OPEN CALL: Narva Art Residency invites Estonian artists to Narva schools

Narva Art Residency (NART) invites Estonian artists to apply for school-based residencies in Narva this autumn as part of the project “Artists are Present.” Six Estonian-speaking artists will be selected to come to Narva this autumn and spend a week with local youth in schools across the border city. Each participant will receive a creative grant of €500. The application deadline is the 28th of September.

This is the second season of the project, following a successful pilot in spring 2025. This time Six artists will spend one week in local schools, creating together with students through workshops, discussions, art games, or collaborative projects.The goal is to make contemporary art more accessible to young people and support the transition to Estonian-language education. 

The residencies will take place on 27–31 October or 3–7 November 2025, with a final gathering on 29 November 2025 at NART.

NART provides a grant of €500, accommodation in Narva, organizational and mentoring support, as well as a small production budget. The residency is a chance to realize your own artistic idea in dialogue with local youth.

We welcome applications from artists who live and work in Estonia, speak fluent Estonian, enjoy working with young people, and are ready to adapt their ideas to the school environment. It is important that proposals describe expected results and indicators of success, and that applicants see art as a tool for communication and the development of universal skills.

Applications in Estonian can be submitted until 28 September 2025 through the online form: https://forms.gle/q654zf3FGd6HUVe49.

Please include your CV with contact details, links, education and experience, examples of your work with a portfolio link, a short description of your residency idea (up to 1000 characters), and a note on the expected results.

The project is supported by the British Council.

More about the first season can be found here: https://www.nart.ee/en/projects/artists-are-present/

For questions, please contact project coordinator Jelena Tšekulajeva at jelena.levtsenkova@gmail.com or +372 5544849.