to the practice of sustainability. We seek to bring about longevity in the way we talk about Black lives. We make claims to the future. We do this by asserting connection––engaging or disengaging with pre-existing systems, striking up new systems, striking down the old systems.  We make a pass, by way of the ecological, toward “home.” – Anaïs Duplan, curator

The CAS will host 4 artists-in-residence from September through December 2017. Residencies will run between 4-8 weeks in duration. Every visiting artist at CAS completes one public event (e.g. artist talk, public intervention, gallery show) and one youth arts workshop for local low-income K-12 students, in partnership with The Dream Center and the Broadway Neighborhood Center. Artists will submit proposals for public events and youth workshops with their applications. 

Residencies include a private studio at Public Space One and access to shared space and equipment, a living stipend, lodgings, and travel reimbursement.

We welcome applications from artists across all disciplines, including new and experimental media as well as media we don’t yet know about. We also welcome applications from scholars, authors, poets, bookmakers, etc. We’re interested in everything. 

Application deadline: 11:59pm, Sept. 30. Notifications will be made by November 1.

For more information and to apply, visit: http://afrofuturist-studies.tumblr.com/Apply">http://afrofuturist-studies.tumblr.com/Apply