Nida Art Colony is a new subdivision of the Vilnius Academy of Arts. It is developed under the EEA and Norway Grants support. The project started in 2009. Nida Art Colony will open in February 2011.

The overall objective of Nida Art Colony is to improve the quality of art and design education in Lithuania and to implement innovations in the field of art education by promoting international cooperation. By launching the Nida Artist-in-residence Programme we aim to create favourable conditions for creative contemporary art practices.

The main forms of Nida Art Colony activities are international workshops, summer schools, exhibitions, conferences, video screenings and the artistst-in-residence programme. In June, July and September Nida Art Colony will house summer workshops of the Vilnius Academy of Arts (these workshops constitute a part of the curriculum and are organised by the Academy‘s departments themselves). All other events are subject to planing.

In 2008 an architectural competition was held and the selected project came from the Kancas Studio. The reconstructed building (1.323 sq. m) will house five artistic residencies, student dormitory, two multifunctional spaces used for artistic and educational activities and a digital image processing lab.

Executive Director: Rasa Antanavičiūtė

Programme Director: Vytautas Michelkevicius

Artist in Residence Program

Nida Art Colony offers residencies for professional artists, designers, architects, art critics and curators. The objectives of the programme are:

To provide favourable conditions for art practices and to stimulate innovations in art.

The programme offers living and socialising facilities in order to ensure the comfortable and harmonious coexistence of five artists-in-residence. It always has a combination of local and foreign artists, which is expected to encourage new and original partnerships and to stimulate ideas.

To implement innovations in art education.

Artists-in-residence are encouraged and expected to engage in educational activities during their residency period. A resident who comes to NAC with a scholarship agrees to give at least a three-day workshop to a chosen audience, which can range from the Nida community to Vilnius Academy of Arts.

To become an integral part of the local cultural and social scene.

Artists-in-residence are invited to engage in locally based practices: to join local cultural initiatives and institutions, and to work with local themes and visual and social contexts. Open studio days will be held towards the end of each residency period.