Residency Arquetopia

Residency Arquetopia located in Puebla, Mexico
They were in a rush to get my bank transfer.
Once I got there, they gave me a studio separated from the group because I paint in oil. They never told me before hand I would be painting in a separate room.
The room was located on the fourth floor made out all off glass without air conditioned and with way too much light for a painter! Think about it were in Mexico! It is super hot and sunny. A room made out of glass really! I couldn’t paint a hole week. They didn’t offer anything to compensate the money I lost. They didn’t reply to me for 3 days because it was apparently the week-end and once they respond they did act like I was disturbing them. It took them too long to react and their only idea was to put paper in the window. They had no excuse. They knew an artist painting in oil was coming right! Anyway, I was unable to paint during the hole residency because it was too hot.

One of the guy is an American and he knows exactly what he is doing business wise.
During the residency they never came to ask genuinely how we were and to make sure we were fine. They kept to themselves.
All the resident there were mostly young women having an art residency experience for their first time.
When I ask for a formal receipt of the art residency for my tax purposes, they never responded to me. I emailed them several times. I never heard back.

What was included in this art residency?
-Four week residency
-Four individual meeting with text to read
-a room and one meal included a day
The price: 1,780$ US. It did cost me 2,520$ in Canadian dollar.

This residency is all about the business of financing their big houses and the music school of the owner.
I don’t recommend it unless you are desperate.

33 comments
  • Anonymous

    Hello, has anyone had any luck getting their money back from this residency. They cancelled my residency last minute but are saying they will not refund my money.

  • Anonymous

    The Cusco, Peru staff and instructor are wonderful but Arquetopia claims of a decolonial mission is misleading. They are demanding in payments, rules are incredibly strict and bizarre with no lenience. I’ve done more than a dozen residencies, served as jurors and application reviewers, and worked at an artist residency, I have never experience the level of disorganization & questionable practices. Meetings with Francisco are actually one sided lectures, it feels like he just wants an audience for his ego.

  • Anonymous

    Arquetopia in Oaxaca is horrible, mainly because of the awful coordinator, Jessica Jiminez. If you apply to this residency, ask if she works there before you give them any of your money, and if she does, DO NOT GO. My fellow residents and I left early because of the horrible and dismissive attitude of this horrible woman who seriously needs a course in customer service and how to be a decent person. She is controlling, never replied to suggestions, kept changing the schedule on us, she was extremely loud in the mornings while most of us were trying to sleep, and would bang on our doors in the early morning… it was a constant situation of stress. My fellow resident mates and I felt so uncomfortable around her that we just shut down and ignored her, and couldn’t wait until she left on the weekends so we can feel comfortable without her presence.

    The only good thing that kept me there– my instructor was wonderful, we had good meals, and the driver (Jessica’s aunt) is a lovely woman. Other than this, the facilities are full of mosquitos, the studio has horrible lighting, and the studio equipment needs maintenance. If I were you, rent an Airbnb and take workshops. It is not worth it.

  • Anonymous

    I was disappointed in the Italian residency with Arquetopia in 2023. Arquetopia is a wonderful organization and I have attended their Puebla and Peru residencies in prior years. Those residencies were a great experience. I had wonderful exchanges with other artists. With the Italian residency, they did not follow their really good business model that was successful in Peru and Puebla. What I enjoyed with the other residencies is learning about the country and the location of the residence. In Italy, the Staff was from Mexico and did not know much about Italy. They had arrived just three days before I did. Both were Spanish speakers and neither spoke Italian.
    There was a cold snap when I arrived and the temperature dipped to nearly 0 degrees C. It was cold! The house did not have heat and we ended up wearing our coats indoors day and night. There was plumbing but it was not connected. The internet was weak or intermittent. When the internet person came, the Staff could not communicate with him and fixing the problem was out of the question. If they had followed their prior business model of having one person from the local area, fixing the heat or the internet would not have been a problem.
    On the positive side, the house was beautiful as were the grounds. The room was comfortable. The location was semi-rural so walking or taking the bus was needed to get around. It was located fairly far (40 min walk) from the train station to Napoli. The Staff did show us how to take the bus and the train.
    Communication with the staff was limited to one person because only one spoke English. The language of the residence was Spanish. I just missed the business model of the prior residencies and found this one lacking. I also missed having that ‘Italian’ experience.

