The Bellagio Experience
The Bellagio Center is located on a peninsula adjacent to Lake Como, two hours north of Milan, Italy.
The Bellagio Residency program offers scholars, artists, thought leaders, policymakers and practitioners a serene setting conducive to focused, goal-oriented work, and the unparalleled opportunity to establish new connections with fellow residents, across a stimulating array of disciplines and geographies. The Bellagio Center community generates new knowledge to solve some of the most complex problems facing our world and creates art that inspires reflection, understanding, and imagination.
The Center sponsors three kinds of residencies—for scholars, creative artists and practitioners. Creative Artist Residencies last four weeks. We are especially interested in applicants whose work connects in some way with the Rockefeller Foundation’s issue areas, and we also select each cohort for diversity to ensure that interdisciplinary and international connections remain an integral part of the Bellagio experience. In addition, the Center offers collaborative residencies for two to four people working on the same project.
Collegial interaction with other residents is an essential dimension of the Bellagio experience. Meals and informal presentations of residents' work afford an opportunity for dynamic discussion and engagement within and across disciplines. During special dinners, residents often interact with participants in international conferences hosted in other buildings on the Center's grounds.
Selection Process and Criteria Selections are based on:
* the quality of the proposed project,
* how innovative the project is and how likely it is to have broad impact or influence,
* the ability of the applicant to articulate the project’s purpose and goals,
* the professional qualifications and achievements of the applicant, and
* the feasibility and value of the Center for the proposed activity.
In addition, reviewers will consider:
* the match between the project and the Foundation’s mission,
* personal qualities that are likely to make an applicant a contributing member of an international, interdisciplinary community—curiosity, breadth of interests, ability to honor other viewpoints and sensitivity to other cultures.
Because the Center aims to host an international mix of residents, the geography and nationality of those invited may be taken into account.
Facility and Travel Information
Residents are housed in two main buildings and each resident is given a private room with a bath and a study/studio, either adjoining the bedroom or on the grounds. High-speed Internet access is available free of charge in all bedrooms and most studies. A small library includes basic reference books and online research tools; the works of many former residents and those resulting from Bellagio meetings are also available. The visual artist studio is quite small, and not suited for large works or installations. There is no kiln or darkroom at the Center.
Spouses/life partners may accompany residents. Accommodations are not available for children, other family members, friends or pets. Room and board are provided to all residents and their spouses/partners, but they are responsible for their airfare and local transportation to and from Bellagio. However, the Foundation does have a limited travel assistance program, based on income level of invited residents.
Several resident suites are available for those with restricted mobility, and several of the buildings now include an elevator. Nonetheless, prospective applicants should be aware that the hillside setting of the facility and the surrounding area restricts the mobility of people who have difficulty walking or climbing stairs.
The Center is not equipped to provide medical services or assisted care. The nearest major hospital is in Lecco, a 40-minute drive away.
All creative artist residencies must comply with the following requirements:
Disciplines
The Foundation seeks applications from outstanding creative artists at all career stages with a record of significant achievement in their fields. Videographers, filmmakers, novelists, playwrights, poets, visual artists, and artists in performance art and multimedia from any country are welcome to apply. Projects in all fields are eligible, but there is particular interest in innovative endeavors that address one or more of the Rockefeller Foundation’s five interconnected issue areas: basic survival needs (such as food, water, and housing), global health, climate and environment, urbanization, social and economic security.
Type of Work
Bellagio Center Residencies cannot be used for doctoral dissertations or textbooks.
Length of Stay
Creative Artist Residencies last four weeks.
Team Residencies
The Center also offers collaborative residencies for two to four people working on the same project. The Bellagio Center prefers team projects that bring residents together from different geographies, institutions or disciplines since this reinforces the Center's goal of establishing new connections.
Repeat Applicants
Applicants are not allowed to re-submit any unsuccessful proposals, but they are permitted to submit revised versions.
Unsuccessful applicants may apply no more than three times.
Those who have held residencies (or spouses who accompanied residents for more than one week) must wait five years before reapplying. There is a lifetime limit of two residencies.
Spouses/Children
Spouses/life partners may accompany the resident, or may apply for a concurrent residency. However, children, even adult children, are not allowed to accompany recipients of residencies.
Instructions
Your application must be in English.
If your work samples are not in English, please follow the instructions given on the form.
Requirements and selection criteria are different for each type of residency; therefore, we strongly recommend you read our website before beginning your application.
We do not accept incomplete applications
All materials must be submitted together. We will not follow-up with you to request missing materials.
All application materials must be submitted online, unless you are a visual artist, composer or filmmaker who needs to send work samples via post. We accept Word and PDF documents. If you are applying from a developing country, you may contact us to discuss alternate ways of submitting materials, if necessary.
The online form allows you to save and edit information.
You do not need to finish your online application in one session. You will be able to save the form and return to revise, edit and add information at a later date. Once you begin your application, an access code will be sent to your preferred email address. You may access your application and edit as many times as you wish using the code and your email address.
Click here to see a PDF example of a Creative Arts Residence application >>
You must go through the form page by page.
Each page must be completed before you can move to the following page.
Contact Information:
For inquiries: bellagio_res@iie.org
For submissions: click here
Website: http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/bellagio-center/
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