Skaftfell Artist Residency: Skaftfell Art Center offers an international self-directed artist-in-residence program in Seyðisfjörður, a small village located in the East Fjords of Iceland. The residency program’s remote setting provides artists the opportunity to work in relative seclusion in a place that is also home to an international community of working artists. The residency offers space for contemplation, productivity, and collaboration and is ideal for artistic research and experimentation.
Living arrangements range from single residency facilities for living and working, to spaces that can be shared by artists working in pairs or groups whether they are working on a collaborative project or parallel projects.
The residency community is characterised by its context within Iceland’s subarctic climate. Winter brings snowstorms and darkness; the summer months, when the weather is mild the town transform from a quiet village of several hundred residents to a tourist destination. Seyðisfjörður is at once secluded and connected; it harbours the only ferry connection to mainland Europe but the town’s only connection to the nearest town and the ring road is a mountain pass that is often inaccessible in winter. This creates a particular duality isolation and connectedness.
For whom: Artists working in all media. Solo residencies, duo residency and group residencies up to 3 people.
Accommodations and work space: The artists will stay in two buildings in town within walking distance from the Skaftfell Art Center. Each house offers private rooms and accommodations for cooking and shared living and working spaces. Each accommodating 1-3 artists at a time. One of the apartments is situated above the newly established collaborative fine art print workshop Prentverk Seyðisfjörður, which Skaftfell is a part of. The workshop offers professional printmaking facilities with space and equipment for silkscreen, intaglio (linocut, woodcut, etching), letter-press and various hand printing techniques. For an additional fee artist also have the possibility to work in the net factory, a collective studio space hosting the LungA School studio’s as well as a few local artists.
Community involvement: Artists have an opportunity to present their work in an open studio, artist talk or host a workshop. We encourage and assist artists to participate and present their work to the community.
Duration: 6 / 12 weeks
Cost: Residency fee, travel cost, project expenses, art supplies, and meals are paid by the artist. The fee includes access to the print workshop support from Skaftfell staff.
- 6 week solo residency with shared living- and workspace accommodation with private bedroom 130.000 ISK
- 6 week group residency up to 3 artists applying together with a collaborative project sharing a living and working space with private bedrooms 180.000 ISK
- 6 week solo residency with private accommodation, ideal for families f.ex 180.000 ISK
- 12 week solo residency with shared living- and workspace accommodation with private bedroom 240.000 ISK
- 12 week group residency up to 3 artists applying together with a collaborative project sharing a living and working space with private bedrooms 320.000 ISK
- 12 week solo residency with private accommodation, ideal for families f.ex 320.000 ISK
Selection: The applications will be reviewed by a panel of two art professionals as well as Skaftfell’s director and residency manager. Criteria: the artistic quality of the applicant’s proposal; local relevance and potential synergy; the practical feasibility of the working proposal; evidence of the applicant’s ability to work independently on a professional level. To ensure non-discrimination and equality in our residency selections, we emphasise inclusion based on race, gender, and identity.
The open call for the Skaftfell residency program 2025 is closed