    • Anonymous

      The director is a charming charlatan who fancies himself an intellectual and sees everything through the lens of racism, sexism, and classism. He considers it his prerogative to challenge and “interrupt” the thinking of the artists who attend the residency. To this end, he requires each artist to read his selection of what are mostly warmed-over graduate student theses and attend a weekly formal meeting with him where he challenges and interrupts you.
      This authoritarian premise trickles down to his two assistants who’ve promulgated and enforce 34 pages of rules along the lines of “take a shower every day.” These are taken very seriously – one artist wasn’t invited back because she apparently failed to shower before her meeting with El Jefe. Artists get a weekly reminder that the readings are “the most important part of the residency.” Even the college intern may check up on you ahead of time to ask how far you’ve gotten in the readings.
      The building has several single rooftop studios with spectacular views of Puebla and the surrounding mountains. They could easily be made more comfortable with some curtains to keep out the noonday sun and a fan, but accommodating the artists isn’t a priority. Instead, most artists are crammed together into a single ground floor room with folding tables under a florescent light. Puebla is a long way to travel for a rickety table and no privacy.
      When it was pointed out that more artists could be accommodated in the rooftop studios (and most artists reasonably expect a private studio for the fee they pay), the director answered that he didn’t trust artists not to vandalize them. Such an open attitude of suspicion and distrust of artists explains the cheeseparing, nitpicky, and unhelpful atmosphere of the place.
      None of the artists I met during my 6 weeks there had ever been to a real residency along the lines of Yaddo or MacDowell, so perhaps had no expectations of being treated as a Fellow rather than as an intruder who might steal the spoons if not carefully watched. Still, most weren’t happy and two actually left after a few days, presumably forfeiting at least a couple thousand dollars.
      The director, as with all dictators, can be very good to the people he likes, arranging a show or a lecture now and then, but that’s not the typical experience. Puebla is great, but there must be other places to do art.

  • Anonymous

    Hi There, I am arriving in Puebla for my month residency at Arquetopia in 3 weeks. I just received the 34 page manual with all the rules. I have been excited about this residency for a year and a half. BUT NOW dreading it. The rules were VERY off putting and and mandatory meetings were nothing I was told about and could not care less about. Are the work spaces that bad? should I still go or lose all my money? I wish I had researched more before I paid all the money.. thanks

      • Anonymous

        My experience was not good. In fact I left after 3 days with another resident who had an even worse experience than me, but I will let her describe it herself. The building is very run down. When I arrived there were 3 other people there. 2 were a couple who had been many times before, (WHY????) My room was filled with signs of what I could not do in my room, like eat. The dresser was falling art and the bathroom lights all on automatic sensors and very shabby. I was given a table at the back of the downstairs studio. I barely had room to work with another person about 5 feet away. The food was inedible! There was no coffee. I had only one meeting with Francisco who seemed fine but quite full of himself. They claim to be this fabulous international organization but seems a lot like a scam to earn foreigners money. Francisco and Chris live in a fabulous house on the property and the residents live in the shabby Cinderella house. The area to do printmaking was a JOKE. Anyone reading this should stay away. If you want to make art in Puebla, rent an airbandb, it will be cheaper and more fun.

        • Anonymous

          I am supposed to go to Oaxaca on Sunday and start my residency on Monday. I was completely turned off by the manual that I received. I’m concerned about the readings and have figured that there will be no room for differing opinions. I think after reading several of the posts on here (which I wish I had found this when I first did research on Arquetopia) I am going to make other arrangements and hopefully have a much more nurturing and cultural experience in Oaxaca where I can enjoy the “place” and not worry about ‘time and space”. I assume anyone wanting to get any of their money back was denied? How was the response to people leaving? I assume it’s less work and more money for them. Thanks

