Native Artist Residency Launches in Provincetown

Fine Arts Work Center and the Walker Youngbird Foundation have launched the Walker Youngbird Native Artist Residency, with its first four-week program scheduled for spring 2027 in Provincetown. The initiative will provide one Native visual artist with housing, a 400-square-foot studio, a $2,500 stipend, staff support and access to the Work Center’s creative community. The foundation has committed $10,000 to the inaugural year. The selected artist will be in Provincetown from May 23 through June 19, 2027, concluding with a public program.

Support For Visual Artists

The residency is open to emerging- to mid-career Native and Indigenous visual artists ages 18 and older who live in the United States or Canada. Artists working in any visual medium may apply, with applications opening October 26.

Reid Walker, founder of the Walker Youngbird Foundation, said:

“Talent has never been the problem for Native artists. Access has. Too often, the funding and professional relationships that build careers have been out of reach. This residency gives an artist the freedom to experiment and take risks, alongside a community of peers. The work begins in Provincetown, but the relationships built here can carry an artist's practice well beyond those four weeks,”

Joint Artist Selection

A joint committee will select the inaugural resident based on the strength and vision of the artist’s work and the potential for the residency to meaningfully advance their practice. The committee includes Walker; Duane Slick, a Meskwaki and Ho-Chunk artist and educator; and Mala Iqbal, artist and chair of the Fine Arts Work Center’s Visual Arts Committee.

A Provincetown Creative Community

The program builds on the Work Center’s partnerships with the Institute of American Indian Arts and Indigenous Nations Poets, as well as its outreach across Cape Cod and the region. The residency will include professional photography, documentation and promotion alongside its public program.

Sharon Polli, Executive Director of the Fine Arts Work Center, said:

“We are delighted to partner with the Walker Youngbird Foundation in this new residency. I've been so impressed with the work the Foundation is doing, lifting up artists and bridging gaps in support for Native American artists and art. This residency aligns with that work, welcoming a Native American artist to the historic art community of Provincetown, providing time and space and the possibilities they hold, and engaging artists throughout the arc of their careers. We are deeply grateful for this partnership and what it offers to both the artist and Provincetown.”