Villa Albertine Announces 2026 Residents Cohort
(c) Des Signes
By Villa Albertine
In 2026, nearly sixty artists from a wide range of disciplines will carry out original creative projects across the United States, with the support of Villa Albertine. This new cohort marks the fifth anniversary of the program. Click here to view the full list of residents.
New York, June 11, 2025 – Since launching its residency program in 2021, Villa Albertine has supported over 300 creators through transformative immersions grounded in exploratory research across the United States. In 2023, Villa Albertine created a post-residency initiative that has funded 65 projects to date, further supporting artists in their transition from exploratory residencies to tangible outcomes. “We are proud to mark our fifth season of our residency program, which has now allowed over 300 creative professionals to cultivate an array of projects in the United States,” said Mohamed Bouabdallah, Cultural Counselor of France in the United Statesand Director of Villa Albertine. “The vision of our residents has led them to push artistic boundaries and create connections while investigating their chosen surroundings. Their work has lent truth to the vitality and relevance of our mission, to deepen ties between the US and France.” These residency programs have led to a wide range of French-American collaborations and creations, including books, films, artwork, immersive experiences, tours, and more, strengthening French artistic presence in the US and fostering long-term cultural cooperation.
This year’s general call for applications was paired with three themed calls, each of which had its own jury. The newest of these themed calls, “Arts in the Age of AI,” was announced by French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati during the AI Action Summit in Paris in February 2025. Thanks to the support of Franco-American patron and technology leader Fidji Simo, Villa Albertine will host eight artists or culture professionals who incorporate artificial intelligence into their work, 4 in 2026 and 4 in 2027. In 2026, 5 craft and design residencies are supported by the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, of which 3 were selected in collaboration with the New York-based co-founders of WantedDesign. Three classical music residencies, in partnership with Philharmonie de Paris, are made possible by Fondation d’Entreprise Société Générale, allowing Villa Albertine to support musicians, composers, classical music professionals, and female conductors through inspiring residencies. Beyond these calls for applications, several residents were selected through special programs and partnerships. For instance, recipients of the Recanati-Kaplan Prize and the Sarr Prize will each take part in a Villa Albertine residency.
In 2026, Villa Albertine will welcome nearly 60 artists, scholars, and cultural professionals covering 10 main artistic disciplines and 30 locations across the United States. Their projects are grounded in the local contexts they explore, offering a novel approach to each location.
As 2026 rings in the 250th anniversary of Franco-American friendship, this year’s residents will reimagine the shared narratives that define transatlantic relations. In Washington, DC, museum curator Vincent Bouat-Ferlier will highlight Lafayette’s role in shaping the ideals at the heart of this historic alliance. In New York, the street artist duo Lek & Sowat will delve into graffiti’s transatlantic roots, connecting New York’s urban heritage with European avant-garde movements. Following in the footsteps of Malcolm X, actor Adama Diop will explore the intersections of Africa, Europe, and America through a performance combining theater, poetry, and music.
A new residency cycle will examine the intersection of art, innovation, and artificial intelligence. In Los Angeles, visual artist Louis-Paul Caron will develop Pacific Palisades, an immersive installation designed as a memory device following the neighborhood’s devastating wildfires. In San Francisco, the avant-garde duo Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst will explore collaborative and ethical AI models for the creative industries. In New York, photographer Hanako Murakami will investigate eye-tracking technologies that reimagine photography by turning the viewer into an active participant in the creation of the image.
Rooted in contemporary issues, these projects will take an artistic perspective on the commons, celebrating the power of creativity as a tool for connection, transmission, and collective invention. In New Orleans, artisan and designer Laurel Parker will collaborate with local communities to imagine sustainable alternatives to plastic at Mardi Gras celebrations. In Houston, visual artist Samir Laghouati-Rashwan will explore the concept of slowness, drawing inspiration from popular cultures to reflect on our relationship with time and the city. In Baltimore, filmmaker Sabrina Bouarour will document youth engagement in urban agriculture, creating forward-looking laboratories where new ways of nourishing and inhabiting the land are invented. In Chicago, Violaine Barrois and Suraia Abud will embark on a sensitive exploration of culinary memory to reimagine shared gestures and knowledge across cultures.
