Residency brief

Established informally by Marie Clews, who began inviting artists to stay at the Château as early as 1951, the artist residency was formally instituted in 1987. It is open to all disciplines and welcomes artists of all nationalities. Each year, five sessions of four weeks each provide a research and creation residency for around fifty artists. Residents are selected based on their application portfolios by a committee of culture professionals representing each discipline, prioritizing criteria of quality and excellence.

Two categories of applicants are privileged: emerging artists for whom the Foundation's support is invaluable, and renowned artists seeking rejuvenation within the unique setting of La Napoule. Among all the artists hosted in residence, several Nobel laureates, Goncourt Prize winners, leading visual artists, and composers have already benefited from the inspiring atmosphere of the Château. To name a few, writers such as Gao Xinjiang, Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000, Jean Echenoz, Goncourt Prize 1999, Marie Nimier, Claire Messud, Christa Wolf. Visual arts are also well represented as the Château has had the privilege of hosting residents like Marie-Ange Guilleminot, Koo Jeong-a, Daniel Firman, Will Cotton, Faith Ringgold, among others.

The residency is founded on the importance placed on the principle of collective experience, personal, professional, and artistic discovery with the support of a peer group. This program creates opportunities for dialogue and exchange between cultures and arts, and for exploring common interests with a productive and positive purpose.