The Aragti Wadaag Residency

Aragti Wadaag is a residency program by Soomaal House of Art designed to provide artists with a supportive environment to think, work, and develop their creative practices. Aragti Wadaag aims to amplify artists’ voices within the Somali community and create more equitable experiences for Somali-American artists in the greater art community. 

The Aragti Wadaag Residency offers the following benefits:

• $2,500 Artist Stipend.
• Access to Soomaal’s facilities, including archives, equipment, and artmaking supplies.
• Mentorship and guidance from established artists
• Writing workshop focused on crafting artist bios, statements, and grant proposals.
• A 6-week exhibition at the Soomaal Gallery.
• Opportunities for community engagement and networking.
• A catalog featuring each artist’s work and story will be distributed to our partners, including libraries, schools, and other artists.

During the residency, artists are expected to:

• Attend bi-weekly meetings with the cohort, Soomaal staff, and collaborators to track progress, provide feedback, and offer guidance.
• Create new artwork during the residency.
• Engage with audiences about their work during workshops and artist talks. 
• Participate in three formal evaluation processes at the residency period’s beginning, middle, and end.
• Exhibit their work at the end of the residency at Soomaal House. 

Selection Process

The Soomaal’s Aragti Wadaag residency selection panel will consist of five members. This panel will include:

• Former Aragti Wadaag Artists: Artists who have previously participated in the residency, offering valuable insights from their own experiences.
• An Aragti Wadaag Mentor: A mentor affiliated with the residency program, providing expert guidance on selecting artists who align with the residency’s goals.
• Soomaal Staff Members: Staff members administrate the residency, ensuring the fair selection process aligns with the organization’s mission.

The diverse perspectives of this panel will help ensure a comprehensive and balanced evaluation of applicants, selecting artists who will most benefit from and contribute to the residency program. Applicants will be evaluated based on the originality, innovation, and potential impact of their work and research.

This set of eligibility requirements ensures that the residency program aligns with the goals of supporting early career artists within the Somali community while maintaining a high standard of artistic innovation and community engagement.

ELIGIBILITY: 

The Aragti Wadaag Residency Program, offered by Soomaal House of Art, supports Somali-American artists in Minnesota. The following criteria must be met for eligibility:

Early Career Artist Status:

• Artists must be in the early stages of their creative development with 2-10 years of generative experience, not including any exhibition opportunities provided through a school or college program.
• Artists should have a focused direction and goals while still developing their artistic “voice.”
• Artists must not have substantial celebration within any artistic field, the media, funding circles, or the public at large. 
• Artists must be vocational rather than avocational, academic, amateur, or educational.

Artistic Practice and Medium:

• Artists must work primarily in visual arts. Acceptable media include, but are not limited to, painting, sculpture, photography, installation, mixed media, and other visual art forms.
• Commercial artists, musicians, theater artists, or others whose work is generally not presented in a visual art context are not eligible.

Minnesota Residency:

• Artists must be legal residents of the state of Minnesota and have been residents for at least one year prior to the submission of an application (since [insert relevant date]).
• Applicants must provide evidence of residency, such as a MN driver’s license, state ID, utility bill, lease, or other supporting documents.
• Artists must reside in the state until the end of the residency period.

Public Presentation and Engagement:

• Artists must have generated, completed, and publicly presented/exhibited/published work in the discipline for which support is requested.
• Applicants must be willing to engage with the community through workshops and artist talks during the residency.

Residency Participation:

• Artists must be available to attend bi-weekly meetings with the cohort, Soomaal staff, and collaborators.
• Artists must commit to creating new artwork during the residency.
• Artists must participate in three formal evaluation processes at the residency period’s beginning, middle, and end.
• Artists must be willing to exhibit their work at the end of the residency at Soomaal House.

Professional Development:

• Artists must  be open to receiving mentorship and guidance from established artists.
• Participation in a writing workshop focused on crafting artist bios, statements, and grant proposals is required.

INELIGIBILITY

Aragti Wadaag Residency does NOT support:

• Students who are currently enrolled in degree-granting programs (including K-12, college, graduate, or postgraduate studies).
• Full-time tenured faculty at any college, university, or institution of higher learning (or equivalent).
• Artists who have shown in major museums, art centers, art fairs, international biennales, or are represented by prominent commercial galleries.
• Mid-career or established artists from fields other than visual arts who have decided to shift artistic direction.