Open call: Glenkeen Garden Residencies

The Crespo Foundation is delighted to announce its third round of applications for the artist-in-residence programme Glenkeen Garden Residencies in West Cork, Ireland. Artist pairs or collectives (of up to three artists) working across different disciplines are invited to apply and spend two to three months living and working at Glenkeen Garden.

The residencies take place twice a year. This call is for three residency phases: August–October 2026, March–May 2027 and August–October 2027. The closing date for applications is April 30, 2025.

The program aims to support the development of artists based in Europe while boosting their international recognition. In its third open call, the residency expands the framework of ArtNature/NatureArt with Cultivating Commons — inspired by the interconnectedness of Glenkeen Garden and the surrounding social and cultural landscapes of West Cork. The residency seeks to provide a set and setting for exploring new forms of artistic collaboration and interdisciplinary cross-pollination. Artists are encouraged to engage in transdisciplinary exchange with humanities scholars and scientists from the residency’s network, as well as with fellow artists and artisans from the local community. The programme is scientifically supported by the Senckenberg research institution in Frankfurt and the University College of Cork.

Through this program, artists are offered the space, time and inspiring environment to create together and craft innovative artworks. These creations will be shared with the public in various forms, notably through the Glenkeen Variations, an exhibition and event series at the Goethe-Institut in Dublin, Ireland, and beyond, culminating in a large-scale group exhibition at the Crespo Open Space in Frankfurt am Main accompanied by a catalogue (planned for 2028).

Application requirements
The programme is intended for professional artists of any media. Interdisciplinary work is particularly welcome. Applications are only permitted as a group of at least two and a maximum of three people. The competition is open to artists based in Europe. Students still enrolled at universities and colleges at the time of residency cannot apply. At least one group member should hold a valid driving license and be willing to drive.

Services provided
–On-site accommodation and a space in which to work.
–Monthly bursary of 2,500 EUR per person.
–Travel costs for the journey to and from Glenkeen Garden.

ArtNature/NatureArt: Cultivating Commons
In an era marked by disjointed acceleration and divisive politics, the residencies at Glenkeen Garden ask to consider art and artmaking as acts of gathering. Rooted in the foundation’s socio-cultural ethos, shaped by the multispecies collaboration that defines Glenkeen Garden and inspired by the buzzing creative vibrancy of West Cork, with its countercultural legacy, Cultivating Commons focuses on practices of togetherness and the intricate networks of reciprocal relations. Through material investigations or conceptual exploration, in intimate collaborations or by the blending of disciplines, aesthetics, and languages, residents are invited to use their time at Glenkeen to reinvent and reimagine ways of communing — with nature, with art, and with one another.

About Glenkeen Garden
Glenkeen Garden is a large estate spanning 10 hectares located in Roaringwater Bay in West Cork, Ireland’s south coast. The garden was created by Ulrike Crespo, the founder of the Crespo Foundation, and her partner Michael Satke over a period of 20 years. The garden is an inspiration for creativity and was also a significant source of influence for Ulrike Crespo’s photographic experiments and series. It features sculptures by several artists, such as Peter Kogler, Gunter Damisch, David Nash, and Laura Ford, amongst others. Piet Oudolf, who designed New York’s High Line, designed the central grass meadow. 

The Crespo Foundation
Founded by psychologist, photographer, and philanthropist Ulrike Crespo (1950-2019), the foundation is based in the founder’s city of Frankfurt with an artists’ residency in her adopted home of Glenkeen Garden, Ireland. The Crespo Foundation has a twin focus on the social and cultural sectors.

Please find important details on your application here.