          • Anonymous

            Hello, I went to the Oaxaca residency last year. If you have questions or concerns or suggestions to help make your stay better you will be ignored or criticized by Arquetopia employees. The schedule is rigid and the reading discussions were 1-sided. I felt like i was treated like a child the way Francisco lectured me. it was not an open conversation rather a talking-down, which made me so uncomfortable. I wish I could have left early but I stayed the whole time because they don’t give refunds and i could not afford to go anywhere else. I wish i was warned before going so I feel the need to warn you. I am glad I found this webpage and I hope you can get your money back and spend it somewhere where you will be treated better

  • Anonymous

    I have participated in multiple international artist residencies – these residencies often had a supply stipend and travel expenses paid.
    Having said that, I found the Arquetopia residency to be extremely valuable to my practice- I have been twice and plan to return again. The readings and conversations with Francisco and Nayeli were incredibly valuable and led to breakthroughs in my work and in my writing. I found it to be a nurturing environment where I am incredibly productive.
    Additionally, one of my fellow residents (that I am now proud to call a close friend) spent much of his residency supported by the printmaking school, and there are several mentored residencies. Even though I was in an independently directed residency I was befriended by one of the ceramics mentors. Additionally, the gracious directors worked with BUAP (a venerable academic university) and I received an invitation to deliver a public lecture on my work there! This was so generous and supportive- and excellent for my professional development.
    Personally, I loved the academic visits- I found that they dovetailed with the readings and my own research as well. I loved learning about the history of the area.
    I loved and valued my time at Arquetopia: I felt supported in every conceivable way possible. I look forward to returning,

  • Anonymous

    I just got back from a «Mexican embroidery» residency program at Arquetopia, Oaxaca. The bottom line is: Don’t do it!

    I planned and dreamed about this for almost a year and it was awful.

    The place of the residency is located in a town with absolutely nothing to do, we would get so depressed in the weekends. The town is 40 minutes away from Oaxaca de Juarez, and the residency space is ugly to say the least, rooms are dark and very austere (I felt like I was living in a convent). In one of the textile capitals of Latinamerica, in a space that’s supposed to be designed for artists and creatives, the furniture, and decoration was tacky and generic, it almost felt like the apartment of someone who just started living by themselves and inherited all the old furniture that no one in the family wants anymore. Such a depressing place to be, especially knowing that vibrant Oaxaca de Juarez is so close by.

    The studio space is also precarious, the lighting is 3 neon lamps (worst light in the world especially for embroidery), plastic folding tables covered in paper, and a wooden chair with almost no backrest. The studio has leaks in the roof so we had to cover our works with plastic at night, also because there seemed to be either mice or bats in the ceiling and our tables were covered in animal poop in the morning.

    Materials were rusty or dried.

    Rules are strict and made me feel like I was back in catholic school, no eating or drinking anywhere in the house but the dinning room, outdated COVID regulations like spraying all our bodies and faces when we got back (randomly, sometimes they did and sometimes they didn’t) and making us shower when we first got there and putting our clothes in a plastic bag (they had already demanded a PCR test and this was September 2022), the lady who cooked our food and cleaned the space had to take pictures of the food everyday and send them to…who knows, big brother?, also had to send pictures of the mopped floors. The environment was repressive and unfriendly.

    The residency should be called BASIC EMBROIDERY, all they taught us was how to do a stitch sampler, the teacher is a very accomplished traditional embroiderer but every time employees from Arquetopia were asking her to tell them exactly which stitches we’ve learned that day and taking pictures of them also for big brother.

    When I asked the teacher when we were going to learn how to actually use the stitches in Mexican embroidery she said she had to teach us the stitches and nothing else (which we already knew most of them or could look them up on Youtube). They make a selection process that apparently is for nothing, one would assume that going to an embroidery residency implies that you already know how to embroider. All we learned were basic stitches.

    There are outings each week and the staff seemed bored and just going through the motions to take us, one time the place we were visiting (CASA Centro de las artes de San Agustín a beautiful museum) was already closed, and the other time we went to Teotitlán del Valle to learn about natural dyes and weaving, the staff wasn’t going to let us walk around and see the town because they couldn’t wait to go back to Arquetopia even though we had 2 additional hours scheduled for this outing, I had to reason with them so they would allow us (I’m 41 years old) to walk around town for an extra 30 minutes.

