The Brooklyn Bridge. Photo: Simone Roda


The Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) wishes to contribute to the establishment of ties and exchanges of artistic viewpoints between independent Québec and foreign curators and seeks to promote the work and career development outside Québec of Québec curators. In 2011, it concluded an agreement with the International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP) in Brooklyn, New York. This agreement calls for the establishment of a residency program that enables a Québec curator to engage in a three-month research residency in Brooklyn.

The ISCP is one of the leading contemporary arts residency centres in the United States. Established in 1994, the ISCP has hosted over 1 000 artists and curators from more than 50 countries. It occupies in Brooklyn a building that houses 36 studios, exhibition room and a space in which to carry out projects. The ISCP fosters career advancement by enabling guest artists and curators to interact with New York’s artistic community and establish ties with it.

Tours of the ISCP’s facilities are organized regularly for American or foreign interveners, thus putting the artists and curators in residence in contact with numerous professionals. The ISCP also organizes study trips and open house events. Each year, 100 or so artists stay at the ISCP and over 10 000 visitors take part in the organization’s public activities.

Through this agreement, CALQ wishes to offer Québec professional curators a new career development tool and initiate fruitful collaboration with the ISCP.


Artistic field
The visual arts


Target applicants
The program is intended for independent curators with professional experience in the organization of contemporary arts projects. An independent curator is a specialist who independently organizes exhibitions or programs. He often has to his credit a number of publications. He may have specific training in art history, sociology, philosophy or the arts, or be a professional artist. To be eligible, applicants must have:

• realized independent projects;

• to their credit at least three public presentations of their work or five years of experience in the organization of projects, programs or events;

• published critical texts in a professional context.

Individuals who are employed full time as curators in an artistic institution are ineligible for this program.


Types of eligible projects

• research linked to the development of a concept for an exhibition, project or program related to a dissemination site or an event;

• research on active artistic networks in New York;

• exploration and analysis of practices linked to the interpretation of artistic forms that might be drawn upon in the Québec professional context;

• professional enrichment;

• the development of ideas and the drafting of a text focusing on an aspect related to contemporary art that refers to the Québec and American cultural contexts.

Lenght of stay and amount of the grant
This program enables a Québec curator to engage in a three-month residency at the ISCP in Brooklyn, from November 2012 to January 2013.

CALQ awards an $11 500 grant under the program. The grant is intended to cover the curator’s personal insurance, travel costs, housing and living expenses, and the cost of purchasing, transporting and insuring the material required to carry out his project.

The International Studio and Curatorial Program makes available to the guest Québec curator a work space and ensures professional guidance during his stay.



The ISCP building in Brooklyn


Registration deadline
April 1, 2012


Additional information
This exchange is made possible through the collaboration of the International Studio and Curatorial Program and the Québec Government Office in New York.

International Studio and Curatorial Program: www.iscp-nyc.org

Contact information for Québec government delegations, offices and field offices abroad is available on the Website of the ministère des Relations internationales.



Return to the Studio and studio-apartments grant program's General information and application form