Villa Albertine is an institution of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ Embassy of France in the United States. The 2026 season of Villa Albertine’s residencies, developed in partnership with Albertine Foundation, is supported by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the French Embassy in the United States, the Ministry of Culture, and the Institut français.
Villa Albertine and Albertine Foundation are grateful for the leadership support of Societe Generale Corporate Foundation, with the generous contributions of the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, the Recanati-Kaplan Foundation, Ardian, AXA, the ENGIE Corporate Foundation, the Florence Gould Endowment for Literary Exchange, Fidji Simo, the Académie des Beaux-Arts, AWARE, ADIAF, Marfret and the Fonds de Dotation Banque Transatlantique.
Villa Albertine’s 2026 residents
Architecture
– Delphine Lewandowski – Boston MA and New York, NY
– Côme Rolin – Marfa, TX
Arts & Artificial Intelligence
– Louis-Paul Caron – Los Angeles, CA
– Lou Fauroux – Los Angeles, CA and Las Vegas, NV
– Hanako Murakami – New York, NY
– Olivain Porry – New Orleans, LA
Cinema
– Sabrina Bouarour – Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD
– Louise Cailliez & Guillaume Lorin – Fairbanks, AK
– Caroline Deodat – Saint Louis, MO and Chicago, IL
– Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis – Jacksonville, FL
– Camille Juza – Los Angeles, CA
– Hind Meddeb – New York, NY
– Simon Moutaïrou – New Orleans, LA
Craft & Design
– Céline Bachelot – Boston, MA
– Yassine Ben Abdallah – Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY
– Antonin Odin – New York, NY
– Laurel Parker – New Orleans, LA and Baton Rouge, LA
– Sophia Taillet – New York, NY
– Juliette Tellier – New York, NY
Literature
– Hélène Coutard – New York, NY
– Sandra Jackson-Opoku – Chicago, IL, Mt. Carmel, MO, Old Mines, MO, St. Louis, MO, New Orleans, LA, and Baton Rouge, LA
– Ana Mendoza Aldana – New Orleans, LA
– Jean-Baptiste Phou – San Francisco, CA
– Enrico Pinto – Las Vegas, NV
– Rose Vidal – Chicago, IL, New York, NY, and San Francisco, CA
Museums & Heritage
– Vincent Bouat-Ferlier – Washington, DC
– Claire Houmard – Quinhagak, AK
– Clément Thibault – Washington, DC
Music
– Eric Blaze – New York, NY and San Francisco, CA
– Blanche Lafuente – Atlanta, GA
including Classical Music
– Benjamin Alunni – New York, NY
– Bar Avni – Boston, MA, Chicago, IL, Cleveland, OH, Los Angeles, CA, and Denver, CO
– Katarina Livljanic – New York, NY
New Media
– Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst – San Francisco, CA
– Beatrice Lartigue – Boston, MA
Performing Arts
– Adama Diop – New York, NY
– Léo Lérus – New York, NY
– Léonard Matton – Boston, MA
– Khoudia Toure – Chicago, IL
Visual Arts
– Violaine Barrois & Suraia Abud – Dearborn, MI
– Abdelkader Benchamma – New York, NY
– Delphine & Elodie Chevalme – Houston, TX
– Lalita Clozel & Ariane Mohseni-Sadjadi – Trenton, MO
– Clémence Gbonon – Chicago, IL
– Samir Laghouati-Rashwan – Houston, TX
– Lek & Sowat – New York, NY
– Esther & Johanna Mirabel – Miami, FL
– Alexis Peskine – Atlanta, GA, Dunbar Creek, GA, South Carolina, North Carolina
– Emilie Pitoiset – Los Angeles, CA
– Cédrine Scheidig – Miami, Belle Glade, Pahokee, and the Everglades, FL
– Armelle Tulunda – Savannah, GA
In partnership with
Albertine Foundation
Previously known as FACE Foundation, Albertine Foundation is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting French-American relations through innovative cultural and educational projects. In close partnership with Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education of the French Embassy in the United States, Albertine Foundation promotes artistic, literary, and educational exchange and collaboration between creative professionals from both countries thanks to corporate, foundation, and individual support.
