Applications deadline: 01/15/2026 at 11:59PM EST.

Our application requires a Gmail account (or the creation of one), written responses to application questions, uploading a single PDF (CV, references, and work samples).

We recommend reviewing the full sample application here before applying.

If you encounter any issues with the application form, please email residency@goelsewhere.org.

INDEX

CONTEXT | RESIDENCIES OVERVIEW |APPLY| 2026 RESIDENCIES | FEES | EXPECTATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES | ELIGIBILITY | FACILITIES & SERVICES | FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS | TESTIMONIALS | SPONSOR OUR RESIDENCIES

Context

Elsewhere began as Sylvia Gray’s thrift store in downtown Greensboro, a unique space shaped over nearly sixty years through her eclectic and persistent collecting of surplus, textiles, and everyday artifacts. Sylvia’s singular vision transformed the building into a living archive, where every object reflected her curiosity, resourcefulness, and the vibrant material culture of North Carolina. After her passing, the mountains of objects she amassed formed the foundation for Elsewhere Living Museum—a site of collaborative creation and experimentation. Today, Elsewhere serves as an international artist residency, inviting creatives to engage deeply with Sylvia’s evolving collection, contributing new works and ideas to a continually growing community archive.

Our mission supports site-specific experimentation, social action, and interdisciplinary collaboration—fostering new ways of thinking and doing, exploring the role of context and place in artistic creation, and integrating creativity with daily life. Our vision, “with people and things, we build collaborative futures,” reflects our belief that every action at Elsewhere helps create the futures we need—practical and utopian alike.

We are located in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina, surrounded by restaurants, shops, arts venues, and community organizations. A few blocks away is the International Civil Rights Museum, which commemorates the Greensboro Four, who began the 1960s sit-ins.

Greensboro, once an international textile hub, is now home to a growing immigrant population, five universities and colleges—including A&T, the nation’s largest HBCU, and Bennett College, a historic Black liberal arts college for women. We partner with nearby arts-focused schools such as Weaver Academy and the Experiential School, whose students use downtown as their classroom.

Residencies Overview

What if you could step inside someone else’s world and make it your own?

Elsewhere Museum is more than a residency—it’s a 15,000 square foot portal into one woman’s taste, a kind of capsule created over 60 years by collecting everything from military surplus to fabric scraps, toys, and a library’s worth of books and magazines. Elsewhere is an experiment in post-consumerism and transformation. This archive is a living record of American material culture from across the decades.

For one transformative month, this entire collection becomes your medium.

Here, you don’t make art with your usual materials. All work is site-specific and responsive—drawing on Elsewhere’s layered environment, material inventories, cultural histories, social systems, neighboring communities, and past projects. Every object and artwork stays in the museum, available for future transformation, because at Elsewhere, the rule is simple: Nothing new enters. Nothing leaves. Everything you create emerges from Sylvia’s world and becomes part of the museum’s permanent collection.

At Elsewhere, artists often say the museum “opened their minds in ways they never expected.” Creative breakthroughs—from Antonia B. Larkin weaving her own hair into the Ghost Room walls, to Pioneer Winter’s endurance performance A Love to Last 13 Hours, or J. Morgan Puett’s immersive kitchen—emerge from engaging deeply with Sylvia Gray’s unique 60-year collection. Residents discover a living archive where every object inspires unexpected possibilities, pushing their practices beyond familiar boundaries and transforming how they create.

Elsewhere’s environment is stimulating, conceptual, and social. The Museum hosts an astounding density of materials and ongoing public activity. Layered with artworks and objects, there are no blank walls, empty spaces, or separate studios. Everything is interpreted in-situ and contextually, inviting artists to make visible their own conceptual, material, and social visions by engaging with the collection.

Don’t arrive with a fixed plan—come ready to be surprised by what Sylvia’s collection and preceding artists’ interventions reveal about your practice.

Four-Week Foundational Residency Timeline

Under the guidance of Elsewhere’s live-in, onsite staff, who bring years of experience and intimate knowledge of the collection, graduate training, teaching experience, and deep administrative expertise, you’ll navigate the delicate balance between preservation and transformation during your residency.

Week 1: Public artist talk, intensive orientations to the collection, building, and community

Week 2: Deep creative exploration with ongoing curatorial support and check-ins

Week 3: Public workshop sharing your process with the Greensboro community

Week 4: Opening celebration of your completed work

- Actual residency length: 27 days, with flexibility.

Two-Week Research Residency Timeline

Guided by Elsewhere’s live‑in staff—bringing deep knowledge of the collection, graduate training, teaching practice, and robust administrative care—you’ll pursue a focused, two‑week research residency that balances careful stewardship with informed inquiry, using Elsewhere itself or its regional networks as your field of study.

