COASTAL OREGON ARTIST RESIDENCY

A partnership between Recology Western Oregon and Astoria Visual Arts

Recology Western Oregon and AVA are pleased to announce the nineth round of the Coastal Oregon Artist Residency. Through this program Recology and AVA support the creation of art from recycled, repurposed and discarded materials recovered from the Recology Astoria Recycling Depot and Transfer Station.

The Residency provides two selected artists with access to discarded materials, a stipend of $1,000 per month for 4 months, studio space at Recology’s Warrenton-based facility and, at the close of the residency, a public exhibition in Astoria.  

The residency will commence on June 1 and end on September 30, 2026.  

During the residency, artists have collection privileges at the Astoria Transfer Station during regular business hours and access to a studio space at Recology’s Warrenton office. Recology encourages artists to spend roughly 20 hours per week working on art projects for the residency. At the conclusion of the residency, Recology and AVA will host a reception and public exhibition featuring artwork made during the program. Each artist also contributes one piece of artwork to Recology’s permanent collection.  

Eligibility  

Coastal Oregon Artists Residency is open to local, career-level artists living in Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties in Oregon, and Pacific and Wahkiakum counties in Washington. Artists working in any media may apply, however, strong candidates work samples will include reclaimed materials. Previous residency participants are not eligible to apply.  

Application Process 

Applicants must complete the online application at the link below. The deadline to apply is May 3 by 11:59p.m.

APPLY HERE

Information needed for the application:

1. Contact information: Name, address, telephone number, email address

2. Website and social media, if applicable

3. Resume or C.V. 

4. Cover letter (optional, but encouraged)

5. Answers to following questions:

a. What encouraged you to apply for this residency? 

b. What medium do you generally work in?

c. What types of tools do you generally work with? 

d. What do you plan to work on during the residency and how will you incorporate recycled materials?

6. Four samples of past work. Please submit high quality JPEG or similar format.

7. Contact information (phone numbers and email addresses) for two references that can speak to your artistic practice. 

Contact Information  

Questions? Contact Claire Wolcott, Recology Zero Waste Specialist, at cwolcott@recology.com.

 

About Recology Western Oregon

Recology is an employee-owned company that provides integrated services to more than 889,000 residential customers and 112,000 commercial customers in California, Oregon, and Washington.  The Recology mission represents a fundamental shift from traditional waste management to resource recovery. Our vision at Recology is to create a world without waste by developing and discovering sustainable resource recovery practices that can be implemented globally. 

ABOUT THE COASTAL OREGON ARTIST RESIDENCY

The Coastal Oregon Artist Residency was developed through a collaborative partnership between Recology Western Oregon—an employee-owned company managing resource recovery facilities along the North Coast—and Astoria Visual Arts (AVA).

Astoria’s residency is part of a larger artist-in-residence program founded in San Francisco in 1990. Today, the program operates residencies in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Astoria, McMinnville, and Ashland. Each location partners with a local nonprofit organization to support artist engagement and community connection.

PREVIOUS COAR ARTISTS:

2024 - John Mueller & Jill Mulholland

2023 - Olivia Joyce & Dustin Nord

2022 - Kate Speranza & Bill Atwood

2021 - Postponed due to COVID

2020 - Postponed due to COVID

2019 - Jeremy Furnish & Drea Rose Frost

2018 - Wenda Vorce, Cara Mico, Stephen Shumaker
2017 - Bonny Gorsuch

2016 - Dawn Stetzel & Sean Barrow

  • Jeremy Furnish and Drea Rose Frost (2019)

  • John Mueller "Wall Sconce Study #2" (2024)

  • Jill Mulholland "3 Buoys" (2024)

  • Kate Speranza "Freewheelin" (2023)

  • Olivia Joyce and Dustin Nord (2023)

  • Bonny Gorsuch (2017)

  • Bill Atwood and Kate Speranza (2023)

  • Dustin Nord "Collossal Claude" (2023)