Artist in Residence program
You could be the next Artist in Residence!
We’re pleased to announce that applications for the 2026–2027 Artist in Residence grant are now open. This year’s residency theme, Arts on Prescription, invites artists to explore how creativity and artistic expression can support individual mental health and community well-being. Read more about the application process below.
Applications will be accepted June 1 - August 3, 2026
Program Contact: Sara Thirnbeck, [email protected]
Meet our 2025-2026 Artist in Residence
Angela Hansen, Kelowna Artist -encaustic sculptor and ceramicist
We are pleased to introduce Angela and her upcoming Fall 2026 exhibition, Project VASA. Named after the Latin word vasa, meaning “vessels,” the project brings together youth voices, environmental storytelling, and sculptural practice to explore the local impacts of climate change in the Okanagan.
Developed in collaboration with youth, the project centres on a series of seven vessel-like sculptures made from biodegradable and reclaimed materials, including beeswax, paper, fabric, plants, bioplastics, and wood. Each sculpture reflects a visible impact of climate change—such as heat domes, wildfires, and food insecurity—while the plinths beneath them are covered with writings and artwork contributed by hundreds of Okanagan youth.
Angela has now completed much of her engagement with youth and has gathered more than 200 small sculptures created in response to climate change. The project is now moving into its next phase, with natural, reclaimed, and repurposed materials being collected for the final sculptural forms.
Visit Angela’s website to read more about her project and progress.
Angela Hansen is a Canadian artist and educator based in the Okanagan Valley, working primarily in encaustic and clay. With a BDes from Emily Carr University of Art + Design and a BEd from the University of Victoria, she has developed a multidisciplinary practice that spans over two decades. Her work addresses urgent environmental and social issues of the Anthropocene, exploring the impacts of global warming and the complexities faced by modern women. Hansen’s installations and artworks have been exhibited across Canada and the United States, including “BREATH” at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, “BRINK” at the Kelowna Art Gallery, and “CONSUME” at Vernon Public Art Gallery. Her work is part of the permanent collection at the Encaustic Art Institute and Museum in Santa Fe. In 2024, she received Juror’s Choice for “Spiral Pod” and curated the international exhibition Global Warming is Real, further establishing her voice in contemporary encaustic art.
Angela is an encaustic sculptor and ceramicist. She has worked with encaustic, a medium made of beeswax and tree resin, for nearly 25 years; its versatility of applications drives her art-making practice of both 2D and 3D works. Angela’s work pushes the boundaries of traditional art-making practices through the unusual and innovative use of encaustic medium combined with natural materials and textiles. Having spent a large portion of her childhood outdoors in either the forests of the Cariboo Chilcotin or on the beaches of White Rock, her deeply imbedded wonder of the natural world and biophilic tendencies are evident in the biomorphic forms and imagery found in her work expressing the biodiversity, strength, and fragility of the planet. Angela’s installation work questions environmental and social issues of the Anthropocene era - specifically the effects of global warming.
Our Artist in Residence program broadens the community’s experience with arts and culture, and stimulates thoughtful conversations on local topics.
The Artist in Residence will:
- Engage with the community in the context of arts and culture;
- Create a work of art for the City of Kelowna; and
- Engage the audience through the topic of ‘Arts on Prescription’.
The program aligns with our goals outlined in the 2020-2025 Cultural Plan including "share our story” and "broaden the reach.”
As described in the program guidelines, the selection process occurs in two phases, with a limited number of artists chosen to advance to Phase 2. Learn more about the phases and the timeline below.
Phase 1 of the program is the evaluation of the artist and their suitability for the program. It also gives the applicant a chance to briefly give an overview of their potential project. Expressions of interest forms are assessed based on the information submitted by the artist.
For more information on assessment criteria, view the program guidelines.
Phase 2 is only open to artists selected to advance and will be an evaluation of their projects and demonstration of a feasible plan to complete the project. The interview during this phase will serve as an additional assessment of the artist and the proposed project. All artists or artist collectives invited into Phase 2 will receive an honorarium of $500.If applying as an artist collective, the collective will receive an honorarium of $500 in total.
