Pittsburgh-based digital artist Everest Pipkin spoke to AdHoc about their experience building spreadsheets–and community–in the art world.
I love the name of Everest Pipkin’s big list of artist opportunities: “The Big Artist Opportunities List.” No fuss. No bullshit. Just, here you go. It’s a very generous thing to do—building an enormous spreadsheet of artist opportunities and then making it available to THE ENTIRE INTERNET, including hundreds or thousands of people with whom you may compete for grants and residencies and prizes.
Pipkin—a self-described “drawing and software artist” currently based in Pittsburgh—told AdHoc over email that they never set out to create a list of this scale or scope. The list developed organically as they came across appealing opportunities, both for themself and friends.
Eventually, Pipkin aggregated these opportunities into a giant list for anybody in their online orbit to access and contribute to. Pipkin shared the list a few weeks ago in a Tweet: “HEY ARTISTS and general people who are looking for creative opportunities […] i’m sharing what might be my life’s work, which is a spreadsheet of almost 400 places that hold regular open calls for residencies, shows, and funding […] enjoy!”
AdHoc spoke to Pipkin about their experience building the list and how it’s been received so far. Read the interview and check out the list’s wide-ranging opportunities below.
AdHoc: When did you start the list, and why?
Everest Pipkin: I began assembling my own opportunities slowly, in the way that many artists do, as a series of to-do lists and deadlines. Over the course of years, those notes grew to be a resource that I worked on in ambient time, especially on days when I didn’t have creative energy but still wanted to spend some focused time with my practice.
As I found opportunities that were not for me but could clearly accommodate friends, I began to add them in as well, as reminders to send a link to that friend. Over time I began sharing the list with those friends whole cloth (not just a singular opportunity), and it eventually seemed obvious to make it public for anyone’s use.
Can you tell us a little bit about the response you’ve gotten since sharing it?
The response has been a bit surprising, to be frank! I wasn’t anticipating heavy usage, and because of this it is full of casual (and slightly snarky notes), which I may have cleaned up a bit more had I known it was going to do the rounds. That said, I suspect those notes might have been part of the reason it was shared so much; there are a lot of aggregate opportunity lists in the world already, but they tend to lean in to art-speak and can be hard to parse at a glance or if you are unfamiliar with the jargon.
One of the most affirming parts of this has been the number of folks who have sent their own lists in turn, asking if I’d like to merge them in. This type of reciprocity and care can be rare in the competition that is “making it” in the art world, and it gives me hope for the future health of our communities. The Public Artist Opportunities List—which is linked on the Big Artist Opportunities List as a spot where folks can add things—is an amazing example of a community coming together to make resources in a very short period of time. What took me years has been accomplished half again in a week!
In truth, I wasn’t expecting my big break to be spreadsheet maintenance–but I am also glad.
THE BIG ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES LIST:
Please note this list is constantly being updated. Stay up to date here.
