In the Clouds (ITC) is our first artist residency program!
The ITC Application will be open January 27th, 2025 through February 24th, 2025.
We are actively working to improve access to Cactus Club (CC) and to develop programming that addresses barriers to artist and audience access. ITC is one part of Cactus Plus’s Accessibility Initiative. It is intended to provide resources to disabled, neurodiverse, poor, undocumented, multiracial, and intergenerational artists and community members. This project is rooted in the belief that art is the road to liberation and that our struggles are interconnected. Defining accessibility is supremely important to understanding the scope of our work. Improving accessibility is the dismantling of barriers: physical/sensorial, financial, legislative, and cultural.
ITC evolved out of a number of artist installations at CC. In fact, the name derives from the cloud installation hanging above the stage in the live room. Since we began hosting numerous installations and artworks, we wished to eventually provide a more formal avenue for artists to spend time on their work with resources, whether this work would find a home at CC or otherwise. With the help of the Ruth Arts Wisconsin Special Projects Grant, we can fulfill this wish! We are excited that ITC will provide resources for our artists-in-residence so that their time “in the clouds” can be spent imagining, creating, and growing.
ITC consists of 4 initial residencies:
- a virtual multimedia residency
- 2 in-person residencies
- an invitation-based residency tasked with a mosaic facade on the forthcoming ramp to the front door
This hybrid residency will center disabled, neurodivergent, and chronically ill artists and artists whose work responds to our expansive definition of access. The residency is primarily self-directed and the outcome can be self-determined in consultation with residency coordinators. There is no exhibition requirement of completed work. ITC residencies will be six weeks but remain flexible to account for each individual, their creative practice, and their time-dependent needs. The artist-in-residence (AiR) will have the option to connect with our partnering artists for studio visits and mentorship opportunities. ITC will provide digital access to audiences through Cactus Club’s social media channels and opportunities for installation and exhibition. The selected AiR will receive a stipend of $3000 for living costs and materials.
Towards the end of each residency, the AiR is expected to participate in a recorded conversational interview to reflect on their perspectives on the experience. This is one way that we plan to document the AiR experience. This video is meant to be public-facing so that others can learn about you, the residency, and Cactus+ programming.
Virtual multimedia residency
The first ITC residency will be virtual – not on-site at Cactus Club (May-June 2025). The virtual format allows CC’s substantial internet presence to showcase the AiR’s creative work, welcoming engagement, circulating disabled, chronically ill, and/or neurodivergent practices, and elevating their place in cultural history. From the AiR’s space(s) of creative practice, the work will be hosted via our TikTok, Youtube, Vimeo and/or Instagram platforms, as collaboratively determined. The virtual resident is required to have internet access, which the AiR stipend can help obtain, and a means to document and share their practice or works-in-progress online. ITC offers the option of a closing event featuring the artist’s work to be hosted virtually or in-person by CC or local partners, but there is no exhibition requirement of completed work.
In-person residency
The in-person residency (August-Sept. 2025) will provide the option of temporary living accommodations in CC’s apartment (which only has stairs to the second floor), workspace, and performance and installation opportunities at CC. The AiR will have access to an on-site computer with the full Adobe Suite (Photoshop/Illustrator/Premiere/After Effects/etc.), Final Cut Pro, Logic, and Ableton. If the AiR’s practice requires use of artist facilities and equipment, or if the AiR is simply interested in exploring new equipment or tools, our community partners have offered to arrange for use of their facilities. All community partners are located in Milwaukee within several miles of CC. The AiR will be required to find transportation to these places. ITC’s partnering artists provide an opportunity for AiRs to engage with other artists for studio visits and mentorship opportunities. The in-person AiR’s work will be hosted by our TikTok, Youtube, Vimeo and/or Instagram platforms, as collaboratively determined. ITC offers the option of a closing event featuring the artist’s work to be hosted virtually or in-person by Cactus Club or local partners, but there is no exhibition or output requirement.
Ramp mosaic residency
ITC will host an invitation-based residency tasked with creating the mosaic for the facade of the forthcoming ramp (summer 2025). ITC will provide materials, training, tools, and assistance.