Day 2: Welcome and orientation; set shared research goals and practices

Day 3: Survey of Elsewhere’s collection, building, and regional sources

Day 7: Research check-ins

Day 14: Opening celebration of your research

- Actual residency length: 15 days, with flexibility.

You’ll share communal dinners with fellow residents 5 nights per week, experience structured programming designed to keep you on track, and benefit from constant availability for critiques, project development, and creative problem-solving. Museum trips and special visits and visits from local creatives may also be available.

Residency Statistics

- Average number of artists in residence at a time: 5.

- Alumni network: 700+ artists spanning 2+ decades.

- Total program history: Hundreds of transformative projects since founding.

Fees

Running a residency like Elsewhere means sustaining a living, breathing organism—not just providing a place to sleep and some groceries. The work includes maintaining a historic building with unique quirks, supporting a dedicated staff whose invisible labor enables care, curation, and community-building, and keeping vital infrastructure—utilities, internet, insurance, and repairs—in motion to support this ongoing experiment in creative chaos.

Your residency fee directly supports the people who make Elsewhere possible and preserves this rare space—not as a transaction, but as a vital contribution to a living, community-centered institution. By investing in Elsewhere, you’re sustaining a thriving creative network, the stewardship of a unique, ever-evolving archive, and opportunities for future artists. While artworks made from the museum’s collection must remain onsite as part of the living archive, residents are strongly encouraged to document their projects, create digital editions, and continue developing their practice through personal digital archives. On occasion, Elsewhere lends collection-based works for external exhibitions, supporting the ongoing life of your work beyond your residency.

Our foundational residency is priced at $2,500 for four weeks, the two‑week research residency at $1,500. This includes a private room, a generously stocked pantry, and full access to our building—home to archival creative resources and an irreplaceable collection. Priced at roughly $100 per day, it’s comparable to a hotel stay—but with meals, studio time, and a singular environment designed for artistic growth.

Most importantly, you join Elsewhere’s extraordinary network of 700+ alumni, where lasting collaborations and creative breakthroughs often begin and continue long after your residency ends.

2026 Residencies

2 week Research Residency

RESIDENCY #118: 06/07/2026 - 06/21/2026

RESIDENCY #119: 07/04/2026 - 07/18/2026

Foundational Residency

RESIDENCY #120: 08/13/2026 - 09/09/2026

RESIDENCY #121: 10/15/2026 - 11/11/2026

Expectations & Opportunities

All invited residents sign a contract covering artwork and residency agreements, liability and media releases, equipment loan terms, fellow payment, invoicing, contact details, and community guidelines—providing a clear picture of the culture we aim to foster. Each resident must pay a non-refundable deposit of $500 Each resident is required to attend a mandatory check-in by phone or Zoom two months before their residency to confirm participation.

Residents receive room and board; access to materials, tools, and equipment; opportunities for public engagement and programming; documentation and promotion of their work; and representation both online and within the museum.

This year, we’re expanding our offerings to include research residencies, in addition to production-focused ones. Artists may now use Elsewhere as a research hub, even if they don’t produce a permanent installation.

Production guidelines for residency projects

The museum’s collection is treated as a limited natural resource.

Any changes or projects involving the collection are authorized solely by curators and directors, who prioritize sustainable, ongoing use and community engagement.

All projects and documentation remain with the museum, allowing future artists-in-residence to reinterpret and transform work through ongoing collaboration.

Obligations and opportunities

4 Week Foundation Residency

Make for four weeks: immerse in studio practice, build new work from daily time in our spaces, and draw from Elsewhere’s collection, community, and rhythms to deepen your craft.

• Attend orientation sessions: Residency (2 hours), House (1 hour), on day 2

• Prepare one group dinner (2 hours) during the week and participate in nightly kitchen clean-up

• Present an artist talk introducing your work and practices

• Meet with staff to discuss your project proposal

• Join the weekly House meeting (30 minutes) and participate in group cleaning (1 hour)

• Maintain daily upkeep of your room and shared/public spaces

• Participate in a community dinner with Elsewhere’s members, collaborators, and friends

• Host a Workshop: works-in-progress open house and interactive session

• Work with curators on finalization: titling, project description, future engagement and maintenance

• Present your new work at First Friday Happenings

• Participate in media-swap, in which Elsewhere provides its professional documentation and you share your personal documentation of your work and Elsewhere materials.

• Complete final clean-up of room, studio, and production areas

• Take a family photo and celebrate residency departure

2 Week Research Residency

Dive into a focused two‑week inquiry: explore Elsewhere’s collection, building, and histories—or use Elsewhere as your regional hub to connect with communities, sites, and networks beyond the museum.

