On Air
Residency
Program
Few residencies exist for experimental sound projects. The On Air Residency Program seeks to fill that gap. Each year, our open call reaches thousands of artists and storytellers who are using audio in inspiring new ways. The On Air Residency Program encourages applications from an expansive range of creative backgrounds, demographics and perspectives.
Our judges change with each residency cycle, allowing for a highly respected cohort of professionals representing podcasts, music, conceptual art, performance, community media and radio to take part in the process. The Residency supports selected artists with a five-night stay at Wythe Hotel, work stipend, the opportunity to showcase work at On Air Fest and more.
Past Residents include:
2020 | Anna Woźniewicz and Helena McGill, spatial audio engineers
2019 | Sharon Mashihi, interdisciplinary artist
2019 | Omari Soulfinger, performance artist
2018 | Nola Hanson, social practice artist
We are not currently soliciting applications. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive an update when the next residency cycle opens.
Read more about our previous Residents and their projects below.
2020
Residency
This year's On Air Fest Audio Residency was awarded to Anna Woźniewicz and Helena McGill, two spatial audio engineers who created a composition translating brain waves of people passing through the liminal zone into sleep as musical notes.
Woźniewicz and McGill's project titled DreamFreq, explores the song of dualities awake:asleep, reality:unreality, aware:vulnerable. The two artists collected data via a Muse EEG headset, and during the residency, turned the resulting theta waves into a custom synth track. On Air Fest attendees were able to experience the Muse headset for themselves in an interactive demo lead by Woźniewicz and McGill.
Judges:
Arwen Nicks, Podcast Producer
James T. Green, Conceptual Artist and Radio Producer
John DeLore, Senior Editor, Stitcher and Sound Designer
2019
Residency
In 2019 we expanded our residency program to include two residency opportunities. Interdisciplinary artist Sharon Mashihi was awarded the On Air Audio Residency, and the Brooklyn Sound Residency went to performance artist Omari Soulfinger. The two residents created and premiered stunning new pieces at On Air Fest.
Mashihi created "The Bed Whisperers," an audio investigation into intimacy, and a testimony to Mashihi's belief that the act of recording another person’s voice is a loving exchange. On Air Fest attendees signed up for appointments to join Mashihi in bed for several hours over the course of the festival weekend. Mashihi then generated audio portraits from their interactions inspired by Sophie Calle's 1979 photo project, “Les Dormeurs."
Soulfinger presented "What The...You Mean?" A live sound collage that satirically explores the nature of social norms. Comprised of over 30 recordings of conversations Soulfinger made over two years, Soulfinger brought the collage to life by theatrically tune the radio dial of his surreal boombox, scanning the noisy frequencies of vulnerable confessions, faux-pas, and the paradoxes of privilege, all of which define the piece.
Judges:
Alexis Wilkinson, Director of Exhibitions and Live Art, Knockdown Center
Ali Rosa-Salas, Director of Programming, Abrons Arts Center/Henry Street Settlement
Arif Noorani, Executive Producer, CBC Podcasts
Davia Nelson, Radio Producer, The Kitchen Sisters
Meredith Graves, Director of Music, Kickstarter
Phoebe Wang, Independent Radio Producer and Artist
2018
Residency
In 2018 we announced our commitment to support emerging audio artists and storytellers. Our inaugural On Air Residency was awarded to ‘Drill Meditations,’ an immersive sound and dance performance by Nola Hanson and Nicky S. Smith, members of the Trans Boxing Collective. As members of the trans and QTPOC communities, Nola & Nicky are deeply invested in exploring the ways in which embodied practices such as boxing, dance, and meditation, can be used to transform suffering and achieve collective liberation.
Judges:
Gretta Cohn, Founder, Transmitter Media
Bill Curran, Programming Producer, Made in New York Media Center
Brittany Luse, Producer, Gimlet Media and Host, The Nod
Sachar Mathias, Supervising Producer, BRIC TV and BRIC Radio
Molly Webster, Reporter and Producer, RadioLab