100W Corsicana
18th St
2727 residency
33oc Toffia
36 Chase Barns
360 Xochiquetzal
A Blade of Grass Fellowship
A Studio in the Woods
A&H Maitland
a6 books
AAF
Abandon Normal Devices
Abbey Awards
ACAC
Access Galley
ACRE
Adobe Creative Residents
AIM
AIR City of Los Angeles
AIR recology sf
Akademie Schloss Solitude
Akademie Schloss Solitude Web Res
AKKU
Albee Foundation
Almost Perfect
American Library in Paris
Amscan
Amsterdam Lights Festival
Anderson Ranch
Andrew W. Mellon Postgraduate Fellowships
Apexart international call
Alberta University of the Arts
Arce Chattanooga
Archie Bray Foundation
ArCUS
Ark Des
Arlington Arts Center Residency
Arlington Arts Center Solos
Arnis Residency
Arrowmont
Art Adia
art angel
Art Curators
Art Farm
Art OMI
artistes en residence
Artists at CERN
Artists-In-ATHICA Residency Program
Artpace
Arts Writers Grant
Artspace
Ashka Lalwan
Assembly
Astra
Baer
Bag Factory
Banff
BAU Institute
Bellagio Center
Bemis
Bernheim
Bibliothek Andreas Züst
Big Ci
Biotopia Festival
Blue Mountain
Bolt Residency
Border Art Residency
Boston Center for the Arts
Boyd’s Station
Breckenridge Creative Arts
Brickscape
Brush Creek
Bundanon
Bunker Projects
Caltech Art + Research Residency Program
Camp
Carbondale Clay Center
Cecartslink
Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery at Coker College
Ceramics Center Berlin
Chalk Hill
Chanorth
Chenven Foundation
CLUI Wendover
Copper Leg
Core program
Corning Museum of Glass
creative capital
Creatives Project
Critical Code Studies
Currents New Media Festival
Damsite
Data & Society fellows
De Ateliers
Digitcult
Djerassi
Dougherty Arts Center
Drop Forge and Tool
Eastern Frontier
Ekard Artist Residency
Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation
Engaging Artists
Enos
Epicenter/frontier fellowship
Escape to Create
Est-Nord-Est
Eyebeam
Faena Prize
FCA emergency grants
Field Projects
File Festival
Fine Arts Work Center
First Peoples Fund
Fire Island
FLACC
Flower City Ars Center
Fogo Island Arts
FONDATION FIMINCO
Foundation for Landscape Studies
Franconia
Full Bleed
Fulbright
Future Architecture
Galesburg Civic Art Center
Galveston Residency
Gaya Ceramics Center
Glasstire classifieds
Gluon
Goggleworks AIR
Good Hart Artist Residency
Gottlieb Foundation
Graham Foundation
Grand Marais Art Colony
Grant Wood Art Colony
Greatmore Studios Trust
Guestroom Maribor
Guggenheim Foundation
Guttenberg Arts
Halcyon House
Hambidge
Haystack
Headlands
Heima
Helene Wurlizter Foundation
Het Nieuwe Instituut
Hewnoaks
HIAP
Hinge Arts
Hodder Fellowship
Home Session
Horned Dorset
Hotel Maria Kapel
Houston Center for Contemporary Art
HOW International Curatorial Residency Program
HubBub
Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art
I-park Foundation
IAE at Alfred University
Iaspis
IDM Low Key Artist Residency
IMMA
In Cahoots Residency
Interfaces
Internet Doctoral Summer Residency
ISCP
ISSP
isthisit (online residency)
Jack Straw Cultural Center
JAMES CASTLE HOUSE ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
Jentel
Joan Mitchell Center
Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency
KAIR
Kala
KHOJ
Kimmel Harding Nelson
Kinosaki International Arts Center
KIRA
Kohler CO
Krach
Kriti Gallery
Künstlerdorf Schöppingen Foundation
Kyoto Art Center’s Artist-in-Residence Program
La Bande Vidéo
La Becque
La Junqueria
La Wayaka Current
Lab Program
Laboratory
Lacawac station
LACMA Art + Technology Lab
Lademoen Kunstnerverksteder
Lakeside Kunstraum
Land Art Mongolia
Lanesboro Arts
Latitude
Lawndale studio res
Lawrence Art Center Project-based residencies
LES Studio Program
LIAEP
Lighthouse works
Lightwork
Lijiang Studio (yunnan, china)
Lillian E. Smith Center of Piedmont College
LNAF
