Fellowship Program
KALA FELLOWSHIP
UPCOMING APPLICATION DEADLINES
Deadline: March 1st, 2026 (9:00 PM PST)
The residency application will be published on December 15, 2025.
Visit kala.slideroom.com starting on December 15th to begin your application!
ABOUT KALA FELLOWSHIP
Kala Fellowship is an artist residency for international, national, and local artists producing innovative work in and across multiple media. For over 50 years, Kala Art Institute has provided artists with equipment, time, space, and financial support to develop their ideas and work. The Fellowship is geared towards supporting artists in completing specific projects or bodies of work that benefit from Kala’s specialized equipment. Each year, Kala provides fellowships to artists from various disciplines based on conceptual creativity, originality, and artistic excellence.
In 2026, Kala will support 6 artists with a $3000 stipend, 1 month of housing for artists outside of the 9 Bay Area counties, 24/7 access to Kala’s facilities for 1-9 months, a Kala class or workshop, and a culminating group show in the Kala Gallery.
KALA FELLOWSHIP INCLUDES:
Cash Award: $3,000
Studio Residency: One to nine months of studio residency at Kala Art Institute with 24/7 access to communal studio spaces, equipment, and resources.
Kala Class: One class that will provide training in a chosen area of printmaking and/or digital media.
Exhibition: Each artist selected is included in our annual group exhibition of Fellowship artists. Public programs for artists are also possible and determined on an individual basis with each artist.
Community: Access to a community and network of approximately 75-80 artists working at Kala, participation in Kala events, and support of Kala staff.
Find out more about Kala’s Fellowship, Artist-in-Residence Program, Veterans Artist Residency, and residency experience:
– How to Apply
– Veterans Artist Residency (March 1st, deadline)
– Artist Residency (AIR) Program (March 1st, deadline)
– Fellowship (March 1st, deadline)
– Jen Cole Artist-in-Residence Award (July deadline)
– CCA Hamaguchi Emerging Artist Resdiency at Kala (July deadline)
PROGRAM PERIOD
Application notifications: May 2026
The 2026-2027 Fellowship program period is July 2026 – June 2027.
Artists must be able to schedule a residency during that time. The Fellowship group exhibition schedule is to be determined.
ARTIST RESOURCES
Artists receive 24/7 access to a shared 8,000 square-foot print studio, digital lab, black and white darkroom, 600 square foot sculpture lab with woodworking tools, kiln, and sewing machines, and 3 individual artist project spaces (150 sq feet) available to visiting artists.
APPLICANT RESOURCES
– How to Apply
– Residency Experience
– Kala Facilities
– View the work of Fellowship alumni
Artist residency applications are accepted online at kala.slideroom.com.
Artists-In-Residence receive a 20% discount on Kala Art Classes and Workshops.
Project spaces and housing are available for artists coming from outside the San Francisco Bay Area.
Questions: please reach out to Artist Residency Manager Leyla Rzayeva at leyla@kala.org or kalaair@kala.org, 510.549.2977 x 303.
SELECTION PANEL
Fellowship panelists change each year and are different for every application cycle, so if you do not receive a Fellowship in one cycle, there are plenty of opportunities for your work to resonate with future panelists. The Fellowship selection panel includes: an invited Bay Area arts professional; Mayumi Hamanaka, Kala’s Co-Executive Director; a Fellowship alum; and the panel is chaired by Artist Residency Manager, Leyla Rzayeva.
The Fellowship is geared towards supporting artists in completing specific projects or bodies of work that benefit from Kala’s specialized equipment: find out more here. Applications are reviewed by Kala’s Co-Director, Artist Residency Manager, Print Studio Manager, and Digital Lab and Sculpture Lab Manager.
ACCOMODATIONS
Artist housing is located across the street from Kala’s facilities. Kala offers two shared artist apartments; each apartment is a 2-bedroom unit, meaning you will be living with a roommate and sharing a kitchen, living room, and bathroom. A $200 non-refundable housing deposit to reserve artist housing is due in two weeks upon confirming the dates of your residency and will be applied toward the residency costs or to the fellowship stipend.
