AI and Artistic Creation Residency
Program: Arts in the Age of AI Residency
Organized by: Villa Albertine
Application Deadline: March 25, 2025, at 11:59 PM (Paris time)
Residency Period: Between January and December 2026
Location: United States (anchored in a specific U.S. city or region)
Residency Duration: 1 to 2 months
Number of Residencies: 4 in 2026, with 4 more planned for 2027
About
On the occasion of the AI Action Summit, Villa Albertine, The French Institute for Culture and Education in the United States, is launching Arts in the Age of AI, a new exploratory residency program in the U.S. at the intersection of art and emerging technologies.
Between January and December 2026, four creators or cultural professionals with a project related to artificial intelligence will benefit from a two-month research and exploration residency in the United States, supported by Villa Albertine. This program is set to continue in 2027 with four additional residencies, bringing the total number of residencies over two years to eight.
This program aims to stimulate innovation, reflection, and French-American collaborations by promoting exchanges with a diverse range of stakeholders: universities, businesses, artists, residents, public officials, and cultural institutions.
Villa Albertine’s Arts in the Age of AI residency is launched in partnership with and possible thanks to the primary sponsorship of Franco-American Patron and Technology Leader Fidji Simo.
The laureates will join the cohort of the 2026 Villa Albertine residency program, which will celebrate its fifth anniversary.
Eligible Profiles and Projects
This call is aimed at creators and cultural professionals with an original project related to artificial intelligence that requires an immersive stay in the United States.
Villa Albertine offers residents the opportunity to undertake a two-month research and exploration stay in a territory of their choice. The project must be anchored in a specific city or region. Through this exploration residency format, Villa Albertine encourages participants to travel and discover a territory, engaging with its key players to foster artistic or intellectual reflection that could not unfold in any other way. Such a residency is not meant for isolated work but for a process of field exploration, promoting inspiration and connections with local stakeholders.
This call is open to candidates who wish to work on or with artificial intelligence, and whose project requires an immersion stay in the United States. For example, the residency can serve as the research ground for a creative project utilizing artificial intelligence, linked to an American ecosystem. It can also provide an opportunity for a candidate to examine the impacts of artificial intelligence in a specific context within the United States, potentially using a comparative approach with Europe or France. Regardless of the project, the residency offers an opportunity to showcase expertise and foster new Franco-American collaborations.
The proposed project may be a new initiative designed specifically for Villa Albertine or an extension of a preexisting research endeavor that would find a unique development within this framework. In both cases, the project’s relevance lies in its connection to the territory.
The candidate must therefore anchor their residency in a territory that is relevant to the themes they wish to explore. The city or region must be clearly identified. The call is not open to itinerant projects involving travel across multiple states in the United States.
Residents will be supported by Villa Albertine’s office in the selected region, among the ten U.S. cities where it has permanent locations. Villa Albertine has permanent offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. For example, a residency carried out in Seattle will be managed by Villa Albertine’s office in San Francisco.
Two residents will be selected for projects in California, and two others will be chosen for projects in the rest of the U.S.
This call is not restricted to French or French-speaking applicants but is open to any creator, researcher, or cultural professional who meets the eligibility criteria outlined below, including the requirement of being supported by a French partner.
Application
Applications must be completed on our official platform before March 25, 2025 via this link.
In particular, candidates must provide:
- A presentation of the candidate’s background and work, less than 10 pages, justifying the professional practice of the candidate’s activity in the field of artificial intelligence (Max 10 MB).
- A short video presentation in English of the candidate’s background and project (either an already produced video available online or a new recording for this purpose, where the candidate introduces themselves and provides a brief overview of the project in a maximum of three minutes; no editing is required, just a simple, direct video shot with the candidate facing the camera and clearly visible). This video will demonstrate the candidate’s fluency in English.
- A letter addressed to Mr. Mohamed Bouabdallah, Cultural Counselor of France and Director of Villa Albertine, signed by the French partner involved in the project. The letter should outline how the partner will support the residency.
All documents must be filled out or uploaded on the dedicated platform. Incomplete or non-compliant applications, and/or applications submitted via other channels, will be considered inadmissible. Any misrepresentation will automatically render the application null and void. Applicants may submit only one application per season for the Arts in the Age of AI call.
Since the applications are reviewed, including by English-speaking experts, the candidate must respond in English to the questions on the form that require writing.
The candidate is invited to mention the preferred territory and duration for the residency (a minimum of one month and a maximum of two months). Villa Albertine reserves the right to offer a shorter residency duration than initially requested by the candidate, or to propose an adapted itinerary to make the project feasible.