• Shape your time: arrive with a simple plan and evolve it through two curator/staff touchpoints tailored to your project.

• Live and work with care: you’ll have a private room, 24/7 studio access, and guided pathways into our archival resources.

• Join the community: orientation, shared meals from a generously stocked pantry, and space for informal exchange with fellow artists.

• Share your process: close with a short, public‑facing moment—an open studio, talk, walk‑through, or reading—to spotlight what you’ve been working on.

• Leave a trace: contribute 3–5 images or a brief reflection to Elsewhere’s living archive so future artists can see and build from your work.

• Benefit from visibility: documentation support and inclusion across Elsewhere’s channels, connecting you to our 20+ year network of alumni and collaborators.

Eligibility

Participants must be 18 years or older.

Elsewhere embraces a radically expansive view of creative practice and identity. We actively seek a diverse range of voices, life experiences, perspectives, and interests to reflect and grow the collaborative community we build and serve.

We welcome established artists who are ready for radical creative disruption. Applications are open to those with a sustained artistic practice, body of work, and exhibition history. You do not need to be working with found materials, but instead with a conceptual and material understanding of working in context with a cultural artifact.—artists seeking a transformative experience to push their work forward.

Who thrives at Elsewhere? Makers, doers, and thinkers across disciplines—installation and performance artists, videographers, sound and food creatives, as well as those with backgrounds in fields as varied as art, healthcare, administration, coding, journalism, education, curation, homesteading, design, writing, and science. What they share is a passion for co-creation, reuse, public engagement, social practice, intersectional critique, urban intervention, and collective, experimental living.

The artists who thrive here embrace their practice fully, whether their expertise lies in painting, photography, or another form: they’re already adept, and ready to take their skills somewhere new. You know there’s more to making than staying in a lane, and that inspiration lives in risk and discovery. Sylvia’s meticulously curated collection, jewelry, fabrics, toys, buttons, books, magazines, and countless unexpected treasures, exists for artists willing to let context and curiosity guide the next leap in their work.

Collectives, collaborative groups, international artists, and commuter residents are all wholeheartedly welcomed—Anyone eager for creative possibility and engagement finds a place at Elsewhere.

Artist Assessment Criteria

Ideal candidates for Elsewhere demonstrate a strong sense of site-specificity, transformative imagination, and resourcefulness. They are committed to refining their concepts, practices, and material choices, and have experience working in non-traditional spaces. Successful residents engage meaningfully with others—contributing to the cohort and actively connecting with Elsewhere’s wider community.

We look for inclusive and intentional approaches, especially when creating in relation to underserved or marginalized communities. Residents should be capable of producing new work independently within a short timeframe, understand their own process and practice, and be willing to adapt to new situations and resources.

Above all, applicants should see clear benefits to their personal, professional, or artistic growth, and be enthusiastic about embracing all that this unique residency offers.

Application Review Process, Notification, and Acceptance

Selections: 2026 Residency selection will be made by Elsewhere staff & board members to  ensure completion and eligibility. We take great care to select committed, talented, diverse, and engaged residents and ensure every application receives thoughtful consideration.

Notification: All applicants will be notified of their status by 02/15/2026. If you have not received a message by that date, please contact residency@goelsewhere.org.

Finalists: Accepted residents must sign their contract within one month of acceptance to secure their spot and confirm attendance two months prior to the start of their residency. Non-refundable $500 deposit required upon acceptance.

Facilities & Services

Accommodations

We aim to offer accommodations that support every resident’s participation and success.

While the environment retains a rustic character, we upgraded key features in 2016: installing heating and air conditioning (HVAC), adding emergency exits and safety egress, and implementing fire alarms, sprinkler systems, and monitoring. The first floor is fully ADA accessible, and all bathrooms are single-stall and gender-neutral.

Living Arrangements:

Residents immerse themselves in the collection, living and working throughout three interconnected floors of our artist-transformed living museum. Each artist enjoys a private bedroom—perfect for resting or use as personal studio space—along with access to shared bathrooms and an on-site washer and dryer.

Food & Community:

We run a vegetarian food coop in our artist-designed Kitchen Commons, placing weekly grocery orders with input from residents. We use produce from our garden and local food surplus whenever possible. The kitchen is open 24/7 with two ovens and ample gear. Shared dinners are prepared five nights a week by staff and rotating residents, while breakfast and lunch are self-directed.

Production Resources

Studios:

Residents have access to diverse workspaces inside our 120-year-old building—including studios for woodworking, textiles, tech lab, printmaking, storefront theater, vintage wardrobe, public kitchen, and a garden.

