Nilaya : Artist residency

The Nilaya Residency program serves as a valuable platform for emerging artists to foster their creativity, hone their skills, and showcase their work to a broader audience, all while receiving support, resources, and promotion from Prayukti Arts. The residency accepts 1-2 artists per cycle through a selective application process.

What we ask of the artist
  • Applicants must submit a concept or idea for a piece they are currently working on or intend to (re)work on
  • The program encourages artists who require a physical space for their artistic explorations, particularly those whose creative pursuits center on movement and physical expression.
  • Artists must reside in or be able to commute to the Bay Area to utilize the provided studio time.
  • Once accepted, artists are expected to document their creative process during studio sessions for Prayukti archives and online promotional material.
  • We require that artists are willing and able to present an in-studio work-in-progress showcase at the conclusion of the residency, which may be included as part of our upcoming Mukta series or presented independently, depending on the artist’s preference and comfort level.
  • Applicants must demonstrate an intent to publicly present the entire work developed over the residency within one year of the Nilaya program.
what artists can expect
  • Accepted artists receive 50 hours of access to our studio space over a three-month period to explore and refine their artistic concepts or projects.
  • We will either find a mentor or connect artists to a mentor of their choice to help develop the work through one-one sessions, with funding provided by Prayukti.
  • We will also curate one mid-residency feedback session with a panel of artists curated by Nilaya
  • Prayukti Arts will promote the selected artists and their work on our website and social media platforms.
  • Artists will have the opportunity to showcase their work-in-progress at the end of Nilaya.
  • We are also able to offer a modest honorarium to each artist, contingent upon funding availability.
We would love to support
  • practitioners of South Asian movement-based art forms 
  • artists deeply committed to their practice and have a track record of past work
  • artists who identify as people of color, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, are from marginalized communities or any kind of under represented minority
  • artists who have difficulty in finding resources in creation of art


Applications for our first residency program will in open in Spring 2023

Watch this space for more details