For more information on assessment criteria, view the program guidelines.
- June 10 & 11: Grant program information sessions
- August 3: Expression of Interest form deadline
- August 10: Notification of advancement to Phase 2
- August 31: Project proposal deadline (Phase 2 artists only)
- September 10: Interviews with Phase 2 artists
- September 11: Notification of final selection
- October 1: Artist in Residence contract begins
- One year: Artist in Residence contract ends (project dependent)
1. What type of artist(s) are we seeking?
An artist or collective of artists working in interdisciplinary art, social practice art, digital or electronic art, installation, visual art (photography, film and video, painting, print-making, drawing, sculpture, crafting), performance arts (theatre, dance, etc.), music (creation, production, performance) or writing.
2. Do I need to live in Kelowna to apply?
Applications are open to anyone living in the Central Okanagan for more than one year. However, the selected artist or artistic group will be required to work in Kelowna for the duration of the project.
3. Can I apply as a team of artists?
Yes, you may apply as a collective of artists. There are a few points to keep in mind:
- Each artist must still fill out and submit an expression of interest form
- Artist collectives advancing to Phase 2 will receive an honorarium totaling $500, not $500 per artist
4. When will I hear back about my expression of interest form?
Only those selected to advance to Phase 2 will be contacted.
5. Where will the artist be living?
This is not a live-in residency. The artist selected will receive $12,000, inclusive of any fees or taxes.
6. Where will the artist be working?
The artist will be working within the city of Kelowna. The exact location of the artist, the community engagement and the works created will be dependent on the nature of the project. Cultural Services staff will be available to support the selected artist in finding a location suitable for their project.
Cole Mash and Erin Scott were the 2025 Artist(s) in Residence. Their project was called 'Go Gentle'.
The Project
‘Go Gentle’ was a series of community engaged writing and video literature making workshops, with an immersive sound and video installation set in the post-burn nature of Knox Mountain. The project culminated in a gentle walk through the installation and a public showing of the works created by the artists and the community.
For more information, visit the Go Gentle website.
The Artists
Erin Scott (she/they) is an interdisciplinary artist who works in time-based mediums, including poetry, performance, and video/audio. With publications and performances across forms, they have made spoken word albums, books, exhibitions, drag performances, Fringe shows, and more. Erin holds an MFA and is currently a PhD student at UBCO where she makes video poems and writes about language, land, and identity. Erin is a founding member of Inspired Word Café, a literary arts non-profit offering open mic, poetry slams, and workshops in the Okanagan Valley.
Cole Mash (he/him) is a poet, scholar, writer, teacher and community arts organizer who lives on unceded Syilx-Okanagan territory in Kelowna, BC. He has performed poetry locally and nationally for over 10 years, and his creative work has been published in CV2, NōD Magazine, Pinhole Poetry, Forget Magazine, The Eunoia Review, and anthologized in The Quiet Minds Anthology and Pinhole Poetry’s Volume 2 Selected. His lyric-memoir, What You Did is All it Ever Means, was published with Broke Press in 2021 and he is the co-editor of Resistant Practices in Communities of Sound from McGill-Queen’s University Press. He is the co-founder and Executive Director of non-profit arts organization Inspired Word Café. He holds a PhD in English from Simon Fraser University and teaches sessionally at UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College. Cole has a wonderful partner, four kiddos, and two kitties whom he loves all the way to the bottom.
Lucas Glenn was selected as the 2024 Artist in Residence. His project was called M.A.S.S.I.V.E.
The Project
'M.A.S.S.I.V.E'., abbreviated for Make-shift Anthropocene Symbiosis Station and Interface for Vibrant Exchange, is a mobile, interactive art installation made from repurposed materials by Kelowna-based artist, Lucas Glenn. M.A.S.S.I.V.E. features a mobile station with small, interactive eco-contraptions made to help humans and nonhumans adapt to a changing climate.
Lucas presented MASSIVE to the public on 4 dates in various parks around Kelowna through September and October, 2024.
