The residency program will offer free studio space for 3 to 6 months to a non-permanent resident artist living in the Montréal area. On top of 24/7 studio access, the resident will benefit from:

• Photo documentation of the artwork produced during the time of the residency as well as a professional headshot 
• One session of coaching on how to write a robust grant application
• The possibility of studio visits with various actors of the Montréal art scene
• Being a part of a collective critique group,
• A membership to the artist-run center SKOL 
• One pro-bono consultation with an immigration lawyer if needed

This artist-run initiative was founded in November 2024 by a small group of visual artists who share a studio space and have decided to offer one of these spaces for free, along with some mentoring for emerging visual artists without permanent residency status. The project aims to raise awareness of the fact that these artists pay taxes to Revenu Québec and the Canada Revenue Agency. Yet, they are not eligible for grants from both the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec and the Canada Council for the Arts. In other words, non-permanent resident artists contribute financially to these granting agencies—benefiting Canadian citizens and permanent residents—while themselves lacking access to such funding. These artists self-fund their work, pay for work permits that are becoming increasingly difficult to renew, and face growing challenges in obtaining permanent residency status.