Berlin Residency Program 2026-2027 Cycle Open Call

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 44 selected for the residency, 11 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?

33 of 44 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. Starting late 2026, an approved ETIAS authorization for short tourist/business stays (up to 90 days within 180), in addition to proof of funds/return tickets will be required.

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.

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.

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

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. Her essays have been published in various publications and she has served on a wide range of grant and exhibition panels. Jacqueline was a 2024 AAMC Propel Program Curatorial Fellow. She also dedicates time to giving professional development workshops for artists and participating in mentorship programs, such as an Artist/Mother Crit Group Mentor and in NYFA’s Immigrant Artist program. 

Chris Sauter
Berlin Residency Program Alum
Artist, UT San Antonio Faculty

Chris Sauter works across media exploring the interplay of history, biology, scientific discovery, and material culture. He has exhibited across the United States, Mexico and Europe. His works have been featured at many institutions such as the Musee d’Art Moderne Saint-Etienne, France; The Drawing Center, NY; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art; the Dallas Museum of Art; and The Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI. His work has been discussed in Art in America, Frieze, Art Papers, New Art Examiner, Sculpture Magazine, Kunstbeeld, The New York Times, The Brooklyn Rail, Village Voice among others.

In 2018, The McNay Art Museum commissioned a large-scale installation titled Pleasure Principle for their exhibition Immersed. Sauter was included in Generation Z, a survey of contemporary art at PS1, New York and State of the Art, Discovering American Art Now at Crystal Bridges, Bentonville, AR. He has been a resident artist at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin at a part of the Contemporary at Blue Star’s Berlin Residency Program, and Artpace, San Antonio. Sauter is a member of M12 Studio, a group of award-winning artists, researchers, and writers making projects that explore public space, rural cultures and landscapes. He is a Professor of art at the University of Texas, San Antonio.

Dr. Sarah E. Kleinman

Director and Chief Curator, Texas State Galleries

Texas State University

Dr. Sarah E. Kleinman is Director and Chief Curator of the Texas State Galleries at Texas State University, where she leads student-centered exhibition and artistic programming while collaborating across university departments. She recently curated Foregrounding Paradise: Beverly Penn, a thirty-year survey of the Texas artist’s contributions to the Metals program at Texas State University and the field of metalsmithing.

For over a decade, Kleinman has worked as a curator, digital archivist, arts administrator, and instructor in the United States and abroad. She specializes in modern and contemporary art and museum studies, with a focus on Minimalism, Conceptualism, and Institutional Critique. Her research and curatorial work explore themes of migration and movement, personal history, identity, materiality, and postcolonial/decolonial theory in transcultural contexts.

She earned her PhD and MA in Art History from Virginia Commonwealth University and her BA in Political Science and Art & Art History from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her work has been supported by the Fulbright Program, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship Program, and the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Jason Willome

Berlin Residency Program Alum
Artist, UT San Antonio Faculty

Jason Willome is an interdisciplinary artist whose work investigates perception, materiality, and the expressive potential of surface. His paintings, drawings, and experimental projects navigate the tension between illusionistic depth and the assertion of the picture plane, often conjuring otherworldly, liminal spaces that blur the boundaries between reality and fantasy. In 2024, he was one of four artists selected by the Contemporary at Blue Star for the Berlin Residency Program at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, where he expanded his inquiry into the symbolic and emotional dimensions of material, memory, and consciousness. Willome holds an MFA from the University of Colorado Boulder, has exhibited nationally and internationally, and been featured in Beautiful Decay, Glasstire, and Agave Magazine. He lives and works in Texas and teaches in the School of Art at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Isabel Alexander Servantez III

Curator and Art Historian

Isabel Alexander Servantez III is a San Antonio born and based curator and art historian. He holds a BA in art history and criticism from The University of Texas at San Antonio where he studied under the acclaimed Chicano printmaker, Malaquias Montoya. Isabel earned his MA in modern and contemporary art history from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he focused on the art and writing of Malaquias and Lezlie Salkowitz-Montoya.

In 2020 Isabel held the prestigious title of Semmes Foundation Intern in Museum Studies at the McNay Art Museum. During that internship Isabel co-curated the nationally recognized exhibition, The Art of SA Eats / Sabor a San Antonio, with Edward Hayes, director of the El Paso Museum of Art.

Isabel has held curatorial roles at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago, Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, and the AltaMed Art Collection in Los Angeles. His curation focuses on platforming underrepresented groups and championing team members to best realize art in community.

Isabel has been a grant panel reviewer for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Houston Arts Alliance, and the San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture.

In 2025 Isabel began the La Lucha Sigue Chicana/o/x Art History Book Club, which meets at Interloper Gallery. Isabel also recently began writing a book about Chicana/o/x art in San Antonio.

Elizabeth Kathleen Mitchell, Ph.D

Head of Curatorial Affairs, Curator of Prints and Drawings

McNay Art Museum

Elizabeth Mitchell holds a Ph.D. in 18th-century British prints from the University of California, Santa Barbara; an M.A. in 19th-century British painting from the University of Arizona (Tucson, Arizona); and B.A. degrees in Spanish and liberal arts from the University of Wyoming (Laramie, Wyoming).

Prior to joining the McNay, Mitchell held a series of senior leadership and curatorial roles at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, including interim co-director, Burton and Deedee McMurtry curator of drawings, prints and photographs; acting head of academic and public programs; and director of the curatorial fellowship program. Earlier in her career, she served as assistant curator in the department of prints, drawings and photographs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She has also taught at Stanford University; the Massachusetts College of Art and Design; and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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.