Are artist residencies fully funded?

Some are; many are not. The artist-residency landscape splits into three rough tiers. Fully funded residencies — programs like DAAD Berlin, MacDowell, Rijksakademie, Skowhegan, and most state-funded European residencies — cover travel, housing, materials, and a stipend that lets the artist live without secondary income for the duration. These are the most competitive: acceptance rates often run under 5% for the well-known ones. A second tier covers some costs but not all. The program might provide free studio space and housing but no stipend, meaning artists need to bring their own income or absorb the cost of living somewhere new for weeks or months. Many regional residencies, university-affiliated programs, and private foundations operate in this tier. The funding language matters — phrases like "modest stipend," "subsidized housing," or "travel grant available" usually signal partial funding. The third tier is paid residencies, where the artist pays the program a tuition or participation fee in exchange for studio access, sometimes with optional housing for an additional charge. These run anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per month. Some artists find them worthwhile for the time and community; others find the math doesn't work. The fastest way to tell which tier a residency falls into is to read the program's funding description first, before the artistic profile. A program that lists a specific stipend amount and what's covered is almost always fully funded. A program that talks about "supportive environment" without naming what they pay for is usually partial or self-funded. Browse the OpenCall Radar fully-funded filter to surface only the first tier.