    My room had a window to the studio so there was barely any light coming in, so when one of the rooms with a window was left free I asked for a change of room to which they replied that the room was going to another resident that was coming in a week, the resident never came and they lied to my face when I asked them about it, saying they didn’t know what had happened. The room remained empty for the next 2 weeks I was there.

    Everything is scheduled, rigid, no room for creativity of any kind, this place is awful, so please don’t waste your money, time and energy on this scam. Consider visiting Texere at El Tule or Pocoapoco for artist residencies in the Oaxaca area.

  • Anonymous

    I had a 4 week residency in Puebla earlier this year. At the end of pandemic I was so excited to be actually out and among artists again! And that was the good part – to spend some time with other artists, and I am still in contact with some who I hope to see again one day.

    But otherwise? What a truly horrible place/program – if you could call it any kind of program.

    Upon arrival there is a mandatory 5 hour indoctrination, including slides – largely about the owner/director and his strangely inflated ego. A few of us arrived together and had a long day of travel to reach Puebla – one artist understandably kept nodding off and so we took turns poking her. When it was finally over and the director left? We just all looked at each other and started laughing! At least we bonded then –

    This director lives on the property, but was never seen again unless very late at night doing some kind of inspection in the kitchen.

    We were allowed to ask for items to add to the kitchen supplies – requests for bread, crackers, very other simple items denied. One meal a day provided was often inedible. Plus open sewer drains in the kitchen reeked if the covers were disturbed.

    The accomodations went from horrible to okay. One artist during my residency had a room with no windows or lamp, a single bed and no drawers. Other rooms were available and she asked to change, but was told no changes could ever be made. I had a double bed, and maids changed the sheets each week, but often with twin fitted sheets and once with a rough tablecloth instead of a sheet.

    Photos were taken of our rooms and we were reported for having beverages, etc. Very, very invasive.

    Shared bathrooms mostly okay except when men and women shared – a bit creepy.

    Common areas, including bathrooms, with motion-detector lights. The light would go off while showering, so it was necessary to exit the shower and wave at the sensor.

    The studio was just a joke! Cramped, one plastic table each, poor lighting at night, and small hard backless stools. No place to hang work for viewing, etc. A few times I took a plastic chair from the kitchen and got in “trouble”. But enough complaints and we finally were given chairs.

    Mandatory weekly readings were rediculous. They had absolutely nothing relevant to any of our projects. Everything I received to read dealt with homophobia, and I was dealing with art for children –

    No one ever came to ask about our work. There were no critiques. The small library was kept locked. No furniture on the patio so we sat on the ground.

    At least now I have been to Puebla and had that experience. And I met some artists whose company I enjoyed. (Though not all of them indeed – and sharing bathrooms and cramped studio space became very uncomfortable.)

    I have been to many residencies in several parts of the world – this is the first time I had such a negative experience.

    • Anonymous

      Hi There, I am arriving in Puebla for my month residency at Arquetopia in 3 weeks. I just received the 34 page manual with all the rules. I have been excited about this residency for a year and a half. BUT NOW dreading it. The rules were VERY off putting and and mandatory meetings were nothing I was told about and could not care less about. Are the work spaces that bad? should I still go or lose all my money? I wish I had researched more before I paid all the money.. thanks

  • Anonymous

    I am very sorry that I did not heed my intuition about this place. The emails from Arquetopia were marked in red and italics about URGENCY.
    The URGENCY is to pay your money. There is no personal attention reflected in emails. The place is largely a SCAM.

    During A 5.5 hour orientation, the residents are warned of the malfunctioning gas stove and the need to put coasters over smelly sewage drains located mid-kitchen, and underneath the dining table. There is no hot running water in the kitchen. Bacteria thrives.

    There was an insulting list of rules which included showering once a day, banning of Bermuda shorts, and the forbidding of hanging hand washed items.

    The festive string of lights lighting the walkway is only lit on Monday is a show for the new residents arrival. On all other evenings, one walks along in the dark, up two flights of stairs with no handrail.

    Pillows are old and worn. Linens often do not fit the bed, which is like sleeping in a salad bowl.

    There is an attempt to encourage thinking about artistic practice through volumes of pedantic, inapplicable readings, which in summation, seem to highlight the hypocrisy and autocracy of this institution.

