The Municipality of Kristiansand, together with Agder Kunstsenter, offers a residency for professional artists who wish to live and work in our city for a period of time.

Our residency provides the perfect environment for an artist to devote dedicated time to evolve their practice with the added benefits of a studio space, new influences, contacts and in some cases, even funding (The Cultural Rucksack program).

The residence is open to all national and international artists.

What we offer

We offer up to 3 months, rent free room in a shared apartment located at the historic Myren Gård, which today functions as a park, hosts various events, and is home to a community of artististic printmakers called Myren Gård Fellesverksted. The residency hosts two artists at a time. The two artists will have their own private bedroom, but share common living spaces and office/studio space

• Artists who work professionally with printmaking techniques may be eligible to use the printmakers workshop free of charge. (Sufficient experience with the necessary equipment is required.)
• For larger productions a simple studio space in the city may be available upon request.
• Dedicated local hosts who help you navigate the local art community and build connections

Expectations of the artists

The resident stay in the apartment rent free. All expenses related to electricity and internet are also covered by Kristiansand municipality. Each applicant is responsible for their own funding to cover further expences. Expenses such as living costs, travel, materials, insurance and transport must be covered by the artist themselves. We encourage all applicants to apply for funding in their home countries.

Kristiansand municipality offers one residency period a year connected to funding through the Cultural Rucksack Program. Click here to read more.  If you have a proposal suited for this grant, it can be added to your application.

There are no specific expectations for the residents, except that the artist must live and work on site during the period. Every resident is encouraged to give a presentation of the work they have completed during their stay, for example through an open studio or an Artist Talk. The selected artist must be prepared to have some level of self- reliance, however, we are doing our best to build contacts and network through our dedicated local hosts.  Artists in residence are invited to exhibition openings, lectures, seminars and other cultural events, creating space for dialogue and shared experiences. Our city is also home to several art galleries, museums, art festivals, and creative studios. Most recently, Kunstsilo opened its doors to the public in 2024, strengthening the city’s cultural scene.

Our objectives:

1. Provide studio and residential facilities for selected international and national professional visual artists.
2. Strengthen, promote and facilitate collaborations between visual artists from south of Norway and visiting artists.
3. Facilitate exchange of knowledge and enrich the local culture and environment.
4. Facilitate a high quality living and work environment for artists.
5. Foster interconnectivity among the residents.

Who are we?

Agder Kunstsenter is the host for this residency, which we manage on behalf of the municipality. We have an administration of four people, including two gallery hosts/technicians. At Agder Kunstsenter we manage a variety of tasks, focused on promoting and assisting the professional art community in Agder.  The gallery space is at the forefront of what we do, hosting exhibitions and events year round. Feel free to check out our instagram to get to know us better.

The residency is located at Myren Gård. The area of  Myren Gård has been a settlement since the early Iron Age. Consul Wild bought the land in 1854 and built houses in a beautiful Swiss style.  In 1860, Poul Holst Poulsson began the process of turning the surrounding area in to an English garden. The marshy terrain was converted using ballast from sailing ships, which contained a number of seeds which resulted in a varied biome of exotic plants. For artists with interests in botany, Myren Gård could serve as a great source of inspiration!  Myren was used as  a private residency from 1930 until the municipality took over the property in 1964.

At Myren, there is a community of artists working in printmaking. They share workshop spaces, sell prints and have an exhibition space for their members.  Lisbeth Skrånes, chair of Fellesverkstedet Myren Grafikk, is a close collaborator, and the previous manager of the residency.

Myren is located around 2 km from the city centre, with good bus connections to the city. The residents will also have a bike at their disposal.

Application

The application must consist of the following:

• Short project summary (max 500 characters) and an extended project description/ intension of your residency (max 1 A4-page/6000 characters)
• Documentation  of your work
• CV
• Portrait (press photo)
•  If you want to include a proposal for the cultural rucksack program, it can be added in the main application

The application must be sent through the application form. Please limit your documentation to maximum 10 MB. If you are sending video material, please refer to video hosting sites like Vimeo, YouTube etc. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

For more information, please contact AiR coordinator Elin M. Grønvik at: elin@agderkunst.no