Call for Applications: Villa Albertine’s 2026 AI and Artistic Creation Residency

Between January and December 2026, four creators or cultural professionals with a project related to artificial intelligence will benefit from a two-month research and exploration residency in the United States, supported by Villa Albertine. This program is set to continue in 2027 with four additional residencies, bringing the total number of residencies over two years to eight.

This program aims to stimulate innovation, reflection, and French-American collaborations by promoting exchanges with a diverse range of stakeholders: universities, businesses, artists, residents, public officials, and cultural institutions.

Villa Albertine’s Arts in the Age of AI residency is launched in partnership with and possible thanks to the primary sponsorship of Franco-American Patron and Technology Leader Fidji Simo.

The laureates will join the cohort of the 2026 Villa Albertine residency program, which will celebrate its fifth anniversary.

Application Deadline: March 25, 2025, at 11:59 PM (Paris time).

Eligible Profiles and Projects

This call is aimed at creators and cultural professionals with an original project related to artificial intelligence that requires an immersive stay in the United States.

Villa Albertine offers residents the opportunity to undertake a two-month research and exploration stay in a territory of their choice. The project must be anchored in a specific city or region. Through this exploration residency format, Villa Albertine encourages participants to travel and discover a territory, engaging with its key players to foster artistic or intellectual reflection that could not unfold in any other way. Such a residency is not meant for isolated work but for a process of field exploration, promoting inspiration and connections with local stakeholders.

This call is open to candidates who wish to work on or with artificial intelligence, and whose project requires an immersion stay in the United States. For example, the residency can serve as the research ground for a creative project utilizing artificial intelligence, linked to an American ecosystem. It can also provide an opportunity for a candidate to examine the impacts of artificial intelligence in a specific context within the United States, potentially using a comparative approach with Europe or France. Regardless of the project, the residency offers an opportunity to showcase expertise and foster new Franco-American collaborations.

The proposed project may be a new initiative designed specifically for Villa Albertine or an extension of a preexisting research endeavor that would find a unique development within this framework. In both cases, the project’s relevance lies in its connection to the territory.

The candidate must therefore anchor their residency in a territory that is relevant to the themes they wish to explore. The city or region must be clearly identified. The call is not open to itinerant projects involving travel across multiple states in the United States.

Residents will be supported by Villa Albertine’s office in the selected region, among the ten U.S. cities where it has permanent locations. Villa Albertine has permanent offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. For example, a residency carried out in Seattle will be managed by Villa Albertine’s office in San Francisco.

Two residents will be selected for projects in California, and two others will be chosen for projects in the rest of the U.S.

This call is not restricted to French or French-speaking applicants but is open to any creator, researcher, or cultural professional who meets the eligibility criteria outlined below, including the requirement of being supported by a French partner.

Support Provided by Villa Albertine

Villa Albertine provides individualized support adjusted to each resident’s profile and project.

Such support relies on a team of 80 people across 10 cities in the United States, as well as the systematic development of partnerships with French and American organizations. This ensures that residents are immediately integrated into an ecosystem that fosters connections, discoveries, and critical inquiry.

The relevant Villa Albertine office will support the resident by providing its knowledge of the local artistic and cultural scene and its network of partners. Depending on the resident’s areas of exploration, preliminary research will help identify the most relevant contacts within the chosen territory.

A lineup of meetings and visits will be arranged for each resident, according to their project and needs. Villa Albertine will also assist the resident in analyzing the logistical needs necessary for the successful completion of their project.

Villa Albertine will cover the travel and accommodation expenses related to the residency, according to the following terms:

• A residency stipend for daily expenses (e.g., meals, local transport). For reference, this stipend is $100 per day in Washington, D.C.
• International flights
• Housing
• Car rental, if necessary for the project (e.g., in large sprawling cities or as per the necessity of the project).
• Health insurance, liability insurance, and repatriation coverage.

These expenses are covered directly by Villa Albertine and are not subject to a lump-sum grant payment.

Villa Albertine will not cover additional costs beyond the aforementioned expenses. If a project requires specific materials or a workspace, the candidate must propose solutions highlighting the feasibility of their project (e.g., securing external funding or partnerships).

The call is open to individual applications only. Duo or group applications are not accepted within the framework of this call.

Villa Albertine’s framework is organized to support individual residences (not including family members or other close relatives who would not be a part of the project). In the case where this accompaniment would be necessary (e.g. a parent with dependent child(ren)), such a situation could be considered by searching for adapted housing.  Accompanying individuals will not benefit from support or coverage of expenses related to their stay.

French Institutional Partner

Each applicant must have a French partner organization, based in France, to support their project. The support provided by the partner may take one of three forms, depending on the situation:

1. Residency Project Development: Assisting with drafting the residency proposal, identifying useful contacts/resources that can support the resident, etc.
2. Residency Promotion: Communicating on social media, creating content (articles, podcasts, videos).
3. Implementation of a post-residency component: A time to present the work carried out in the United States in France (conference, meeting with professionals, etc.); supporting the development of the artistic or intellectual project.

Partner organizations are not required to provide financial support for the residency.

Any public or private organization, under French law and based in France, can be a partner. This organization cannot be one that the candidate manages or has created, but it can be the organization where the candidate is employed, or a separate partner.