    There is a chain of command built on mistrust of the very artists that fund this place. There is a cover your ass mentality. The staff take pictures of the rooms they’ve cleaned and the food that is prepared. Most simple requests made by artists are refused…cardboard, a box, a comfortable chair.

    1 out of 5 meals was good.

    There is no lounge or outside communal space.

    The entry is marked by an “invisible” bell. Dog feces greet you. You move past a wrapped car through spiny cactus plants which get you every time, to get to the working area. The plants are not watered or tended to. Intermittent smells of sewage and cat urine also greet you.

    There are some tutorials and tours which were very good…provided by members of the larger artist community. However, there is last minute notification for most events, making it impossible to plan your week.

    No one that I encountered in Puebla had ever heard of the place.

    There is no checkin by the staff, no request for feedback or evaluation of the experience, because there is only a “superficial” interest in the artists who attend. I have been to six other artist’s residencies. This residency is a very dismal excuse for one. I would not recommend this place to anyone.

  • Anonymous

    Ok, this residency is not a SCAM!! It’s absolutely not their fault that you didn’t research that it’s hot in Mexico. I mean come on, that’s basic knowledge. Generally people don’t have air conditioning there and if that was going to be an issue for you you should’ve IDK not gone? You sound ridiculously privileged and expected them to bend over backwards for you and make condition there different than how they are? One minute of googling would have told you this information yet you put this on the organization one that provides for you a space that is not to your liking because dear god it’s 80 degrees what ever will you do?!

  • Anonymous

    SCAM. Unfortunately I believe this residency to be a scam, most likely to buy real estate. While some people enjoyed their time at the “residency”, that’s how scams are able to survive. They just need enough people to say good things to continue operations. The only info online about them is from their website, a single hyperallergic article, and ads they have for their residency through residency sites. If you feel like you were taken advantage of please post more to warn others, they also survive because people don’t expose them enough. Also do your research before applying. Why is there so little information on this place even though they are an “award winning” residency.

  • Anonymous

    DO NOT ATTEND THIS RESIDENCY!!!!!!!

    They are a NIGHTMARE and a SCAM. I was being funded by my institution to attend this residency and had to borrow money to get the deposit to them. Then COVID-19 hit and everything changes (except Arquetopia, because you know, money is more important to them) and my institution lets me know that they cannot fund any travel during the month of June 2020 because of health risks. They ask me to reschedule the residency before my graduation in 2021 or request a refund. I email Arquetopia with my dilemma and get a literal one line email response from Nayeli with their only dates available being in November. I let her know that unfortunately I can’t attend in November because I’m enrolled in school and will therefore need to request a refund from them. I get a form response basically giving me three “options” :

    Option #1: Reschedule and complete your residency before the end of 2020;
    Option #2: Contact us between May 2020 and May 2021 to arrange new dates for your residency to take place between May 2020 and May 2023 (giving you up to a year from now to determine and nominate new dates up to May 2023);
    Option #3: Cancel your residency according to our policies.

    I reply that I can’t meet options 1 & 2 because of what I stated above and get NO RESPONSE FOR WEEKS! At this point I’m furious and just lose my shit and send email after email after email until Chris responses with, yet again, a form response! With the same options outlined. No exceptions. Apparently, you can’t get refunded if it’s less than 90 days to your residency date which was ridiculous because I was notified about the change in my funding two months prior to my scheduled residency because it’s a fucking PANDEMIC and things are changing by the day!!!!

    I knew something was off with them with their poor email communication from the start. I assumed it was no biggie but honestly pandemic or not this is how they function day to day. They don
    t respond to you, they just want your money, the Chris dude is a fucking joke of a white man taking advantage of people and honestly I regret ever giving this place a dime of my time or money. I’m so furious because I need that money to help my actual family out in Venezuela, and now it will probably go to the director’s car payments.

    there are other residencies that have been SO MUCH more kind, understanding, flexible, warm and HONEST during these times. I have been refunded and reached out to by all of them during this pandemic EXCEPT arquetopia….and this is the only one that cost as much as it fucking does. Trust your gut — this ain’t the one you want.

  • Anonymous

    I have some comments relating to Arquetopia’s Oaxaca space.