Materials:

Artists work with an extensive archive of vintage materials dating back to the early 20th century—textiles, toys, books, consumer technologies, clothing, thrift items, and more, all ready for creative transformation. A small budget is available for essential materials, but the Elsewhere experiment prioritizes using what’s on hand.

Production Support:

Our Residency Director guides both creative processes and use of the collection, offers critical feedback, supports public events, and connects residents with Greensboro neighbors and our international network. We provide documentation, promotion, press, and social media support, and projects are permanently represented in the museum and online.

Community Access:

With five to six residents at a time, Elsewhere fosters a collaborative environment for peer learning and experimentation. We host visits from local, regional, and national curators and arts organizations to offer feedback and expand professional networks.

Residents engage with the public through open studio hours, shared meals, artist talks, events, and informal gatherings. After their residency, artists join E.T.C. (Elsewhere Tenured Collaborators), gaining ongoing access to our global alumni community and resources.

Testimonials

“Being a resident at Elsewhere is one of the most memorable experiences I have had to date as an artist. The freedom and encouragement to play and discover new and dormant parts of my practice was invigorating and has given me inspiration, impetus, and tangible tools to continue working with long after the conclusion of the residency. As an artist-parent, the residency was very accommodating and I didn’t feel judged for needing to split my time arting and parenting. Quite the contrary. The flexibility and understanding on the part of the staff made the success of my residency possible. It gave me the confidence to ask for what I need and to seek more balance as I do other artistic work. I miss being at Elsewhere these days, but the effort to keep alumni involved has eased that feeling and I am so happy to still be in orbit with the museum. I feel seen, I feel included, and I feel like I can tap into the community whenever I need, from now on.”

—Cara Hagan (’21)

“I am an artist and art historian who has presented visual and scholarly work throughout the United States and in the U.K., Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands. I was a Southern Constellations Fellow at Elsewhere in February 2019. Because of my experience there, Greensboro holds a special place in the geography of the contemporary art world […] alongside such locations as Skowhegan, Maine; Marfa, Texas; Joshua Tree, California; and Yaddo, Vermont. What makes these locations so desirable is not the mere presence of notable collections (many cities have such assets), but the fostering of an environment for the creation of new work and for forging relationships with other artists. Elsewhere has done this since its beginning, built on the remarkable and unique legacy of original proprietor Sylvia Gray, and I can imagine an immense legacy to be proud of when looking back in fifty or a hundred years.”

—Josh Franco (’19)

“Elsewhere runs a strong artist residency program, based on trust in artists and an embrace of collaboration in all its forms. The organization’s support for artists who take creative risks and build meaningful peer and community relationships through their work, aligns well with the foundation’s belief in the value of experimental practice and the importance of artistic participation in cultural and civic conversations.”

—Rachel Bers, Program Director, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

Read this great NEA interview with Carolyn Mak (‘10) about the residency.

Ready to be challenged and inspired in remarkable, unexpected ways?

This is not a typical residency. This is Elsewhere, a singular island and closed system of objects that will challenge every assumption you have about your practice and lead to transformative shifts you never saw coming.

Applications open [DATE] | Deadline  01/15/2026

Non-refundable $500 deposit required upon acceptance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often can I apply to Elsewhere’s residency program?

You can apply yearly, during every application cycle.

How often can I take part in Elsewhere’s residency?

There are no limits on how often you can take part in Elsewhere's residency.

Can I bring family/partners?

Due to limited space, residents can only have overnight visitors for a maximum of 3 nights, with a $100 a night charge to cover room and inclusion in our food coop.

You have a vegetarian food coop, is meat allowed?

Meat is allowed, but must be purchased by the residents themselves.

Can I bring animals?

Only registered service animals are allowed. You must provide us with papers to confirm their status. These animals will be solely the responsibility of their owner. That said, Elsewhere is full of many small and possibly dangerous niknaks and pets are generally discouraged.

Does Elsewhere have quiet hours?

Yes. As this is a communal living situation, Elsewhere operated quiet hours from 11pm to 10am. If artists living together choose to expand these based on consensus from the entire group, this is allowed.

Can I take my work with me?

Any artwork made using materials from Elsewhere’s collection must stay as part of the collection—these physical pieces cannot leave the museum.

If you create digital works, those are yours to keep, though we ask you to leave one complete edition for the museum’s archive and exhibition.

For works made as part of an edition (like prints or multiples), you may take extras with you as long as one version stays at Elsewhere to represent your residency.

I am part of a collaborative, can I apply as a group?

You are free to apply as a collaborative, however please keep in mind that all members of the collaborative will be required to pay the full residency fee, as well as share a bedroom.