The Cloth Collaborative is thrilled to offer its first-ever artist residency. This pilot residency will take place in the Cloth Collaborative studio in Hyde Park, MA, with housing provided in a nearby artist's family home.

The Cloth Collaborative is a space for making as a way of knowing—through textiles, touch, and time. Here, we explore our relationships to ourselves, to each other, and to the earth. Through small, hands-on courses, workshops, and shared studio time, we create conditions for conversation, connection, and repair. Rooted in a collaborative and holistic approach, the work of the studio lives at the intersection of making and community. We believe art can be a transformative force, shaping both personal experience and collective life.

The inaugural Cloth Collaborative residency offers 24/7 access to a shared, working textile studio. Artists will have full use of floor and table looms, a knitting machine, sewing machines, sergers, and equipment for dyeing and surface design. The studio also has a growing research library and a dynamic collection of shared materials. The studio is active with classes, workshops, and open studio, creating an inclusive community environment. Attached kitchen and gathering spaces reinforce the sense of shared daily life and informal connection that is central to the Cloth Collaborative.

This is a communal space—there are no private studios. Residents work in proximity to others, within a culture of shared making, conversation, and exchange. The rhythm of the studio is shaped by hands at work: weaving, stitching, repairing, dyeing—slow, repetitive processes that open space for both focus and dialogue.

We are best suited for artists who are able to work independently and are comfortable navigating shared tools and resources. While the studio is rich with equipment, we do not offer a technique-based residency. There is no formal instruction; instead, learning happens through observation, proximity, and conversation.

What this residency offers is immersion—into a community, into process, into time. Residents are invited to engage with the Cloth Collaborative community and the broader Boston art landscape: meeting artists, sharing ideas, and participating in a living network of material practice. The studio includes a large, plant and light-filled communal area that supports informal critique, gathering, and the kind of conversations that emerge through making side by side.

Residents may also choose to participate in an optional public offering during their stay—such as an open studio, informal conversation, artist talk, or small workshop—as a way of sharing their work and engaging with the community. This is not required, but is welcomed as part of the spirit of exchange that defines the Cloth Collaborative.

We are seeking artists with an active, contemporary practice who are interested in working within a shared studio and living environment, and whose work resonates with the mission of the Cloth Collaborative. While a strong connection to textile practices is important, textiles do not need to define an artist’s entire practice; rather, they should be meaningfully present within the work.

We are committed to fostering a welcoming and respectful environment, and we encourage applications from artists of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives—especially those who have historically been underrepresented in the arts.

Residency Details

Duration: October 17 – November 1, 2026 (2 weeks)

Number of Residents: One

Accommodations

The resident will stay in a private room on the third floor of an artist's family home located approximately 1.4 miles from the studio. The resident will share a bathroom and kitchen with members of the household and will have access to a bicycle for transportation.

Please note: the home includes a dog and two cats.

Eligibility

Open to artists 22 years and older
Must reside in New England, New York, or Pennsylvania
Applicants may not be matriculated students during the residency period

Selection Process

Residents are selected through an open call. The review panel includes members of the Cloth Collaborative as well as regional fiber artists and arts administrators.

Finalists will be invited to a Zoom conversation with the director of the Cloth Collaborative and the homeowner.

Selection is based on:

Strength of work and commitment to a contemporary textile practice
Alignment with the mission of the Cloth Collaborative
Willingness and ability to live and work in a shared, communal environment

Financial Support

We can offer a small stipend of $1,000.00

Fees

There is no fee for participation, studio use, or housing.
Residents are responsible for travel, materials, and meals.

Application Information

Applications Open: April 28, 2026
Deadline: July 9, 2026
Notification: July 21, 2026