Summer programs in Los Angeles and beyond

Find inspiration in Los Angeles this summer.

Otis College of Art and Design is pleased to announce new expanded programming for the summer of 2018. Building on the success of last year’s inaugural L.A. Summer Residency, the line-up features specialized programs for emerging curators, writers of color, fashion designers, L.A. art enthusiasts, and more. Programs will run from May through July and range from ten-day to month-long residential experiences. Summer keynote speakers will include Eric Fischl, Graham Harman, Jamillah James, Roxanne Gay, and Shirin Neshat. 

Applications are currently open and will close on January 31, 2018. 

“The L.A. Summer Residency enabled us to offer artists and designers worldwide unique access to Los Angeles’ cultural community as well as full use of the college’s exceptional facilities. This year we are expanding our programs with new areas of focus, bringing more opportunity for distinct and diverse creative voices to thrive,” said Bruce W. Ferguson, president of Otis College.

Open to a wide range of specializations, the L.A. Summer Residency is built for investigating new ideas, producing new work, and getting the essential feedback needed to advance your practice and career. The program features one-on-one studio visits with guest curators and artists, keynote speakers, panel discussions, excursions to select L.A. museums and galleries, and more. To take full advantage of the residential program, participants have unfettered access to the college’s advanced production studios and regularly scheduled Artist Nights provide the chance for further collaboration and peer critique.

Designed exclusively for writers of color, the Anaphora Writing Residency is focused on genre-specific workshops in fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction. Together with fellow writers and publishing professionals, attendees will build up their network and develop their ideas through small group workshops, industry roundtable discussions, and pitch madness sessions. The residency, created by poet and founder of Anaphora Literary Arts Mahtem Shiferraw, also features visiting writers such as Kwame Dawes, Natalie Diaz, Yasmine El Rashidi, and more and includes lectures, a keynote address, as well as consultation sessions with faculty.

New discipline-specific residencies also include the Fashion Design Residency, lead by Project Runway alum Amy Bond, and the Figurative Arts Residency, an intensive experience for artists interested in representational and figurative subjects. 

Additional programs geared towards emerging curators, art adventurers, and L.A. aficionados have also been launched. Designed for individuals looking to advance their artistic and curatorial skills, the Emerging Curators Retreat will focus on Los Angeles’ local art scene with powerhouse visiting curators such as Jamillah James of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and Hamza Walker, executive director of LAXART, one of the city’s most important platforms for emerging and under-recognized contemporary art. Nomadic L.A. explores the city as a cultural center, bringing participants to iconic historical and ecological sites such as the Watts Towers, the L.A. River, Olvera Street, and more. 

For the more adventurous, the ten-day Wilderness as Myth program centers on a road trip to sites of critical and cultural importance throughout the American Southwest while the Saas-Fee Summer Institute of Art ( SFSIA ) designed by visiting scholar and artist Warren Neidich, engages contemporary artists in political, socio-economic, philosophical, and historical discourses concerning the power of art.