Components were made to look like science-fiction equipment, fashioned from found materials like scrap metal, backpacks, Nerf guns, tin cans, and D.I.Y. electronics. Free-standing, strapped to a tree, or attached to a fence-post, the objects encouraged visitors to connect with the more-than-human world by pouring water, activating a sound, collecting a drawing, or catching seeds. Supporting these “interfaces” Lucas's utility trailer, repurposed as a stripped down workshop and solar-generating station, facilitated the artist on-site.
About the Artist
Lucas Glenn (b. 1992, Winfield, BC) is a writer and emerging artist working in installation, digital media, and drawing. Glenn is interested in taking nature-dominating tools and repurposing them as objects for ecological support and care.
His work retools imagery, waste, and industrial equipment to create sporty irrigation systems, rugged compost shelters, and detail-rich dioramas. He attributes his resourceful, D.I.Y. approach to his upbringing in small-town BC.
Glenn received his BFA from University of British Columbia and his MFA from University of Victoria, where he received awards from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the British Columbia Arts Council. He continues to exhibit independent and collaborative projects throughout Western Canada.
To learn more about Lucas, follow @lusciousglenn on Instagram.
Patrick Lundeen was selected as the 2023 Artist in Residence. His project was called 'Happy Day Free Gift Truck'.
The Project
The HAPPY DAY FREE GIFT TRUCK was a mobile gift-giving unit and temporary public art installation that was parked in the Rotary Commons (between the Rotary Centre for the Arts and the Kelowna Art Gallery) every Saturday, from October 15th- November 19th, 2022
The HAPPY DAY FREE GIFT TRUCK offered free gifts to the citizens and visitors to radiate good energy, discourage social isolation and class stratification and to connect the public with important local arts and non-profit organizations. HAPPY DAY FREE GIFT TRUCK encouraged public engagement and social interaction, embodied generosity, did not discriminate, and welcomed all comers!
The Artist
Patrick Lundeen is an artist born in Lethbridge, AB (traditional Blackfoot Confederacy territory). He currently lives and works in Kelowna (the unceded territory of the syilx/Okanagan People) teaching drawing, painting and sculpture at UBC Okanagan and sits on the board of directors at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art. His artistic interests span traditional visual art making mediums and extend to include sound art, music, food, performance and now public art. His approach to visual art employs humour, sensory experience and a rough and visceral aesthetic to illicit a complex response from viewers.
In addition to visual art, Patrick is also a dubiously talented musician and released a 5th music project called “CHEAP!” on vinyl.
To learn more about Patrick, visit his website.
Lady Dia was selected as the 2022 Artist in Residence. Her project was called 'The Jam: Using Ubuntu to explore a community centered approach to discuss and shape the future of a more inclusive Kelowna with our community'.
The Project
This project - through the philosophy of Ubuntu - used the art of ‘the Jam’ to engage Kelowna in imagining and realizing a more inclusive city, by creating more space for greater diversity of stories and cultural expression in public art spaces. Centering art, Lady Dia created programming for children (ages 5 -12) and youth (ages 13 - 20) to explore lessons from the ‘Jam’ and its application in listening to voices of others and understanding the role of one's voice in the greater community.
The Artist
Lady Dia is a Lozi woman from Bartoseland residing in Kelowna. She is a mother, a wife, and performance artist who obtained an undergraduate degree in Indigenous Studies at UBC-O. As the Artist in Resident she focused on true inclusivity and space making for the I-BPOC creatives.
Melany Nugent-Noble was selected as the 2021 Artist in Residence. Her project was called 'When it is necessary to stand still'.
The Project
Nugent-Noble presented her project When it is necessary to stand still over a 12-week period from July 7 to Sept. 30, 2020. The project included the building and programming of 25 distance-detecting, light beacons. The beacons changed in intensity and colour as they detected other beacons moving around them. Kelowna residents were invited to sign-up to take the beacon with them as they moved throughout the community for a three-day period.
To learn more about the project, visit the project website.
The Artist
Melany Nugent-Noble is a Canadian artist currently based out of Kelowna. Nugent-Noble’s research and practice regularly engages with the political nature of public spaces, texts and speeches, and takes various forms including installation, art books and performance.
To learn more about Nugent-Noble's practice, visit her website.
