Carnival as Folklore

A five-day, in-person collage artist residency at Kolaj Institute in New Orleans

Session One:

Virtual Sessions: Wednesday, 14 and 21 January 2026, 7-9PM EST

In Person: 4PM on Sunday, 25 January to 3PM on Friday, 30 January 2026

Session Two:

Virtual Sessions: Wednesday, 28 January and 4 February 2026, 7-9PM EST

In Person: 10AM on Monday, 9 February to 3PM on Friday, 13 February 2026

Deadline to Apply: Sunday, 28 December 2025. The Final Deadline (if space is available) is 28 December 2025. Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis until space is filled. Artists are encouraged to apply well before the deadline.

ABOUT THE RESIDENCY

Carnival is a season of celebration and symbolic renewal that takes place each year, according to the Christian liturgical calendar, between Epiphany and Mardi Gras, ending on Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent, a period of solemn reflection and religious piety. During Carnival, social roles are reversed and norms are suspended; the jester becomes the king. Festivities are wide ranging and can include parades, street parties, formal balls, and cakes eaten only during that time of year. Carnival's traditions are rooted in ancient European festivals. Its 19th-century revival in the Americas parallels a time when people were rediscovering and reveling in Greek and Roman Mythology. As such, carnival is dripping with folklore. No place does Carnival like New Orleans, where the city comes alive in a mass display of collective effervescence.

During this in-person Artist Residency, collage artists will be invited to spend a week in New Orleans investigating Carnival as folklore and making art about it. Taking a broad view of collage and rooted in an understanding of Artist Practice, artists will hear a working theory of folklore; what it is; how it functions in communities; and the role artists can play in activating, transmitting, and celebrating folklore in communities as a form of cultural expression and a strategy for community resilience. Artists will learn how to identify and document folklore; make art in response to that folklore; build a context for the folklore; and develop strategies for getting that artwork to communities and into the larger ecosystem of Art. 

Invited artists will attend one of two sessions: 

SESSION ONE: 25-30 January 2026

In the first session (25-30 January 2026), artists be invited to attend the Chewbaccus Viewing Party on 24 January and will hear from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA-based artist Emily Denlinger about the project, Gain of Function: New Mutations/Old Traditions/Collective Effervescence. The project is a collection of locative collage photographs in an artist-created landscape inspired by global masking traditions. During her Kolaj Institute Solo Artist Residency prior to the session, Denlinger is constructing a three-dimensional landscape with locally sourced trash and Carnival elements in which members of the public will photograph two-dimensional collage figures. "The project functions as 21st century folklore with each character potentially representing a magical creature or masked performer in some yet-to-be-imagined ritual," wrote Kolaj Institute Director Ric Kasini Kadour. "Like the odd, creature-like figures of early 20th century Surrealists, they, too, are a response to deeply troubled times and offer us the opportunity to find a collective effervescence to see us through them."  

SESSION TWO: 9-13 February 2026

In the second session (9-13 February 2026), artists will attend the parades of the Krewes of Druids & Alla on Wednesday evening in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans. Artists will also visit The Historic New Orleans Collection in the French Quarter and consider the role Carnival has played in the history of New Orleans. And they will visit the Backstreet Museum in the Treme. "The mission of the Backstreet Cultural Museum is to preserve and perpetuate the unique cultural traditions of New Orleans' African American society through collections, exhibitions and publications, public programs, and performances. These cultural traditions include Mardi Gras Indians, Skull and Bone gangs, Baby Dolls, jazz funerals, social aid and pleasure clubs, and other related activities, rituals and celebrations. The vision of the Backstreet Cultural Museum is to foster the appreciation of New Orleans’ African American processional traditions as important to American history and contemporary visual culture. The Backstreet Cultural Museum is a gathering place of memory, celebration, and communion that uses art and culture to enrich and sustain its community."   

The artwork made during the residency will be considered for publication in Kolaj Institute's Folklore Collage Society, a printed journal dedicated to artwork and artists who activate, transmit, and celebrate folklore as a form of cultural expression and a strategy for community resilience. In its pages, stories, statements, essays, field notes, poetry, and song lyrics mingle with collage art that shows how collage artists are thinking about the folklore. Artwork will also be considered for an exhibition at Kolaj Institute Gallery in New Orleans that will take place 14 February to 11 April 2026. 

WHO IS THIS FOR?

Folklore & Collage Residency: Carnival as Folklore is an in-person residency at Kolaj Institute in New Orleans that's centered on collage artists who want to develop their artist practice. Residencies are intended for self-motivated artists, regardless of the stage in their career, who want to develop their practice by exploring a topic or working method and collaborating with others to produce a final product and who want to develop a practice of working with folklore to create and present art that embeds itself in non-traditional spaces and speaks to a general community about contemporary issues.

Residencies are open to any artist over the age of 21 from anywhere in the world. We look for artists who have a developed sense of practice (even if it is an emerging one) and those who have a strong connection to a community. People of color, indigenous people, and members of queer communities are encouraged to apply.

COST

The cost of the residency is $750 USD. Kolaj Institute has a limited number of grants of up to $250 available to offset the cost of the workshop for those in demonstrated need. These grants are possible through the generous support of our donors. Travel to and from New Orleans, accommodations in New Orleans, and all meals are the responsibility of the artist. Grant requests made to specifically offset these costs will not be considered.

RESIDENCY LOGISTICS

Folklore & Collage: Carnival as Folklore Artist Residency will have two Virtual Sessions prior to the Session they are invited to.

Participating artists will have 24-hour access to the space during the residency. Residents and faculty will come together as a group for approximately two hours each day for presentations and discussion. The schedule of site visits and other activities will be shared with invited artists. 

Kolaj Institute stocks general collage-making materials such as cutting mats, scissors, a variety of glues, substrates, and books and magazines. If an artist wishes to use specific materials they may be shipped in advance to the Kolaj Institute Studio & Gallery. 

APPLICATION PROCESS

The submission process asks applicants for:       • Contact information       • Artist or Writer Bio (50-250 words)       • Statement of Artist or Writer Practice (50-300 words)       • 5-7 images of artwork or samples of writing       • What you hope to gain from the experience       • Asks questions about your work and needs

QUESTIONS

If you have questions, send an email.

READ THE FULL CALL TO ARTISTS