    Worried residency was a scam.

    I was anxious this residency was a scam at first. As mentioned above, the residency was in a rush to get my money. It took several emails before I was provided with a receipt of payment. It took several more before I was provided with a formal letter of support – and I only got this when I asked for my deposit back.

    Poor correspondence in relation to schedules.

    Myself and the other artists in my intake are all professionals. We make a living from our work and we were all working to deadline. It would have been helpful to know that the residency included: weekly meetings, up to 100 pages of readings each week, and tours (personal and group, depending on the course of study), in addition to the specified classes. I would often get less than 24 hours notice as to when a tour or a meeting was on. In one instance, I was emailed at 9pm at night for a 9am tour. This lack of a schedule is very difficult and was the hardest thing for me. If the residency could be more organised and send out a weekly schedule, this would have been greatly helpful.

    The residency rules, which arrived some days prior to arrival, had some alarming warnings about Mexican men.

    ‘Men have friendlier physical contact than generally seen in the USA and Canada; these gestures should be accepted willingly.’ Really? Having now spent two months in Mexico I have found the men (and women), to be extremely polite and respectful of personal space. I think this is quite insulting to Mexican people.

    The ‘studio’ [Oaxaca residency] was four plastic picnic tables in a dark shed. The seats were tiny stools with no backs. The residency manual does caution: ‘Visitors accustomed to lifestyles that would be considered high-maintenance to Mexicans or Peruvians are expected to adapt, to understand and respect that it is of no responsibility to anyone in Latin America or at Arquetopia to replicate such details here. We enjoy life here for what it is without being preoccupied with comparing how things are done elsewhere.’

    On the readings.
    The artists in my group / intake were given the same readings, just on different weeks, despite a promise that these would be catered to our individual projects. The content was often unrelated to our specific projects. The director could be intimidating in meetings and wasn’t above putting down ideas that didn’t fit with his own conceptions on time and space. Better support and interest in our individual projects could greatly enhance this experience – because the intellectual element that the readings brought was fantastic.

    On completion, I offered to give feedback to one of the directors, which might help the experience of future residents, but the offer was ignored. It’s my hope that this feedback may help prospective artists when making decision about how and where to spend their time

    I hope this is helpful to any prospective residents.

    I wouldn’t have posted publicly, but it seemed the residency was not keen for any feedback to improve.

  • anonymous

    In some ways this residency was really valuable, but there were a few key issues for me. I outline these below:

    1. Worried residency was a scam.

    I was anxious this residency was a scam at first. As mentioned above, the residency was in a rush to get my money. It took several emails before I was provided with a receipt of payment. It took several more before I was provided with a formal letter of support – and I only got this when I asked for my deposit back.

    2. Poor correspondence in relation to schedules.

    Myself and the other artists in my intake are all professionals. We make a living from our work and we were all working to deadline. It would have been helpful to know that the residency included: weekly meetings, up to 100 pages of readings each week, and tours (personal and group, depending on the course of study), in addition to the specified classes. I would often get less than 24 hours notice as to when a tour or a meeting was on. In one instance, I was emailed at 9pm at night for a 9am tour. This lack of a schedule is very difficult and was the hardest thing for me. If the residency could be more organised and send out a weekly schedule, this would have been greatly helpful.

    3. The residency rules, which arrived some days prior to arrival, had some alarming warnings about Mexican men.

    ‘Men have friendlier physical contact than generally seen in the USA and Canada; these gestures should be accepted willingly.’ Really? Having now spent two months in Mexico I have found the men (and women), to be extremely polite and respectful of personal space. I think this is quite insulting to Mexican people.

    4. The ‘studio’ [Oaxaca residency] was four plastic picnic tables in a dark shed. The seats were tiny stools with no backs. The residency manual does caution: ‘Visitors accustomed to lifestyles that would be considered high-maintenance to Mexicans or Peruvians are expected to adapt, to understand and respect that it is of no responsibility to anyone in Latin America or at Arquetopia to replicate such details here. We enjoy life here for what it is without being preoccupied with comparing how things are done elsewhere.’