An Alternative Housing List is available for artists who would like to be responsible for securing alternative housing accommodations.
Location description: Kala Print Studio is located at the top of three flights of stairs, a total of 52 steps. Please reach out with any questions to Ellen at ellen@kala.org and Leyla at leyla@kala.org. Kala Print Studio, 1060 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710.
STAY IN TOUCH
– Join Kala Newsletter
– Follow us on Instagram and Facebook
2025-2026 Fellowship Artists:
Joanna Cortez (Providence, Rhode Island)
Priya Suresh Kambli (Kirksville, Missouri)
Klea McKenna (San Francisco, California)
Harold Mendez (Los Angeles, California)
Ainslee Alem Robson (Los Angeles, California)
Mei Chen Tseng (Rome, Italy)
The 2025-2026 Fellowship selection panel includes Ronny Quevedo, 2015 Fellowship Artist; Carin Adams, Senior Curator of Art, Oakland Museum of California; and Mayumi Hamanaka, Kala’s Co-Executive Director. The Fellowship jury is crucial in guiding our selection process and is chaired by Kala’s Artist Residency Manager, Leyla Rzayeva.
2024-2025 Fellowship Artists:
Simone Bailey (San Francisco, California)
Cristine Blanco (Oakland, CA)*
*Special thanks to the Sustainable Arts Foundation for supporting this Parent Fellow
Mahwish Chishty (Springfield, Massachusetts)
Leonard Reidelbach (San Francisco, California)
Javier Enrique Piñero (Long Island City, New York)
Nicole K Shaffer (Oakland, California)
The 2024-2025 Fellowship submissions were juried by Kala’s Co-Director Mayumi Hamanaka, Fellowship alum Weston Teruya, and Anthony Graham, Senior Curator at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), and chaired by Kala’s Artist Residency Manager Leyla Rzayeva.
2023-2024 Fellowship Artists
Philip Crawford (Berlin, Germany/Philadelphia, PA) @_philipac_
Alison Chen (Los Angeles, CA) @_alisonchen*
*A special thanks to the Sustainable Arts Foundation for supporting this Parent Fellow
John Yoyogi Fortes (Sacramento, CA) @jy4tes
Helia Pouyanfar (Berkeley, CA) @heliapouyanfar
Georgina Reskala (Santa Monica, CA) @reskala
rhiannon skye tafoya (Cherokee, NC) @r.skye.t
The 2023/24 Fellowship cohort was selected by Kala’s Artistic Director, Mayumi Hamanaka, and two guest jurors: MoAD Interim Director of Exhibitions & Curatorial Affairs, Selam Bekele, and Fellowship alum, Alisa Ochoa.
2022-2023 Fellowship Artists:
Khadijah Morley (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Sungjae Lee (Chicago, IL) – Instagram: @thony0806
Jessica Doe (née Mehta, Tyner) (Hillsboro, OR)*
A special thanks to Sustainable Arts Foundation for supporting this Parent Fellow
Rayelle Gardner (East Elmhurst, NY)
Paola de la Calle (San Francisco, CA) – Instagram: @paoladelacalle
Lani Asunción (Boston, MA) – Instagram: @lani.asuncion
Honorary AIRs:
Jenny Lin & Eloisa Aquino (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
The 2022-2023 Fellowship competition was selected by Kala’s Artistic Director, Mayumi Hamanaka, and two guest jurors: Fellowship alumni artist Natani Notah and invited Bay Area arts professional, Kim Acebo Arteche, Co-Director at Berkeley Art Center.
