Participation in the 2026 Speculating on Plurality Residency is a 3-month-long commitment from April 1, 2026, to June 30, 2026.

To be eligible to apply for the 2026 Speculating on Plurality Residency, applicants must meet all the following requirements:  

• Applicant must be an individual;
• Applicant must reside in New York City (5 boroughs) and be interested in studio use for the residency term;
• Applicants of any age who identify as artists practicing professionally for no more than 10 years (emerging);
• Applicant is NOT currently enrolled in any full-time degree programs or employed as full-time faculty at a higher learning institution.

Eyebeam is in search of 2026 Open Call applicants whose artistic or research-based practices are aligned with Eyebeam’s values of:

• Openness: All the work here is driven by an open-source ethos.
• Invention: We build on ideas to generate new possibilities.
• Justice: Technology by artists is a move towards equity and democracy.

Successful applicants must have:

• A demonstrated alignment with the guiding theme, Speculating on Plurality, and the questions it invites; 
• Clear artistic intentions for experimentation, development, or new learning during the residency term;
• A purposeful relationship to technology and creativity;
• An interest in the potential impact of exploration and ideation;
• An interest in sharing and learning with and from other emerging artists.

Historically, Eyebeam’s programs have supported multi-un-anti-disciplinary, boundary-crossing artists whose practices defy easy categorization due to their experimental and expansive nature.

Eyebeam will consider applicants who are critical, creative, and social thinkers, and who engage in multimedia or non-visual practice. While Eyebeam is, at its core, an art & technology non-profit organization, applicants may engage in digital or human rights organizing, social practice, research, journalism, art criticism, community-based practice, critical Pedagogy & education, and activism.

Many of Eyebeam’s former fellows have explored many of the following disciplines, merging media in unprecedented ways:

1. Performing Arts: Dance, Multimedia Performance, Music, Cyberperformance
2. Technology + Emerging Media: Augmented/Virtual Reality, Data Visualization, Games, Hardware & Software Art/Architecture, Internet Art, Robotics, Hacktivism, Web3, Sound Art, Generative AI, Immersive Internet, Programming Languages, Open-Source, Web-based platforms
3. Visual Art: Social/Environmental Architecture, Urban Design, Traditional/Indigenous Craft & Practice, Ecological Art, Multimedia Installation, Painting, Photography, Public Art, Sculpture,
4. Moving Image: Animation, Documentary Film, Experimental Film, Narrative Film
5. Writing: Visionary Fiction, Zines, Art Theory & Criticism, Investigative Journalism, Research & Academic Publication.

Applications can be submitted via Submittable (see application link at the bottom of this page).

Before you apply, please review the information below. You will have the option to respond to the statement of purpose and short-answer questions either by written submission or by uploading an audio/video file. 

The application is in four parts: 

1. 1. Eligibility→ Affirm that you meet all of the criteria in the pre-form for eligibility to apply for the residency.
   2. Applicant Information→ You will be asked to submit personal information, including your first and last name, geographic location, date of birth, email address, biography with a 200-word limit, and a CV/Resume.
   3. Application Materials→
      • Statement of Purpose: (300-word limit) A statement highlighting your current work or thinking process, creative influences, or speak about your general practice and communities you collaborate with, and include how you think this residency might support your creative progress.
      • Questions: (300-word limit per question) Three questions tailored further to reflect the themes and priorities outlined for this residency:
        • How do you plan to engage with your peers in the residency cohort?
        • In what ways have you actively worked to center care, community, and solidarity in your practice, and how do you plan to continue doing so? 
        • How do you interpret this residency’s themes and questions, and how do they show up in your practice?
      • Work Samples: Please upload two work samples. One work sample can be a work in progress, but at least one must be complete.

