RESIDENCY PROGRAM

Inscape AiR was a volunteer-run program in coordination with the building management that uniquely focused on hosting immigrant artists and artists interested in the immigrant history and/or the Chinatown-International District neighborhood in a historic immigration/art studio building. Artist tenants programmed the community gallery with a residency for part of the year to help the building meet its commitment to public arts placemaking. With feedback from AiR alumni, Friends of Inscape raised funds to rent a second space to expand the residency.

Since January 2025, the community gallery space changed into a rentable studio. As Friends of Inscape cannot afford to rent two spaces to continue the program, the residency on hiatus with the goal of bringing it back in future years. For now, we are celebrating this unique program with an alumni exhibition Eight Years of Inscape AiR: Resistance and Belonging at the Historic Immigration Building, at King Street Station, July 5-August 9, 2025. Details below.

We are grateful to the artists, 4Culture, and donors for making this special program a reality!

Eight Years of Inscape AiR: Resistance and Belonging at the Historic Immigration Building

June 5 - August 9, 2025
Arts at King Street Station

Participating Artists: Ching-In Chen and Cassie Nicholson (collaborators), Jo Cosme, Carina A. del Rosario, Sofia Fang, Sabella Flagg, Pete Fleming, Alice Gosti/MALACARNE, Barry Johnson, Haein Kang, Emily Tanner-Mclean, and Lila Thomas

Curated by Tara Tamaribuchi, this exhibition brings together alumni of the Inscape Artist-in-Residence program that took place from 2016 to 2014 at Inscape Arts, the art studio building that was Seattle’s immigration and detention building for 80 years. The residency, organized by volunteer building artists, focused on providing studios to immigrant and diasporic community artists, and artists interested in engaging with the building’s history and the Chinatown-International District neighborhood.
Since 2021, the building artists have been at-risk of displacement, while the neighborhood continues to fight against gentrification. In recent months, the current president has focused on scapegoating and criminalizing immigrants and people of color, while the legacy of immigrant detention at this building continues at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.
These alumni artists disrupt these subjections of displacement and dehumanization to offer senses of belonging, self-determination, home, and resistance. Some of the artists reflect on selfhood, image production, and visibility through the diasporic experience of immigration, borders, and colonization, and into the recent shift towards deglobalization. Some of the work is a process of grief and acceptance of marginalization and displacement, that organically moves toward creating a new sense of home and belonging where we thrive and resist. The artists are inspired by the long history of the resistance and mutual aid in the building that extends into the surrounding neighborhoods. We honor this legacy of resilience that has instilled cultural pride and innovation through artmaking, dreaming, and spellcasting. Together these works intend to continue this thread from our ancestors, to build a shared space of protection, safety, and solidarity for all to explore and inhabit.

ALUMNI

Jo Cosme and Harriet Salmon Winter - Spring 2024

Ching-In Chen and Sabella Flagg Fall 2023

Casey Arguelles Gregory Summer 2023

Jiyon Hong and Alice Gosti Spring – Summer 2023

Miya Sukune and Pete Fleming  Winter – Spring 2023

Lila Thomas Fall – Winter 2022

Haein Kang Winter – Spring 2022

HJ “Cortez” Amaro Fall 2021

Barry Johnson Fall 2020 – Winter 2021

Emily Tanner-McLean  Spring – Summer 2020

Dhaba (Maggie Argiro & Sanwal Deen) Summer-Fall 2019

Fumi Amano Spring 2019

Nina Vichayapai Fall 2018

Natasha Marin Spring 2018

Sofia Babaeva Fall 2017

Yuri Kinoshita Summer 2017

Iole Alessandrini Spring 2017

Residency Archive | ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Presented by Friends of Inscape, the residency features a free work-only space for one artist or artist-team for approximately 10 weeks.  Depending on their goals, selected artists have the opportunity to hold workshops, talks, exhibitions, and receive studio visits from curators or artist mentors.  

Six artists per year are selected.  This selection cycle for residencies begins in January 2024. The selection committee includes representatives from the Inscape community and a representative from the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, as well as regional arts organizations that intersect with ethnic and immigrant communities. The committee seeks thoughtful and compelling applications of high quality work and values applications that convey engagement with the historic immigration building and the surrounding diverse neighborhood.

The residency is open to all artists by application. We are currently accepting applications for the 2024 residency period, running from January 2024 – December 2024. In honor of the history of the building, artists who are immigrants and/or from underrepresented populations are strongly encouraged to apply.

Residency dates will be:
January 8 – March 25,  2024
April 14 – June 30, 2024
September 4 – November 20, 2024

The Studio Spaces

  • Siquina Space (Space 1): Approx. 17 x 22’ (approx. 400 sf), white drywall walls, concrete floor, no windows) on the first floor of Inscape.  A great space for artists working with low light, sound, and technology. Also doubles as a gallery featuring track lighting.

  • Studio #102 (Space 2):  Approx. 9 x 25’, (approx. 240 sf), window with natural light and overhead lights. This is  a good space for artists that require natural light and/or are working with more traditional media due to better ventilation.

  • Both spaces are for studio-only residencies – not live/work.

Exhibition & Community Engagement
Depending on health guidelines, artists will have opportunities to engage with the community (in-person or online), exhibit artwork, and/or participate in Open House events.

Selection Process
Residencies will be awarded to artists who submit thoughtful, compelling and relevant applications that consist of high quality work.  Inscape is a large community of diverse artists in a former Immigration and Naturalization Service building (on the National Register of Historic Places) in the Chinatown- International District.  We value applications that display engagement with the Inscape artist community, the historic INS building and/or the C-ID community.

Residency Requirements

  • Artists are expected to work onsite for a minimum of 10 hours a week for the duration of the residency period.

  • Artists are responsible for their own materials.

  • Artists may choose to have an engagement with the public and Inscape community. (Example: this could be an exhibition, performance, artist talk, and/or workshop.) 

  • Artists must be over the age of 18 and not currently enrolled in a degree program.

| FAQs

How long is the residency?
The duration of the residency may vary, but it is approximately ten weeks and is posted along with the call to artists.

What is the studio like?
There are two studio spaces:
The Siquina Space (Space 1): Approx. 17 x 22’ (approx. 400 sf), with concrete floors, 11 foot tall ceilings and white walls. There are no windows, and lighting is provided by overhead fluorescents and/or gallery track lighting. There are two 120v outlets in the room. This is  a good space for artists working with light/projections, sound, and technology.
Studio #102 (Space 2): Approx. 9 x 25’ (approx. 240 sf), with concrete floors, 11 foot tall ceilings, white walls, a window, and western light. There are two 120v outlets. This is a good space for artists that require natural light and/or are working with more traditional media due to better ventilation.

What access will I have to the studio & building?
Artists-in-Residence will be given a key card and have 24/7 access to the studio and building.

Is there parking? Loading?
Yes, there is limited first-come/ first-served parking for the building. (Inscape is only a few minutes walk from the Chinatown – International District public transit station; biking and public transportation are encouraged!). There is a loading bay in the back of the building that you have access to via a freight elevator.

What type of media is accepted?
All visual art media and performance art is accepted. Please note that there is limited ventilation in the studio, so strong solvents are not allowed. There is a spray booth in the basement for use of solvents or fixatives, and a kiln room.

What facilities does the building have?
There are general use bathrooms (including gender neutral), utility sinks, a spray booth, freight elevator, and kiln usage.  There are two outdoor patios on the 2nd floor. Interpretive information about the building history is displayed on all floors, courtesy of the Wing Luke Museum.

Is the studio handicap accessible?
Yes.