The Art of Cutting Things Out with Alison Kurke at the Borders Textile Towerhouse in Hawick, Scotland 13 April-15 June 2024. American collagist, now resident of the Scottish Borders, Alison Kurke presents collages that are an overview of a studio practice that has evolved over the past twenty years. She makes collage because she likes cutting things out, combining them and pasting them down in pleasing arrangements. Retirement has its advantages and focused play is vastly underrated. At the opening reception on Saturday, 13 April, 1-3PM, is the launch of Standard Processes in Dressmaking, a collaged altered book by nine members of the International Collage Community, led by Kurke. Using E. Lucy Towers’s iconic, 1948 instruction manual as a point of departure, artists added fragments to the pages of the book as a means of exploring womanhood and fashion.

New York, New York, USA. Naomi Friedman works through the medium of physical and digital collage art. Their dedication to emergent praxis centers the importance of found objects and community testimony as guides to the creative process, rather than simply materials or static inspiration. Their work explores the creation of a fluid and whimsical landscape that defies the metaphysical and highlights intentional human connection.

Barcelona, Spain. "With elements as simple and economical as magazine clippings, old photos, textures, found objects or simply a modest computer, you can reinvent images or scenes of parallel worlds and authentic beauty." Each issue of Kolaj Magazine features portfolios of contemporary artists alongside critical commentary as a means of developing a deeper understanding of collage as both a medium and a genre. To be considered, register with the Kolaj Magazine Artist Directory.

Anna Innocenti reflects on the time she spent as an artist-in-residence in Sanquhar, Scotland. She writes, "More than a year later, I am aware of the extraordinary impact that this Artist Residency brought to my collage work, all touched by some novelty in the use of materials, the selection of the photographs or the chosen subjects."

From Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Julie A. Bell is in residence at Kolaj Institute in New Orleans until 15 April 20024 where she is working in a maximalist, abstract style, using found materials, handmade paper, acrylics and inks, Bell will develop a series of collages that explores the history and tourist culture of the city. Her unique and eclectic imagery is rooted in the exploration of place, traditional culture and the evolving social landscape. Using found materials, handmade paper, acrylics and inks, Bell carefully constructs compositions that are full of energetic color and layered meaning.

Deadline to Apply: Sunday, 14 April 2024. The Photography & Collage Artist Residency will invite photographers and collage artists to come together in dialogue, learn from one another, and make artwork for a series of exhibitions that explore the intersection of collage and photography. Unfolding in two tracks over the course of a week, we will ask, What happens when a collagist picks up the camera? What happens when a photographer collages their pictures? Presentations will explore collage in theory, artist practice, the ecosystem of art, the state of photography, and the history of photography and collage. Artists will shoot on film, explore the dark room, and make collage with the results. Artists will also shoot digital images which will be printed as collage material.

Deadline to Apply: Sunday, 14 April 2024. A four-week, virtual/online workshop with Kolaj Institute in April & May 2024. A working understanding of one’s practice is critical to one’s professional and artistic development. Intended as a clinic for working artists at any level, participants in the Collage in Practice Workshop will explore how they go about making art and putting it out into the world. How to make a living as an artist? How to get your work seen? How to get an exhibition? How to get reviewed? How to make a life for yourself as an artist? What does that even mean? These are some of the challenges artists face when they want to take their art practice to the next level. Participants will finish the workshop with a deeper understanding of their practice; a strong statement of practice that can be used to communicate with curators, editors, and art professionals; a portfolio of consistent artwork (or a plan to make one); and tools for growing or developing their practice.

Early Deadline to Apply: Sunday, 7 April 2024. A four-week, virtual/online residency with Kolaj Institute. In January 2022, Kolaj Institute issued a call to artists for a Poetry & Collage Residency and received so many excellent responses that we organized a series of three residencies. And at the end of it, they sent us more page spreads than could fit into a single book. Impressed and moved by the volume and quality of cultural output and a deep belief that this practice, however you want to describe it, at the intersection of collage and poetry deserves a platform, we decided to create a new journal dedicated to it. After releasing several volumes of the journal and opening an ongoing call for submissions, we are returning to this residency program as a way to help artists develop their ideas, explore the intersection of collage and poetry, collaborate and form community, and prepare submissions for the journal. This project-driven residency is open to artists and poets.

Deadline to Apply: Sunday, 28 April 2024. A week-long, in-person residency that coincides with Kolaj Fest New Orleans (12-16 June 2024), during which artists will explore the city, learn about the history and materials of street art, and make artwork for public display that Kolaj Fest attendees and New Orleanians will be able to view. This residency is an extension of the ongoing Kolaj Street Krewe project. Kolaj Street Krewe, an informal group of artists interested in this subject, explores the role of collage in street art as a practice and phenomenon.

Deadline to Submit: Sunday, 21 April 2024. World Collage Day is 11 May 2024. We invite artists, art centres, museums, galleries, schools, and communities to celebrate World Collage Day by hosting events and projects that bring communities together. Ideas include collage making meet-ups, docent-led tours of collage in a museum or gallery, activities for kids, slideshows or talks that appreciate collage’s role in contemporary art and art history, exhibitions of collage, and more. Tell us about the events and projects you are planning.