Locust Projects (project space)
Loeb at Harvard
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
Lucid Art Foundation
Macdowell Colony
Marble House Project
Mattress Factory open call
Mauser Foundation
McColl
Meca
Media Archeology Lab
Meercat Media
Melbourne Queer Games Festival
Meldata
Mendocino Art Center
MFAH Dora Maar House
The Alfred and Trafford Klots International Program for Artists
Michigan Legacy Art Park Residency
Midnight Moment call
Millay Colony
Mise-en-place
Montello Foundation
Museum of Human Achievement
Nars Foundation
Navasota AIR
Immersive Scholar calls:
National Parks Service AIR
NEH digital publication scholarships
Neon Museum National Artist Residency
New York Public Library
NGA
NK DALE
NOoSPHERE
North Mountain
North Street Collective
Northern Clay Center
Now Play This 2019
Nxthvn
NYU Game center incubator
Oak spring garden / Eliza Moore Fellowship
Oatmeal Creek
Olin College creative in residence
Onassis AIR
Openings NY summer
Oxbow
Oxlaey
Oxygen Arts Center
Paper Machine
Penland
Pine Woods
Pioneerworks
Platte Forum
Playa Summer Lake
Plexus Projects ‘vitrine’
Pocoapoco
Popps Packing
Port Austin AIR
Pottery Northwest
Prairie Center of the arts
Prairie Ronde
Prairie Side Cottage
Praksis
printed matter emerging artist series
Prix Ars Electronica
Project Art
Project Anywhere
Puffin Foundation
Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center
Rabbit Island
Radcliffe Institute at Harvard
Ragdale
Real time and space
Recess
recurse center fellowships
Red Bull Arts Detroit
Red Gate
Red Star at Belger Crane Yard Studios
Research at the Getty
Residency 108
Riake Buria Residency
Rijksakademie
Rocky Neck Artists Colony
Rogaland Kunstsenter
Rome Prize
Roots and Culture
Roswell AIR
Rupert
Ryerson Image Center
Saari Residence
Sacatar
Saltonstall
Santa Fe Art Institute — TRUTH & RECONCILIATION
Santo Foundation
Schloss Pluschow
Schmidt Ocean
School of Data
Science gallery
Sculpture Space
SculptureCenter’s In Practice
Scuola Grafica
Seeds Procjam Zine
Serlachius
Seti residency
Shandaken: Storm King residency
Shell House
Shiro Oni
Signal Culture
Signal Fire
Sitka Center
Skowhegan
Sleeping Bear Dunes
Smithsonian
Soaring
Sointula Art Shed
SOMA
Space on Ryder Farm
Sparkbox Studio
SPiN
Spruceton Inn AIR
SQHAP
squeaky wheel
Stamps Witt residency
Starr fellowship at the RA
Strangeloop call for presentations
Strelka
Stuart Craft Center
Studios at MASS MOCA
Sugar Hill Children’s Museum
Sustainable Arts Foundation
Surel’s Place
SVA Summer Air
SPACES
Swatch art hotel
SXSW art program
TAIS
Taohuatan arts retreat
Taper Magazine
Torpedo Factory
Territory
The Arctic Circle
The Auxiliary
The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
Yaddo
The Design Office
The Experimental Studio
The Gallery in The Garden
The Graduate School of the Berlin University of the Arts
The Growlery
The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation
The Kent Harrison Arts Council
The Lockup
The Luminary
The NAF
The Pfister Hotel
The plumbing museum residency
The Shed
The Soap Factory
The Strange Foundation
The Studios at Key West
This Will Take Time
Three Walls
Tides Institute
Tokas
Tough Art
Trinity College Ann Plato Fellowship
Tulsa Artist Fellowship
Ucross
Van Eyck
Varda Artists Residency Program
VCCA
Vector Festival
Vera List Center
Vermont Studio Center
Villa Stauli
Virginia A Groot Foundation
vsco voices
Wassaic
Watermill
Wave Farm
Wave Hill
Wave Pool Gallery
Weir Farm
WheatonArts Creative Glass Fellowships
White Leaves
Wilapa Bay AiR
Wildacres
Williams college post-mfa teaching
Willowtail
Women’s Studies Workshop
Worm Farm
WRECK CITY Residency
Wurlitzer Foundation
X-temporary
Yukon Chilkoot Trail
Zartan
Metropolitan Transit Artist Pool