Lucas Artists Residency Program

The Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program (LAP) is a creative incubator and cultural producer dedicated to investing in artists and their work. We support visual artists, composers, writers, performers, scholars, and others from around the world to undertake critical investigations of contemporary issues, and to create and present new and experimental works.

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A storied history of creativity and innovation. 

Established in 1939, Montalvo Arts Center is home to the third oldest residency program in the United States. In 2004, Montalvo recommitted to its support of artists and opened a new, state-of-the-art facility, relaunching as the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program. The residency is dedicated to providing artists with a flexible and expansive space in which to create, encouraging the creative process, risk taking, collaboration, and cross-disciplinary investigation of contemporary issues. The LAP is a hybrid model that supports uninterrupted time to develop new work, while offering opportunities to share ideas and projects through public programming and partnerships.

Building a community of creative expression.

Since its inception, the program’s curatorial team has worked to develop a robust commissioning program for Montalvo and the greater Bay Area. These commissions encourage the development of ambitious new work, and provide opportunities to reinvest in and amplify the voices of LAP artists beyond their time spent in residency. 

We believe in the power of artists’ work, ideas, and processes to catalyze important conversations that address contemporary issues. We value diversity, equity, access, and inclusion, and are committed to supporting a broad mix of artistic voices, fostering a shared sense of community and belonging. We strive to produce innovative programming that connects LAP artists with the Bay Area and beyond.

Artists, Performers, Composers, Writers, Scholars, Rebels, and Visionaries.

The LAP welcomes over eighty artists a year from around the world to our facilities. LAP Fellows are selected through a competitive two tier juried nomination process while Guest Artists arrive through a curated invitation process. LAP artists have the unique opportunity to bring collaborators with them into residence. We also host creative teams and support them to incubate and develop new work and projects.

Please note that the Lucas Artists Residency Program does not typically use an open application process; all Fellowships are selected first through an internal nominating committee, then through a juried selection process. While we do occasionally open up for artists to apply directly, unless we have posted the information here, we do not have an application available at this time, nor do we have a scheduled future time for applications to be open.

Home to risk takers, iconoclasts, and a long list of awards.

LAP artists are emerging, mid-career and venerable creatives committed to pushing their practice forward, creating thought-provoking work, and shifting our shared moral compass toward justice and humanity. For this they have received distinguished awards in their given fields from: