BIPOC Awarded Residency

Photo credit: Dustin Hamman

PLAYA’s BIPOC Awarded Residency is for Oregon-based BIPOC artists, scientists and culture bearers. Emerging and established practitioners engaged in the arts and sciences are welcome; including, but not limited to, naturalists, culture bearers, Traditional Ecological Knowledge holders, musicians, designers, crafters, sustainability leaders, place keepers, social practitioners, biologists, visual artists, weavers, writers and performing artists.

PLAYA’s programs focus on expanding and deepening the fields of art and science to empower the human motivation necessary for a healthy and whole future on this planet. We believe if human society is to maintain vibrancy of culture and biodiversity, it needs new ways of seeing the world. On the traditional lands of the Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin Paiute peoples, and surrounded by the living laboratory of both the Fremont National Forest and BLM high desert public lands, PLAYA’s residencies provide ample space for study, exploration and inspiration.

PLAYA is committed to providing supported time and space in this landscape to our BIPOC neighbors.

2025 Schedule

This 7-night residency will run from Monday, November 24 – Monday, December 1, 2025. PLAYA provides one group meal for this residency on Monday, November 24, 2025.

Eligibility

This residency is developed by PLAYA along with a BIPOC Curator partner; participation in this residency is by invitation only. If you are interested in partnering with PLAYA to curate the BIPOC Awarded Residency, please reach out to us at programs@playasummerlake.org.

PLAYA is committed to providing opportunities for Oregon-based BIPOC artists, scientists and culture bearers. As such, participants as well as the Curator of this program must be Oregon residents to participate. All participants must be 18 years old or older.

Support

This residency is supported by the Ford Family Foundation’s Golden Spot Grant. Each resident and the Curator receive a cost-of-living stipend to participate. Participants additionally receive free lodging, studio space, and 1 group meal cooked by PLAYA’s house chef.

For Oregon-based residents seeking additional grant funding for this opportunity, please see Oregon Community Foundation’s Creative Heights Grant and James and Marion Miller Foundation’s Spark Awards for Mid-Career Artists.

Additional RESIDENCY DETAILS

PLAYA recognizes that living in a remote and rural community can be challenging. If you have any questions about whether PLAYA is the best fit for you and your group, please review our 2025 Know Before You Go Handbook. Additionally, if you have questions about the residency accommodations and studio spaces, please see the Cabins page of our website.

Residents stay in 1- or 2-bedroom cabins free of charge, and are responsible for their own travel costs and food while they are in residence.

studio/Work spaces

Please review the “Facilities + Site” section of the Know Before You Go Handbook (pages 10-13) to see what PLAYA provides in each studio space. Brief descriptions are below:

Sandhill Studio – Printmaking, Book Arts, and Visual Arts -Well equipped studio with 2 manual etching presses and blankets. Accommodates work on paper up to 22” X 30″
Avocet Studio – Multi-Purpose Visual Art Studio
Wildcat Studio – Multi-Purpose Studio
Diablo Studio – Multi-Purpose Studio
Petroglyph Studio – Multi-Purpose Studio
Movement Studio in Commons
Moonglade Studio: Music & Multipurpose Studio
Writing work spaces in most cabins
Smaller “non-messy” art studios in 2-3 cabins