French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs
The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs works to represent, defend and promote the interests of France and French nationals in all areas in foreign countries and international organizations.
Ministry of Culture
The French Ministry of Culture aims to make the major works of humanity— and especially those of France— accessible to the largest number of people possible. As such, it maintains a policy of conservation, of protection, and of development of all components of French cultural heritage. It promotes the creation of works of art and of the mind, and the development of art practices and education. It further contributes to cultural initiatives outside of France, and to initiatives relating to the establishment of French cultural programs throughout the world.
Institut français
The Institut français is responsible for France’s international cultural program. Supervised by both the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and by the Ministry of Culture, it promotes French culture abroad through cultural exchange initiatives. Operating in a space where the arts, intellectual exchange, cultural and social innovation, and linguistic partnerships interact and intersect, it is also responsible for promoting the French language and the sharing of works, artists, and ideas all over the world. The Institut français is one of Villa Albertine’s main French partners.
Societe Generale Corporate Foundation
The corporate Societe Generale Foundation contributes to building a more inclusive and sustainable society by supporting initiatives in the fields of education, culture, and the environment that strengthen social cohesion. Its ambition is to help its partners grow their projects and their positive impact on society in these areas. Driven by a spirit of entrepreneurship, it supports general interest organisations and cultural institutions that implement projects with high potential for impact, whether they are emerging initiatives or large-scale endeavors. It operates nationally and regionally in France, and also supports multi-country or internationally impactful projects. For more information, visit https://fondation.societegenerale.com/en
Bettencourt Schueller Foundation
Bettencourt Schueller Foundation strives to embody the will of a family, driven by the spirit of enterprise and awareness of its social role, to reveal talents and help them thrive, in three fields that contribute concretely to the common good: life sciences, the arts and solidarity. Both a family foundation and recognized as a public utility since its creation in 1987, the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation intends to give wings to talent to contribute to the success and influence of France.
Recanati-Kaplan Foundation
Created in 2010 by Thomas S. Kaplan and Daphne Recanati-Kaplan, the Recanati-Kaplan Foundation supports the development of initiatives of excellence in four areas: the protection of our biodiversity; research in medical sciences; the teaching of history and philosophy; and cultural, artistic, and intellectual bridge-building between the Arab world, France and the United States.
Ardian
Ardian is a world-leading private investment house, managing or advising $150bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,400 clients globally. Our broad expertise, spanning Private Equity, Real Assets and Credit, enables us to offer a wide range of investment opportunities and respond flexibly to our clients’ differing needs. Through Ardian Customized Solutions we create bespoke portfolios that allow institutional clients to specify the precise mix of assets they require and to gain access to funds managed by leading third-party sponsors. Private Wealth Solutions offers dedicated services and access solutions for private banks, family offices and private institutional investors worldwide. Ardian is majority-owned by its employees and places great emphasis on developing its people and fostering a collaborative culture based on collective intelligence. Our1,000+ employees, spread across 16 offices in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Middle East are strongly committed to the principles of Responsible Investment and are determined to make finance a force for good in society. Our goal is to deliver excellent investment performance combined with high ethical standards and social responsibility. At Ardian we invest all of ourselves in building companies that last.
AXA
The AXA Group is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with 154,000 employees serving more than 95 million clients in 50 countries. In 2024, IFRS17 revenues amounted to Euro 110.3 billion and IFRS17 underlying earnings to Euro 8.1 billion. AXA had Euro 983 billion in assets under management, including assets managed on behalf of third parties, as of December 31, 2024.
The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISN FR 0000120628 – Bloomberg: CS FP – Reuters: AXAF.PA). AXA’s American Depository Share is also quoted on the OTC QX platform under the ticker symbol AXAHY.
