Blue Sky Residency at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology 2026

Blue Sky, Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts and Sitka Center for Art and Ecology announce their ninth year of partnership to award a residency to one emerging or mid-career photographer for Spring 2026. The residency takes place on the Sitka Center campus in Otis, OR from April 25 to May 15, 2026.

Eligibility is limited to self-identified emerging or mid-career artists who have shown at Blue Sky, either juried into the PNW Drawers or in an exhibition in the main galleries (current and past years). The residency includes accommodation in a studio apartment, access to private studio space, a $1,000 stipend, wireless internet, access to the Center's library, and connection with other artists and ecologists in residence. Residents will have access to the Cascade Head Scenic Research Area and the Salmon River Estuary. The resident will be invited to show work at the 2026 Sitka Art Invitational and participate in an online resident talk during their residency. Blue Sky may showcase work created at the residency on community and library walls, the gallery's website, and social media, with the artist invited to present a short artist talk at Blue Sky in Summer or Fall 2026. Please note there is no darkroom facility or printers at the Sitka Center.

Applications must include 8-15 images representative of your work, an artist statement (4,000 characters max), an up-to-date resume or CV, and a one-page letter of interest addressing how the residency would benefit you at this phase in your career and how your artistic perspective or work relates to the Sitka Center's mission of providing time and space for place-based reflection, inquiry and creation at the intersection of art and ecology. Applicants may identify a particular project to focus on during the residency, but this is not required. The entry deadline is August 18, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. MDT. There is no application fee. Applicants will be notified of a decision in September.