Berlin Residency Program 2025-2026 Cycle Open Call

Sharmila Wood
Independent Curator and Director, Tarruru
Perth, Western Australia

Sharmila Wood is an Independent Curator who works at the intersection of social change, history, and ecology in design and art. She applies a multidisciplinary approach to curating that weaves together writing, research, design and communications. Her latest project, Actions for the Earth: Art, Care and Ecology is an exhibition being produced by Independent Curator’s International. The exhibition debuted at the Contemporary in 2023. The project exemplifies Sharmila’s interest in creating participatory exhibitions and fostering dialogue around ecological, political and social issues.

She is Director at Tarruru, a purpose-driven multidisciplinary creative studio and consultancy. In this role Sharmila has delivered public art projects, developed programming, led concept ideation and created the blueprint for an iconic new cultural centre that rethinks the role of cultural institutions in civic, cultural and economic life.

Sharmila’s curatorial practice reflects her interest in artistic and design movements that engage with contemporary issues. As an Australian of mixed ancestry she is interested in hybridity and globalising encounters that engage with heritage, spirituality, tradition and diverse knowledge systems.

Sharmila has provided creative direction on major publishing and design initiatives, and managed commissions across the arts. Her writing has been published in numerous books and journals. She has also delivered a number of editorial projects.

Jimmy James Canales
Berlin Residency Program Alum
Artist, Texas State University Faculty

Jimmy James Canales is a sculptor and performance artist based in San Antonio, TX. Currently his work explores imaginative, posable figures and proxy performance sculptures. Canales received his BFA from the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston and his MFA from the UT San Antonio. Locally he has exhibited work at Sala Diaz, Presa House, The Contemporary at Blue Star and the McNay Art Museum. Nationally his work has been exhibited at the DePaul University Art Museum in Chicago IL, Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA) in San Jose CA, and Great Jones Gallery in Seattle WA. Canales is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, most notably the Arch and Anne Giles Kimbrough Award for Artists from the Dallas Museum of Art (2015), the Tanne Foundation Award (2016), The Contemporary at Blue Star Berlin Residency Program at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, DE (2019) and the 2024 Individual Artist Grant from the Department of Arts & Culture in San Antonio, TX. He works as a Lecturer in Studio Art at Texas State University in San Marcos.

Jacqueline Saragoza McGilvray
Curator and Exhibitions Director
Contemporary at Blue Star

Since 2014 Jacqueline Saragoza McGilvray has curated projects for Contemporary at Blue Star in San Antonio. Her curatorial practice is centered on a collaborative, thoughtful, service-minded approach, committed to diversity in many forms and methods. She is drawn to work exploring personal passions and histories that can offer shared truths, and artists who invest in their craft, demonstrating artistic excellence and material expertise. McGilvray’s curatorial projects have been featured and reviewed widely including in Artforum, Hyperallergic, Juxtapoz, Scultpture Magazine, Glasstire, Sightlines, Texas Arts and Culture, Rivard Report, and more. Jacqueline is also a practicing artist with an MFA in Photography and Integrated Media from Ohio University and BFA from Texas State University in Photography.

Roberto Jose Gonzalez
Artist, Curator, Artist mentor

San Antonio, TX

Roberto Jose Gonzalez, is a Visual and Performance Artist in San Antonio, Texas. He has been concentrating full time on developing his repertoire in these dual mediums. His residence and studio is in the far Westside of San Antonio ( ETJ ) in the near hill country of Mico, Texas close to Medina Lake.

He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Painting from Trinity University, 1978 and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management from The University of the Incarnate Word, 1980. He was an exhibiting member with the Pintores Chicano art group, Con-Safo in the early seventies under the guidance of the esteemed painter Mel Casas. This early formative experience guided the scale and direction of his work.

Gonzalez worked as a fine arts curator and arts administrator, for over a decade at the City of San Antonio’s Carver Center in San Antonio. The esteemed Carver Director Jo Long mentored Gonzalez during that time. He has curated over two hundred local, regional and national art exhibitions for the Artist Alliance Gallery, The Carver, The City of San Antonio and The Blue Door Gallery. Being a curator exposed him to the full range of artists working today. Throughout his long career as an artist and arts administrator he has gained wide spanning expertise. Most recently his work was featured in XicanX:Dreamers and Changemakers and he was a 2024 NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentor.

Dr. Angelika Jansen Brown
Independent Curator
Contemporary at Blue Star Advisory Board Member

Dr. Angelika Jansen-Brown is a German born, and US and German based, curator and advocate for international and cultural exchanges. During her time in New York City she helped establish an institute at the German Department of New York University that had a sole purpose – bringing Americans and Germans together through learning the German language and exchanging cultural programs. In San Antonio, Angelika launched the Jansen-Perez Galleries, opening communication channels via visual art with Mexico and San Antonio. This work triggered cooperation with Monterrey and The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Angelika is on several cultural and educational boards and has coordinated numerous artist exchange programs for the City of San Antonio. In 2013 she was instrumental in establishing the Contemporary at Blue Star’s relationship with Künstlerhaus Bethanien and the beginning of our Berlin Residency Program. She splits her time between San Antonio and Berlin and is a member of Contemporary’s Advisory Board.

