Open call for summer program

Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR) welcomes applications for the 2025 summer residency through Friday, April 1, 2025.

Celebrating its 15th season on Fire Island in Cherry Grove, New York, Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR) is now accepting applications for its prestigious and internationally recognized summer residency program for emerging visual artists identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, intersex, two spirit or queer. LGBTQ+ emerging artists demonstrating new perspectives in contemporary visual art are encouraged to apply by April 1, 2025.

The 2025 residency cycle will feature a cohort of jury-selected visual art residents in the historically queer island hamlet of Cherry Grove, NY for a three-week residency marked by intimate studio visits with, and public lectures by, renowned leaders in contemporary art, curation, activism and scholarship. The greater Fire Island community, and visitors from New York and Long Island, are invited to attend free public programs by esteemed guests of FIAR. The program is free to residents, who are provided with an honorarium, stipends for meals and travel, and a free, modest live/work space. 

The visual artist cohort will be joined by an appointed Scholar in Residence.

“FIAR represents a great opportunity for cross-generational connection between newer and more established queer artists. I loved having the chance to discover exciting work and ideas in a setting that promoted thought and dialogue over high-pressure careerism.” —Visiting Artist Nayland Blake

“The pool of amazing and talented people who applied to FIAR was just mind-boggling: clearly this is a very-much needed organization! Then, when I got out there for a visit, I really experienced the warmth and specialness of what the participants had been able to build together among themselves—I felt the love!” —Visiting Artist and Juror Amy Sillman

Application fee: 40 USD.

2025 Selection Jury: 
Stamatina Gregory, Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Collections at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art / Mark Armijo McKnight, Artist and Assistant Professor of Expanded Photography at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University / Ksenia M. Soboleva, Art Historian, Writer and Curator / Jovanna Venegas, Curator at SculptureCenter NY

2025 Summer Residency dates
July 11–August 1, 2025
Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York, USA

Artist Editions
FIAR is supported in part by the sale of editions produced exclusively for the organization by celebrated LGBTQ+ artists. We are thrilled to offer limited editions by acclaimed artists Leilah Babirye, Anthony Cudahy, Jeffrey Gibson, Paul Mpagi-Sepuya, Catherine Opie, Mickalene Thomas, Nayland Blake, Nicole Eisenman. For more images and details about these and other works, visit here.

About FIAR
Founded in 2011, Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization which brings lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer emerging artists to Fire Island, a place long-steeped in LGBTQ history, to create, commune, and contribute to the location’s rich artistic history.

Please visit here for more information and to learn how you can support.