    5. On the readings.
    The artists in my group / intake were given the same readings, just on different weeks, despite a promise that these would be catered to our individual projects. The content was often unrelated to our specific projects. The director could be intimidating in meetings and wasn’t above putting down ideas that didn’t fit with his own conceptions on time and space. Better support and interest in our individual projects could greatly enhance this experience – because the intellectual element that the readings brought was fantastic.

    6. On completion, I offered to give feedback to one of the directors, which might help the experience of future residents, but the offer was ignored. It’s my hope that this feedback may help prospective artists when making decision about how and where to spend their time.

    * An after note: it would have been wonderful to have been connected into the Oaxaca arts community. I had a previous residency at Youkobo Art Space in Japan where all residents were required to present an exhibition for the broader Tokyo public and / or a public talk about their project. This was a great way to connect with other artists in the city and something that Arquetopia could really benefit from.

  • SamWiseArt

    As a printmaker having attended Arquetopia, the opportunity has indelibly changed my life and my work as an artist and professor. If I were to offer my own advice here, it would be to ignore the haters. Serious and organized artist residencies like Arquetopia with committed faculty and mentors are rare and *so* important for artists to immerse, strengthen, and really flesh out their artistic vision and individual growth. This one is so personal and high-level as it also allows artists of whatever their background, to understand and critically think about their relationships to places, cultures, and people as a foreigner and as an artist not only within the space but outside it. I would not have developed the level of discipline, intelligence, direction, and pushing through blocks in my art practice if not for my two intensive residency periods at Arquetopia.

  • Anonymous

    I would like to contribute some comments regarding this “residency”. I am a Mexican artist from Puebla, I had never heard of this residency, their gallery or any of the organizers before. They don’t really seem to be involved within the artistic community of Puebla or very keen on contributing to the cultural local scene. This for me is a red flag, as the residencies I have been to they are always very involved within the community and seek to involve the artists they invite as well.

    The second red flag is the fees they are asking for, specially for Puebla, you can rent a nice Airbnb, have good meals and perhaps even attend some artists workshops around the city for the price they ask, and stay in Puebla for a month and a half instead of the 2-3 weeks they offer. Their open calls are exclusively aimed towards foreigners, they are not interested in hosting Mexican artists because no local artists would pay such fees. It happens fairly often that people in Mexico want to take advantage of foreigners and charge them way more than they should, because they know that some foreigners will not see it as “too expensive”. Together with what I have read here, it all seems a bit fishy, and it seems they only care about getting as much money from the artists as they can without really offering a good quality residency with an actual curriculum value.

    If you are looking for a serious residency, I think this is not the one to go for. If you want to come to Mexico and experience the country, the local life, etc. I also think you are better off visiting on your own rather than paying such high fees for this “experience”. I would not call this a residency at all.

    • Andrea

      I was at the Arquetopia centre in Puebla recently and it was the best 4 weeks I spent in any residency in years. I was unsure at first of getting on there as it seemed I was outnumbered by many more artists younger than myself. But it did not matter. I highly recommend this challenging residency if focused on taking your work and research to a new level and especially open to learning because it really was like “back to school” in some respects. But that’s part of what made it so useful and memorable to me. The curated readings, I got a lot out of this and looked forward to more, but 2 of the (younger) women artists in my group seemed oddly intent on finding boyfriends and would complain after falling behind in the reading materials, which got irritating to me and some others trying to remain focused on their own projects in the studio. In all I finished about 90% intended production for an upcoming show, made some good amigos including the three directors/coordinators and several more out in the local printing community. Am considering to apply again next year for the summer

  • Kate M.

    In my own experience, I could not disagree more with the original post about this phenomenal program and organization in which I have been fortunate to participate twice (2nd time invited back on a full scholarship).

    ME: Female, mid-30s, latinx, multimedia artist, at times a writer, mainly based in Brooklyn, NY, USA. I’ve attended nearly 20 residencies (and even worked at 2 of them) over the past 8-9 years, large and small (some paid/funded and others not) in the USA, Europe, southeast Asia, and Australia. I rank my turns at Arquetopia in the top 3 of these, and I intend to go back someday when I can make it to their new center in Peru.