The AXA Group is included in the main international SRI indexes, such as Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and FTSE4GOOD.
It is a founding member of the UN Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Principles for Sustainable Insurance and a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.
This press release and the regulated information made public by AXA pursuant to article L. 451-1-2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code and articles 222-1 et seq. of the Autorité des marchés financiers’ General Regulation are available on the AXA Group website (axa.com).
Engie Foundation
Florence Gould Foundation
The Florence Gould Foundation is devoted to French-American exchange and friendship. It has provided critical and longstanding support to enable the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and its partner FACE Foundation to foster French-American exchange across disciplines and make the very best of French and francophone culture accessible to diverse communities across the United States. The Florence Gould Writers’ Residency at Villa Albertine will create exceptional and enduring opportunities for literary creation for the most promising and innovative French and Francophone authors.
L’Académie des beaux-arts
The Académie des beaux-arts is one of the 5 academies of the Institut de France. An institution under the protection of the President of the Republic, with 67 members, 16 foreign associate members and 67 correspondents, it protects France’s cultural heritage and encourages artistic creation in all its forms by supporting numerous artists and associations through the organization of competitions, the awarding of prizes, the financing of artists’ residencies and the granting of subsidies for artistic projects and events. As a consultative body to public authorities, the Académie des beaux-arts is also active in reflection on artistic issues. It also maintains an active policy of partnerships with a large network of cultural institutions and museums. To carry out these missions, the Académie des beaux-arts manages its assets, which include donations and bequests, as well as major cultural sites such as the Musée Marmottan Monet (Paris) and the Villa and Bibliothèque Marmottan (Boulogne-Billancourt), the House and gardens of Claude Monet (Giverny), the Villa and gardens of Ephrussi de Rothschild (Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat), the Maison-atelier Lurçat (Paris), the Villa Dufraine (Chars), the Appartement d’Auguste Perret (Paris), and the Galerie Vivienne (Paris), of which it is co-owner.
AWARE
AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions is a non-profit organisation, co-founded in 2014 by Camille Morineau, art historian and specialist in the history of women artists. To counter the underrepresentation of women in the art world, AWARE seeks to rebalance the presence of women artists by giving them more visibility through the publication of free resources. The bilingual French/English website provides more than 900 biographies for women artists from the 19th and 20th centuries as well as articles and interviews written by researchers and curators from around the world.
ADIAF
The Association for the International Diffusion of French Art brings together 300 collectors of modern art who are fully committed to the creativity quest. It was created in 1994 with the ambition to highlight the flourishing creativity of the French artistic scene and to promote the French art scene throughout the world. ADIAF has created in 2000 the Prix Marcel Duchamp which is awarded annually to one among four shortlisted artists either born or residing in France and working in the field of visual arts. Organized since its founding in partnership with the Centre Pompidou, this seminal art Prize is considered today one of the most relevant vectors of information on contemporary art in France.
MARFRET
MARFRET: AT THE HEART OF GLOBAL TRADE
Founded in 1951, the maritime company MARFRET specializes in international freight transport. Operating nine regular shipping lines along the north/south axis, it serves five major geographical areas: the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, Caribbean, Amazon, and South Pacific, with a significant presence in the French overseas territories.
MARFRET also has subsidiaries in river transport, handling, and warehousing, providing an integrated and multimodal door-to-door service.
The company has established a long tradition of hosting artists in residence, both aboard its ships and in its onshore offices. MARFRET, which owns seven vessels, likes to define itself as an “Ar(t)mateur.”
The Fonds de Dotation Transatlantique
The Fonds de Dotation Transatlantique is the first endowment fund created by a French bank and sheltering philanthropic funds for individuals and corporations. Since its creation in 2012 it collected more than 20 million € and funded over 700 projects in social, health, education and culture areas.
In 2021, the sheltered fund Albertine Foundation France was created to collect donations in France and support activities that promote French culture or language, strengthen ties between France and the United States, and foster the arts and cultural exchanges between these two countries.