Four selected artists will be awarded one of four residency slots at Künstlerhaus Bethanien as a grantee of Contemporary at Blue Star.

Each artist receives a $2,000 stipend to aid with travel to residency and living costs.

The Contemporary covers costs of all program fees associated with residency: studio and living space, inclusion in the internationally-distributed BE magazine, curatorial visits, workshop access, etc.

With support from the City of San Antonio’s Global Engagement Office. resident artists will also travel to Darmstadt, Germany (a sister city of San Antonio) to meet with fellow artists and cultural leaders and visit cultural institutions. An additional stipend is provided for this trip.

Each selected artist will participate in a public program following the completion of the residency.

Artists reside in individual live-work studio spaces and have shared bathroom and shower facilities on each floor and shared laundry. For questions about building accessibility please contact KB. More information about Berlin Alumni HERE.

Eligibility

• Must currently reside in Bexar County and conduct a significant portion of your artistic practice/outreach in San Antonio.
• Artist must have established residency for 12 months prior to application period.
• Must have at least five years of relevant work experience and/or specialized arts training, such as a degree or certificate, or intensive period of time developing their skill and knowledge base.
• Demonstrate a clear investment of time and resources into your artistic practice and/or derive a portion of individual earned income from your artistic practice or areas related to the field.
• Have a professional portfolio that includes publicly displayed and possibly published works.
• The four residency cycles are July 15 – October 8; October 15- January 8; January 15 – April 8; April 15 – July 8. Applicants must be able to attend during ANY of these time periods. Artists should not apply if their schedule does not allow them the flexibility to attend during any of these time periods and/or for the duration of the residency. Cycles are assigned after residents selected and through group dialogue.

• Students are not eligible to apply.
• Artist collaborative teams/collectives not eligible to apply.
• Literary artists are not eligible to apply
• Curators, arts writers, and critics are not eligible to apply

The Berlin Residency application consists of:

• CV/resume
• Artist statement
• Letter of interest
• Letter of recommendation
• and a portfolio of 20 images
• There is no application fee

How many alums are parents?

25% of Berlin alum are parents. Of the 40 selected for the residency, 10 are parents. At the time of their residencies, their kids ages have ranged from toddler through high school age.

What if I have a day job?

30 of 40 alum artists had day jobs/full time jobs when they applied and were in residence. It takes some conversations, but working through the logistics of putting day to day responsibilities on hold or tending to them remotely has been possible for many past artists. Artists have taken sabbatical or temporary leave from their day jobs, taught an online class remotely, etc. The Contemporary has also written letters of support for selected artists to share with their employers and institutions.

Is the residency only for mid-career or more established artist?

Alum represent a wide range of seasons in life and careers with a diversity of life styles. The residency is ideal for artists who are serious about their practice and in need of focused time for research and development who will benefit from the context of Berlin.

Does the residency align with my teaching schedule or my kids school schedule?

The residency is approximately 3 months and due to its length none of the slots align with academic schedules or school breaks.

Can I miss part of the residency?

Residents are permitted to arrive a few days late or leave a few days early. They cannot miss more than 1/4 of residency or they forfeit their slot. Not being able to attend the residency for an extended period is not in the spirit of the opportunity or a good use of resources. We encourage you to apply when you can attend the residency for its full length. Artists confirm their travel itineraries with the Contemporary and KB.

How many artists are in residency at KB?

There are more than 20 residents from around the world in residence at one time at KB. Their residencies range from 3 months to 12 months.

What is the live-work studio like?

The live work studio is equipped with a single twin bed, kitchenette, and open studio space connected to the small living area. Bathroom and shower facilities are shared on each floor. Studios are not designed for artist teams, couples, families, etc. Alum artists who had family stay for visits, extended stays, or their full residency rented apartments close to residency. This is also what artist families from other countries in residence do.

Do I need a visa?

At this time U.S. residents to not need a visa to travel to Berlin for the residency. The residency is under 90 days which falls within the tourist time allowed for no tourist visa. More details on visas here.

Passport

Artists are required to maintain an up to date passport which must be valid for their date of return and have at least 2 blank passport pages.

A non-profit organization that has earned a worldwide reputation for its international residency studio program, Künstlerhaus Bethanien gives 25 artists from around the world up to yearlong residencies at their fully-appointed facility in the heart of Berlin’s vibrant art scene. It aims to establish a lively dialogue between artists from various backgrounds and disciplines and the public at large. Artists attend residencies as a grantee of various partner institutions. More at http://www.bethanien.de/en/residency.

Exterior view of Künstlerhaus Bethanien