The Studios at MASS MoCA — General Fellowships (2026)

Read the eligibility note before you spend an evening on this one. The Studios at MASS MoCA runs year-round residencies in North Adams, Massachusetts, hosting up to ten artists at a time for two or four weeks, and the General Fellowship covers all residency fees for up to four weeks with no geographic or demographic restrictions. But the studios are not sound-proofed and have no rehearsal space, and the Studios say plainly that they discourage applications from musicians, dancers and other performers, favouring visual artists and writers who work quietly. Composers, songwriters and sound artists who work on headphones may still find it a fit; anyone who needs to make noise almost certainly will not.

There is no separate fellowship application. You apply through the general Studios residency form on Submittable and tick the fellowship boxes you qualify for, and you should also indicate whether you would accept a regular partially subsidised place if the fellowship does not come through. Every applicant is juried the same way first; fellowships are awarded from that pool. Applicants must be 18 or over, and the form is available in Spanish as well as English.

General application deadlines are 1 May and 1 November each year, with the form opening two months before; this round covers residencies from July to December 2027. There is currently no application fee. Because financial aid and fellowships are decided in the same round, the general application is the most competitive route — artists who receive aid rather than a fellowship typically pay between $0 and $450 a week. The jury is not announced in advance and no feedback is given.