Applications are now open for the Vyksa Art Residency program and will be accepted until November 30, 2025 23:59 Moscow time
Artists of all ages from different countries and artistic disciplines are invited to apply. Ten participants will be selected through this open call for a residency lasting six to eight weeks. Last season the open call received over 250 applications from 42 cities across Russia and other countries, including Senegal, Canada, Norway, Georgia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Moldova and Belarus. The results of the open call will be announced no later than December 15.
The Vyksa Art Residency is a key cultural space in the industrial city of Nizhny Novgorod Region where artists work on their projects while connecting with the local community. During the residence the participants offer workshops and lectures, invite citizens to take part in artistic activities and explore the local context where metallurgical heritage interacts with culture and art.
The residency ends with a final exhibition or another presentation of the finished work. It gives the artist a chance to reflect on their experience, while residents can engage with contemporary art and build new cultural connections. In addition, one or more of resident’s can be chosen for Vyksa Metallurgical Plant History Museum.
The Art Residency stands on the banks of the Lower Pond – one of the city’s four surviving artificial water reservoirs, originally constructed in the 18 century to power the operations of the Batashev Brothers’ metallurgical plant.
In 2026 the Vyksa Art Residency will focus on projects that examine the artistic conceptualization of water as a meaningful motif of the city and a defining element of its landscape. The terms and conditions for the Vyksa Art Residency.
Artists of all ages from different countries and artistic disciplines are invited to apply. Ten participants will be selected through this open call for a residency lasting six to eight weeks. Last season the open call received over 250 applications from 42 cities across Russia and other countries, including Senegal, Canada, Norway, Georgia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Moldova and Belarus. The results of the open call will be announced no later than December 15.
The Vyksa Art Residency is a key cultural space in the industrial city of Nizhny Novgorod Region where artists work on their projects while connecting with the local community. During the residence the participants offer workshops and lectures, invite citizens to take part in artistic activities and explore the local context where metallurgical heritage interacts with culture and art.
The residency ends with a final exhibition or another presentation of the finished work. It gives the artist a chance to reflect on their experience, while residents can engage with contemporary art and build new cultural connections. In addition, one or more of resident’s can be chosen for Vyksa Metallurgical Plant History Museum.
The Art Residency stands on the banks of the Lower Pond – one of the city’s four surviving artificial water reservoirs, originally constructed in the 18 century to power the operations of the Batashev Brothers’ metallurgical plant.
In 2026 the Vyksa Art Residency will focus on projects that examine the artistic conceptualization of water as a meaningful motif of the city and a defining element of its landscape. The terms and conditions for the Vyksa Art Residency.
«The Art Residency is an active participant in the cultural life not only of the city but also of the country as a whole. Locally, the institution contributes to the renewal of the urban landscape, building a creative environment that invites artists to see familiar anew and encourages the local community to engage with the living language of art. At the federal level, the Residency operates as a professional platform with strong expertise that supports artistic growth across generations and disciplines. It’s worth noting that the Vyksa Art Residency program is also international in scope: each year it welcomes participants from across the world. In 2025, for example, the Residency collaborated with several artists from Senegal».
Julia Mishina
General director of the Participation Charitable Foundation (Uchastie)
An important collaboration will take place with the Blueprint, an independent publication, covering fashion, beauty and culture. Within its annual Blueprint 100 project there is a list celebrating emerging voices in the creative industries. One artist from the Blueprint 100 “Contemporary Art” category will be invited by the Residency’s expert committee to participate in the Residency program and develop their project on site.
In 2026 the Residency will also renew its collaboration with the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Volga-Vyatka reginal branch Arsenal). Together with the Museum’s experts, two more artists will be selected for the regional Art Residency program, supported by the government and the non-profit organization Center 800».
In 2026 the Residency will also renew its collaboration with the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Volga-Vyatka reginal branch Arsenal). Together with the Museum’s experts, two more artists will be selected for the regional Art Residency program, supported by the government and the non-profit organization Center 800».
Since its foundation in 2017 the Vyksa Art Residency has hosted over 80 artists from Russia, Belarus, Israel, Germany, Finland, Slovakia, Portugal, Japan, Senegal, Chile and Mexico. The names of Tatyana Badanina and Vladimir Nasedkin, Irina Zatulovskaya, Grigory Ostretcov,Vladimir Abikh, Ivan Gorshkov, Khaim Sokol, Egor Fedoritchev, Dmitry Morozov (:Vtol : ), Asya Zaslavskaya, Sergey Karev, Misha Gudvin, etc are among its participants.
OPEN CALL 2026
State of matter
The Art Residency is located on the banks of the Lower Pond, part of the city’s extensive historical system of waterways. Water has always been both a vital resource and a symbolic element in this environment. The very name of the city is derived from the local river Vyksun, meaning “steam” or” flow”.
Historically, the city’s advanced hydraulic system enabled local factories to harness river energy, contributing to its development as one of the country’s major industrial centers. A man-made constellation of eight ponds that once composed this system was created by damming two rivers - the Zheleznitsa and the Vyksunka. Today, four of these ponds remain and their role is gradually changing – from what once generated production now invites reflection, transforming industrial infrastructure into the space dedicated to recreation and public life.
As a permanent and visually dominant feature of the urban landscape through all seasons, water being constant in substance, but variable in form, continues to inspire. In 2026 the Art Residency will give priority to artistic projects that interpret water as a fundamental element of the city’s identity, an element that embodies the city’s transformation, sustains its continuity and reflects its desire to exist in flow.
Kristina Gorlanova, the curator of the Vyksa Art Residency
State of matter
The Art Residency is located on the banks of the Lower Pond, part of the city’s extensive historical system of waterways. Water has always been both a vital resource and a symbolic element in this environment. The very name of the city is derived from the local river Vyksun, meaning “steam” or” flow”.
Historically, the city’s advanced hydraulic system enabled local factories to harness river energy, contributing to its development as one of the country’s major industrial centers. A man-made constellation of eight ponds that once composed this system was created by damming two rivers - the Zheleznitsa and the Vyksunka. Today, four of these ponds remain and their role is gradually changing – from what once generated production now invites reflection, transforming industrial infrastructure into the space dedicated to recreation and public life.
As a permanent and visually dominant feature of the urban landscape through all seasons, water being constant in substance, but variable in form, continues to inspire. In 2026 the Art Residency will give priority to artistic projects that interpret water as a fundamental element of the city’s identity, an element that embodies the city’s transformation, sustains its continuity and reflects its desire to exist in flow.
Kristina Gorlanova, the curator of the Vyksa Art Residency
until 30 November 2025
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