Art in Nature Residency

The Taft Gardens & Nature Preserve is a one-of-a-kind experience that has inspired visitors for over 30 years. The Art In Nature Residency, located in the Studio Gardens, is a 5-year-old program that captures the spirit of our long-standing mission:

“Explore the relationship between humans and their environment.”

This unique program works to illuminate the vision of growth and understanding of ourselves and others through the experience of creating art in a natural setting.

The Art in Nature Residency allows artists to develop new works with a broadly experimental, environmental, and ecological focus. We invite the residency artists to take inspiration from the stewarded Gardens and Nature Preserve and are encouraged to glean from a wide variety of natural resources on the property.

For the 2025/26 Season, we will offer:

One 9-month residency in our Historic Art Studio

Three 1-month residencies in the Protea Studio

One Invitational Residency

During their time at Taft, recipients will work in and around the surrounding grounds and open space. Applicants must establish a clear connection between their projects and some specific aspect of the property.

The residency concludes each year with an exhibition and presentations of work, with 20% of sales proceeds going to the CEF/Taft Gardens. Every professional in any discipline, including visual fine arts, craft, sound, performance, writing, culinary, etc, is welcome to apply.

The application process is competitive, and we cannot take as many applicants as we would like each year due to funding. Therefore, we highly recommend that applicants plan to apply more than once.

9-month artist residency

1-month artist residency