Media Arts Residency Program
Media Arts Fellowship
Returning in 2027-2028 we will be offering four Media Arts Residencies. Applications will open in December 2026.
Kala’s Media Arts Fellowship supports artists working on innovative projects in and across film and video, sound, animation, performance cinema, and media arts installation. This opportunity is open to local, national, and international artists. Media Arts Fellowships will be selected by a jury based on conceptual creativity, originality and artistic excellence, and project-specific technical knowledge.
Kala’s Media Fellowship started in 2017 and like the Fellowship program supports artists with a $3,000 stipend, unlimited access to Kala’s facilities for up to 9 months, one free class/workshop at Kala, and a culminating group exhibition with the Fellowship cohort in the Kala Gallery. The Media Arts Fellowship is geared towards supporting artists in completing specific projects or bodies of work that would benefit from Kala’s equipment and resources in the print studio, darkroom, digital lab, small project spaces, and gallery.
Next Media Fellowship Application Period:
Open Call: December 2026
Deadline: March 1st, 2027
Notifications: May 2027
Info Session: January 2027
Visit kala.slideroom.com in Dec 2026
HOW TO APPLY
A full application will include:
– Completed application questions in SlideRoom
– Artist resumé or CV
– Work samples, up to 10 images and/or 5 minutes total of video
– Include title, year, medium, size/duration for each work sample
– Two references (contact information only / no letters please)
ELIGIBILITY
Artists enrolled in a degree-granting program during the Media Fellowship program period are not eligible, but are eligible for the Artist-in-Residence program. Eligibility and application questions: please contact Artist Residency Manager Leyla Rzayeva at leyla@kala.org or kalaair@kala.org.
MEDIA ARTS ALUMNI
2025-2026 Media Arts Fellows:
Ainslee Alem Robson (Los Angeles, California)
2024-2025 Media Arts Fellows:
Mahwish Chishty (Springfield, Massachusetts)
2023-2024 Media Arts Fellows:
Chia Amisola ( Las Pinas, Philippines / SF, CA )
Charles Lee (El Cerrito, CA)
Amy Elkins (Berkeley, CA)
Shantré Pinkney (Berkeley, CA / Los Angeles, CA)
2022-2023 Media Arts Fellows:
Meghana Bisineer (Oakland, CA)
Nasim Moghadam (Palo Alto, CA)
Rosa Park (San Francisco, CA)
Trina Robinson (San Francisco, CA)
2021-2022 Media Arts Fellows:
Esy Casey (Diemen, Netherlands/Beacon, NY)
Cherrie Yu (Chicago, IL)
Ai Iwane (Tokyo, Japan)
Jamal Ademola (Los Angeles, CA)
Honorary AIR Awardees:
Rosa Park (San Francisco, CA)
Miguel Aragon (Staten Island, NY)
2020-2021 Media Arts Fellows:
Pegah Pasalar (Chicago, IL)
Alexa Burrell (Oakland, CA)
Naomi van Niekerk (Johannesburg, South Africa)
Honorary AIR Awardees:
Richard-Jonathan Nelson (San Francisco, CA)
Cuyler Ballenger (Houston, TX)
Annie Albagli (San Francisco, CA)
2019-2020 Media Arts Fellows:
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (San Francisco, CA)
Nkiruka Oparah (Oakland, CA)
Azin Seraj (Alameda, CA)
Naomi van Niekerk (Johannesburg, South Africa)
Honorary AIR Awardees:
Lacey Johnson (Oakland, CA)
Haejin Kim (Bloomfield Hills, MI)
2018-2019 Media Arts Fellows:
Kevin Brophy (Tampa, FL)
Veronica Graham (Alameda, CA)
Tess Martin (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Nicky Tavares (Alameda, CA)
Minoosh Zomorodinia (Albany, CA)
2017-2018 Media Arts Fellows:
Zhiwan Cheung (Pittsburgh, PA)
Lydia Greer (Alameda, CA)
Sarah Klein and David Kwan (San Francisco, CA)
Christoph Steger (Oakland, CA)
Honorary AIR Awardees:
Shaghayegh Cyrous (Walnut Creek, CA)
Motoko Honda (Oakland, CA)
Wioleta Kaminska (San Francisco, CA)
Kate Rhoades (Oakland, CA)