    During and since attending for their natural dyes course in 2015 in Oaxaca and returning in early 2018 for self guided at their Puebla residency, I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about and reprocessing my experience there and the profound questions I encountered in regard to my personal identity, my art, power, and the world at large. The educational portion is intense and the critiques are honest if not brutal in some cases. In all, it was a challenge. I worked out some demons and resigned to the fact that I will never produce images in the same way again. But in my case, I feel I broke through a major wall. If you are averse to reading and discussing race/class/gender/power/colonization and art, or if you prefer a whole place to yourself and interacting with others is totally not your thing, or if you seek a resort where you’ll be pampered by brown people, Arquetopia would probably not be a good fit for you.

    About the fee —not at all unusual for international arts orgs in this world economy in flux— it is common knowledge that they are an independent AIR unfunded by outside sources. I found the tuition cost to be consistent and in fact generous, with everything that was provided (support/involvement, homemade meals & other groceries, project & logistics coordination, equipment, etc) as it really is a lot. Even with my self-guided session this was the case, and during my first residency there, the directors even personally made a superb Thanksgiving dinner for everyone. At a considerable number of other residencies, I was basically given a key and an empty room with no guidance to my surroundings, let alone in regard to my project or practice. I feel the original poster especially did not convey these aspects adequately. As for the other issues, I also used the separate oil studio for several days near the end of my stay and never found it hot or unpleasant, in fact Puebla itself was colder than I had anticipated. It was stated to our group on arrival that the oil studio (which is beautiful, btw) was designed for max light and ventilation. I enjoyed using it with another in our group with whom I collaborated.

    Though their crew is apparently small, they are committed professionals. They were always available when I needed them without being intrusive nor aloof (however, the original poster is correct that they are not around on weekends; this is disclosed to artists ahead of time in their comprehensive and well-organized guidebook). I also received formal support letters/documents from Arquetopia for travel grants and was successful in obtaining necessary funding both times. Their “big houses” mentioned in the original post are their 3 art residencies, and they also live on site.

    • Jeff

      I have had both experiences…most recently last month. The organization is different now, I complained about the horrible living conditions and the fact that they fed us on the cheap for the one meal they provided. Razor wire everywhere….apparently they are NOT respected in the local community. The garden was unkept…the gardener quit or something like that, like the chef who up and left two weeks before the new batch of residents arrived. We never saw anyone during the day, not like before. I was supposed to have a show (oh, did I mention that I was invited back?) but they wouldn’t show me the joke of a tiny gallery for two weeks. As a dissatisfied paying customer who was accused of being disrespectful, racist, and homophobic (oh, did I mention I’m a part Latino, gay male?) They only accused me of this because they couldn’t afford to refund me, like Paco said he would, and they kicked me out. Oh, and his non-English speaking father threatened to call the police on me. I wasn’t the only one who left.

      FOR YOUR SAFETY, COMFORT, AND RESPECT, DO NOT PAY A DIME TO GO HERE. Working conditions would fail OSHA standards and local agencies should investigate them.

      I was also in one of the removed studios on the roof that would go from 30 degrees at night to 80 in the day…..impossible conditions for Talavera clay.

      The program person is not good and would let’s us know of scheduled events or meetings under 24 hours – a lack of professional consideration to our time in the studio.

      It felt totally sketchy from the start.

      And why does the executive director drive a brand new red Mercedes? (Always hidden under a tarp) I guess that’s what you pay for….the anti-imperialist driving a new benzie

  • Shoshana

    I would not pay so much money for a Residency.
    I Wonder why artists do that anyway. Can’t you paint at home for free?
    I was in several residencies throughout my life, and they all PAID ME to attend them.
    I wish artists wouldn’t be taken advantage. It’s horrible.
    If you want to travel, pay for airbnb and take your sketchbook or camera with you.

  • Anonymous

    I’m so sorry you had such a bad experience in my country, I’m sure they didn’t understand your needs, but just one comment for your information, in Mexico we don’t use air conditioning either heat, unless you’re staying in a luxury home or hotel or at a north city such as Monterrey, and even there only wealthy people would have those facilities since they’re luxury ones. Not even government buildings, schools or public hospitals offer them, It’s important you know it for further experiences in Mexico.

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