2021-2022 Fellowship Artists:
Ting Ying Han (Los Angeles, CA)
Sass Popoli (Chicago, IL)
Alisa Ochoa (Costa Mesa, CA)*
*A special thanks to the Sustainable Arts Foundation for supporting this Parent Fellow
Mariana Ramos Ortiz (Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico) – Instagram: @la.habicuela
Ron Moultrie Saunders (San Francisco, CA )
Lena Wolff (Berkeley, CA ) – Instagram: @lenawolffstudio
Honorary AIR Awardees:
Ann Johnson (Houston, TX) – Instagram: @solesisterart
Pamela Ybanez (Oakland, CA)
The 2021-2022 Fellowship competition was selected by Kala’s Artistic Director, Mayumi Hamanaka, and two guest jurors: Print Public alumni artist Imin Yeh and Bamidele Agbasegbi Demerson, Chief Curator at the African American Museum and Library in Oakland.
2020-2021 Fellowship Artists:
Anthea Black (Oakland, CA)
Tavarus Blackmon (Sacramento, CA)
Elnaz Javani (Chicago, IL)
Natani Notah (Alameda, CA)
Jessica Sabogal (Oakland, CA ) and Shanna Strauss (Montreal, QC)
tamara suarez porras (Berkeley, CA)
Honorary AIR Awardees:
Sydney Cain (San Francisco, CA)
Adia Millett (Oakland, CA)
Nasim Moghadam (Palo Alto, CA)
Stuart Robertson (Stanford, CA )
courtney m sennish (Emeryville, CA )
2020-2021 Media AIR Awardees:
Alexa Burrell (Bay Area, CA)
Pegah Pasalar (Chicago, IL)
Naomi van Niekerk (South Africa)
The 2020-2021 Fellowship competition was juried by Kala’s Executive Director, Gallery Director, and Artist Residency Manager, and a panel that included Media Award alumni artist Veronica Graham, and one invited Bay Area arts professional, Jovanna Venegas, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at SFMOMA.
2019-2020 Fellowship Artists:
Pavel Acevedo (San Francisco, CA)
Jonathan Herrera Soto (Minneapolis, MN)
Pascaline Knight (Montréal, QC)
Sara Press (Sebastopol, CA )
Aay Preston-Myint (Oakland, CA )
Honorary AIR Awardees:
Michael Koehle ( Oakland, CA)
Jessica Sabogal (Berkeley, CA)
Gabriela Yoque (Oakland, CA)
The 2019 Fellowship competition was juried by Kala’s Artistic Director and Gallery Director, and a panel that included Fellowship alumni artist Golbanou Moghaddas, and one invited Bay Area arts professional, Rhonda Pagnozzi, Curatorial Assistant, Oakland Museum of California.
2018-2019 Fellowship Artists:
Dahn Gim (Los Angeles, CA)
Malisa Humphrey (Los Angeles, CA)
Yen-Hua Lee (Taichung City, Taiwan R.O.C.)
Mary V Marsh (Oakland, CA)
Keith Secola (Berkeley, CA)
Honorary AIR Awardees:
Cynthia Brannvall (Berkeley, CA)
Phillip Hua (San Francisco, CA)
Jennifer Justice (Alameda, CA)
The 2018 Fellowship competition was juried by Kala’s Artistic Director and a panel that included one Fellowship alumni artist, Leah Rosenberg , and one invited Bay Area arts professional, Cecile Puretz, Access & Community Engagement Manager of The Contemporary Jewish Museum.
2017-2018 Honorary AIR Awardees:
Myles Dunigan (Lawrence, KS)
Casey Gardner (Berkeley, CA)
Joyce Ertel Hulbert (Berkeley, CA)
Anais Lera (Brussels, Belgium)
Cathy Lu (San Francisco, CA)
Our jurors in 2017 were Jamil Hellu, Alumni Fellowship Artist, and Sage Perrott, arts professional and Adjunct Professor at Utah State University.
2016-2017 Honorary AIR Awardees:
Julia Goodman, Oakland, CA
Tom GreyEyes, Oakland, CA
Galen Jackson, Berkeley, CA
Our jurors in 2016 were Terry Berlier, Alumni Fellowship Artist, and Cathy Kimball, Executive Director and Chief Curator, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art.