General Info
REMINDER
Residencies include
- Initial call one month prior to residency
- Housing with private room, amenities and wifi
- Access to individual studio with a desk and wall space
- Breakfast pantry with locally made continental style ingredients
- Family style group dinner among residents and program director
- Assistance with research development, local introductions and navigation of the area
- Weekly resident meetings to share work, engage in conversation and learn from each other
- Photo documentation of your process
- Opportunity to share your process with the community via artist lecture or workshop
- Guatemala City Airport pick-up and transportation upon arrival & departure ~ only for residency dates
Additional details
We assist with project development and research as much as possible to create a platform of support, conversation, reflection, and accessibility. That said, all needs and desires are not always possible to access and the primary work does lie in the hands of resident themselves.
Each resident creates their own daily work schedule depending on their project and work / research methods. Due to the limited time-frame, we are less focused on residents’ capability to learn / produce / execute, and more so on the thought process and purpose from which we are doing so. Please remember, these are independent residencies and most residents spend quite a bit of time on their own.
Applicants are encouraged to consider how their work or research will interact with Guatemala and it’s vast history from the Mayan culture and indigenous communities to the current post civil war society, and to reflect on their role and responsibility as a maker learning and creating in a new country.
Each resident creates their own daily work schedule depending on their project and work / research methods. Due to the limited time-frame, we are less focused on residents’ capability to learn / produce / execute, and more so on the thought process and purpose from which we are doing so. Please remember, these are independent residencies and most residents spend quite a bit of time on their own.
Applicants are encouraged to consider how their work or research will interact with Guatemala and it’s vast history from the Mayan culture and indigenous communities to the current post civil war society, and to reflect on their role and responsibility as a maker learning and creating in a new country.
LOCATION
⊹ We are located in Jocotenango, a small town within the Antigua area. Our address is:
Callejón La Azotea #4
Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepequez
Google Maps Location (for safety, please do not share with strangers)
⊹ On your first day, onboarding time is 12 pm or anytime after 4 pm. On your final day, offboarding is anytime before 12 pm. You are welcome to come hang in common areas before or after.
WORKSHOP / ARTIST TALK
We provide the space within the residency house for artists in residence (AIR) to teach a workshop or present an artist talk to our community on a Friday through your residency program. This part of our program is optional.
About workshops: workshops must be hands-on experiences that focus on the teaching of specific skills. GRACIA's skill-focused approach to adult education is a defining characteristic of our programming. Community workshops are 1 to 2 hours, free of charge, with a maximum of 6 participants; we include a Q100 budget for the materials needed. Please note teachers donate their time for these kind of workshops. We pride ourselves on creating a friendly and inclusive environment, where teachers are supported at every step of the workshop process but the actual creation, prep and content rely on the resident’s hands.
About artist talks: artist talks hold space for the artist to talk and guide our community through their artistic process with a visual presentation. This will be something new for our community, as artist talks are not something commonly known in our community but we know it will bring a bigger exchange opportunity for both the artist and community. Artist talks are 30 minutes long with a 15 minute Q&A and residency studio visit at the end. Our community will be invited and we include a Q100 budget to provide wine & a non-alcoholic drink option. A projector, and a wall and sitting space will be provided. Please note the creation of the talk and content rely on the resident’s hands.
Please fill this form so we can prepare the social media content to invite community members to join.
Deadline to submit info: two weeks prior to your residency start date
ABOUT YOUR HOST
Mafer Hernández (Guatemala) creates visual experiences about color, light, space and movement using photography, installations, books, natural dyes, botanical pigments, and sculptural elements.
She holds a BFA in photography and printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her work has been presented at La Fototeca and Mesón Panza Verde in Guatemala, and Root Division and Arion Press in San Francisco, California. Her work is included in the de Young Museum Collection and the Latin American Collection of the Stanford University Libraries. In 2021 she was selected as an artist in residence at La Nueva Fábrica.
From Mafer: I founded GRACIA in 2019 and will be your direct contact through your time here. My studio is located inside the residency house and I live 10 minutes away so I’ll be around almost everyday. My number is +502 51603552 for when I’m not around. For direct communication through your time here, I prefer WhatsApp and will reply there quicker. ¡Bienvenidx a Guatemala!
TRANSPORTATION
⊹ Transportation to the residency house from the airport is provided ONLY if you are arriving the day your residency officially begins and the day your residency ends. *You are welcome to come before or stay longer in the country, we will confirm to meet at a central spot to pick you up in Antigua center the day your residency begins.
⊹ Please make sure you provide both of your flights information (inbound/outbound) via email at least two weeks prior to your arrival, we are not responsible if our trusted drivers are not available if we don’t reserve in advance.
⊹ From the residency house you can easily walk to the city center. Buses will be Q2-5 and take you to the main Market, make sure it's going to Antigua going in and Jocotenango going back home. An Uber ride is around Q25. Always take a tuc-tuc, uber or taxi after nightfall.
CURRENCY
⊹ The local currency is Guatemalan Quetzal, generally $1 USD = Q.7.5. You can get cash from all ATMs or from banks with your passport.
⊹ Most places accept credit cards but smaller places or tiendas won't. Don't accept 200 bills, generally, NO business will accept them. Break 100 bills when you can.
⊹ We recommend calling your bank and letting them know you are traveling.
FOOD
⊹ Residents are primarily on their own for meals and we encourage you to explore and enjoy the incredible and bountiful food and cuisine of Guatemala.
⊹ We provide a breakfast pantry (continental style) so you can use at your own time.
⊹ Groceries are available at the tienda nearby. The tienda is the Guatemalan Walgreens (or NY Bodega) or you can go to La Torre, a big chain grocery store 15 minutes away.
⊹ DO NOT DRINK TAP WATER!! Purified water is available in our Ecofiltro. Hot tip: if you ask at restaurants 'Un vaso de agua porfavor' they will serve you a glass of water as well.
⊹ Take precautions with raw fruits and vegetables, we recommend washing them prior to eating and cooking.
⊹ We don't recommend street food or market stalls. Be smart about your body and its tolerances. Restaurant food is usually fine, but some people take a few days to ease into a new cuisine.