To note for audio/video or multimedia pieces:

• • • • • If you are uploading a video file, it should be approximately 300 MB, and any audio must be captioned. If the file is a longer-format piece (over 10 minutes), please upload an excerpt that is no longer than 5 minutes.
        • If a work you are submitting is a multimedia piece, you can include it in a text document, PDF, or slides, which should not exceed 3 pages. This file can include multiple links to documentation, as long as the files correspond to a single piece of work.
        • Uploads that exceed these lengths will not be considered, due to the capacity of our jurors and staff.

4. Applicant Demographic Survey→ (Optional) Applicants can choose to participate in the demographic survey. Eyebeam collects demographic information to gain deeper insight into our target audience.

The data we collect is not shared, and kept internally. Demographic data will be compiled by Eyebeam Development staff for internal learning and shared in the aggregate for reporting to funders and partners. Personally identifying data will be removed prior to sharing.

Please note that the collected data is not used to influence the decision-making process of the juror panel, they will not have access to that data. Acknowledging the breadth and scope of this initiative and the systemic inequities further highlighted by this moment, our residency program will endeavor to support a cohort of diverse artists across race, ethnicity, disability status, gender, immigration status, sexual orientation, age, and geographical location. It will do this by identifying and addressing funding disparities for visionary ideas that aim to develop a more humane digital realm.

Residents will be selected by a jury of Eyebeam alumni and community members, with support from Eyebeam staff and the board. Applications will be reviewed by selected jurors, and a rubric based on residency criteria will be used to assess all applications. Following the application review, shortlisted candidates may be considered for a finalist interview.

Residents are asked to make a 3-month commitment to the program as follows: 

• Attend orientation sessions;
• Commit to weekly studio time;
• Participate in one public event or activation during the term;
• Attend monthly residency lunch with the Eyebeam team; 
• Participate short interview with the Communications team for the digital Oral Histories series;
• Complete final feedback for residency upon completion of the program. 

NYU Tandon @ The Yard leverages the emerging media expertise of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering in partnership with industry and media partners across the country to create a new media hub and must-visit facility within the Brooklyn Navy Yard. 

NYU Tandon @ The Yard is a 14,000 square foot production and research facility, consisting of two production studios as well as other systems for working with emerging media technology.

NYU Tandon @ The Yard also has equipment to support development and research in emerging media, including:

• a robotic motion base for prototyping cyber-physical interactions;
• a full suite of current XR equipment for virtual and augmented reality, including social VR;
• a Dolby Atmos system for working with spatial audio;
• a “Belfast-method” style broadcast system for working with real-time streaming technologies;
• desk production space for ~60 MS/PhD students, as well as meeting and touchdown space for faculty, staff, and industry partners.

3/2:  Open Call for residency opens; submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis 

3/20: Deadline for submissions at 11:59 PM EST

3/21: Panel review

3/27: Notification of acceptance

4/1: Residency period begins

4/9: Residency awardees are announced

6/30: Residency concludes

At Eyebeam, trust is an ongoing process of practicing care and building agency towards mutual reliance.

Eyebeam centers radicality through platforming experimental artists and projects that provide creative and necessary disruptions. 

For Eyebeam, community is a practice of sharing ideas and resources with care to cultivate mutual abundance.

At Eyebeam, justice is the work of building capacity for artists and our communities to address urgent and systemic injustices.

Accessibility

The residency cohort will engage in online and in-person activities facilitated by Eyebeam. The studio at NYU Tandon at the Navy Yard is wheelchair accessible with a large elevator and ADA-compliant single-person/family restrooms. ASL interpretation, assistive listening devices, captioning services will be considered during for virtual meetings or physical gatherings on a need basis.

Equity and Inclusion

Acknowledging the breadth and scope of this initiative and the systemic inequities that have been further highlighted by this moment, this residency will endeavor to support a cohort of diverse artists across race, ethnicity, disability status, gender, immigration status, sexual orientation, and age. It will do this by identifying and responding to disparities in access to funding for visionary ideas that aim to develop a more humane digital realm.