Candidates are responsible for identifying and selecting the most relevant partner for their project. They can rely on existing partnerships or initiate collaborations tailored to the specific needs of the project. The goal is to foster connections between the French cultural and artistic ecosystems, including the partner, and the American ecosystem, where the resident will immerse themselves during their residency.

Applicants can also draw on other French partners, as well as American organizations likely to help develop the project (rehearsal studios, creative workshops, contacts, etc.). 

Selection Criteria

In terms of eligibility criteria candidates must demonstrate:

• Demonstrate professional experience in artistic or intellectual creation linked to artificial intelligence. This must be supported by a portfolio (max 10 pages, under 10 MB).
• Have strong English proficiency, demonstrated through a 3-minute self-recorded video presenting their background and project. (No editing required—just a simple face-to-camera video without reading from a prepared script.)
• Partner with a French institution based in France, which must provide a signed letter of support outlining how they will assist the resident. The letter should be addressed to Mr. Mohamed Bouabdallah, Cultural Counselor of France and Director of Villa Albertine.

The candidate must be over 21 years old before the planned departure date for the residency.

Candidates will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• The quality of the candidate’s profile: The candidate practices their artistic or intellectual work professionally, is recognized by their peers, and their project for Villa Albertine stems logically from their previous work.
• The quality of the project: The project is clear, and the artistic, cultural, and intellectual aspects it develops are relevant.
• Local relevance: The project demonstrates a strong connection to local dynamics and challenges, and requires the candidate’s presence in the United States and the chosen location specifically.
• Feasibility of the project: Villa Albertine reserves the right not to accept projects it is unable to support.

Applicants should also consider any local constraints related to their chosen residency location. For example, having a driver’s license is strongly recommended for cities like Los Angeles.

Application

Applications must be completed on our official platform before March 25, 2025 via this link.

In particular, candidates must provide:

• A presentation of the candidate’s background and work, less than 10 pages, justifying the professional practice of the candidate’s activity in the field of artificial intelligence (Max 10 MB).
• A short video presentation in English of the candidate’s background and project (either an already produced video available online or a new recording for this purpose, where the candidate introduces themselves and provides a brief overview of the project in a maximum of three minutes; no editing is required, just a simple, direct video shot with the candidate facing the camera and clearly visible). This video will demonstrate the candidate’s fluency in English.
• A letter addressed to Mr. Mohamed Bouabdallah, Cultural Counselor of France and Director of Villa Albertine, signed by the French partner involved in the project. The letter should outline how the partner will support the residency.

All documents must be filled out or uploaded on the dedicated platform. Incomplete or non-compliant applications, and/or applications submitted via other channels, will be considered inadmissible. Any misrepresentation will automatically render the application null and void. Applicants may submit only one application per season for the Arts in the Age of AI call.

Since the applications are reviewed, including by English-speaking experts, the candidate must respond in English to the questions on the form that require writing.

The candidate is invited to mention the preferred territory and duration for the residency (a minimum of one month and a maximum of two months). Villa Albertine reserves the right to offer a shorter residency duration than initially requested by the candidate, or to propose an adapted itinerary to make the project feasible.

Timeline

March 25, 2025 (11:59 PM, Paris time): Application deadline

Applications must be submitted via the form here.

It is strongly recommended not to wait until the deadline to submit your application on the platform to avoid last-minute difficulties. Application files can be created in advance and completed in several stages before final submission.

Villa Albertine’s jury has full discretion in the selection process and is not required to justify its decisions. The winners will be announced in mid-June 2025.

Context: Strengthening Artistic Innovation in the AI Era

This program marks a new step in the exploration of the dialogue between art and artificial intelligence initiated by Villa Albertine, an institution under the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and supported by the Ministry of Culture.

Since 2021, Villa Albertine has been supporting innovative creators in their research in the United States, such as filmmaker Simon Bouisson, who explored AI-assisted screenwriting in California, or artist Justine Emard, who was featured during the Summit and will join the MIT Media Lab in Boston to connect neuroscience, AI, and digital creation. In May 2024, the event Art in the Age of AI laid the foundation for Franco-American reflection on AI in creation, bringing together key stakeholders such as OpenAI, Google, Paris-Saclay University, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the National Museum of Archaeology at the Villa Albertine headquarters. Finally, Villa Albertine enriches this dialogue through its magazine States, whose third issue voices influential figures in the transatlantic debate on AI, including Anne Bouverot, the French President’s Special Envoy for AI, Mark Surman, president of the Mozilla Foundation, writer Alain Damasio, and Linda Powell, president of the SAG-AFTRA actors’ union.

About our Partner:

Fidji Simo

Born and raised in Sète, France, Simo is CEO and Chair of Instacart, the North American leader in online grocery; Board Member at OpenAI and Shopify; and former Head of Facebook at Meta, where she spent a decade. With more than 15 years of experience leading some of the world’s most innovative companies, Simo brings a unique understanding of the role technology can play in shifting culture around the world to this residency program. An artist herself, she also brings a passion for the intersection of creativity, artistry, and technology. From conception to funding, Simo’s patronage will bring this unique opportunity to life for eight residents over the next two years.