Chili Bowl Workspace Residency

The Chili Bowl Workspace Residency is an opportunity for potters who want to create their own work and participate in WSW’s Chili Bowl Fiesta, an annual fundraiser and our biggest community event of the year.

Each February, WSW sells over 1,000 bowls, mugs, and tumblers at the Chili Bowl Fiesta to support the operations of our ceramics studio. Pots are made throughout the year by resident artists, staff, interns, local artists, and our weekly clay study group. Every purchase of a pot comes with a helping of chili and cornbread donated by regional restaurants, plus we have raffles, music, and dancing! It’s a great event that allows our community to come together over handmade pottery and local food.

For the residency, we invite applications from artists in any stage of their careers and aim to provide artists with the time and space to live and work creatively. Awardees make 50 glazed or 100 bisqued bowls for the Chili Bowl Fiesta and also have time and space to create their own body of work.

Artists receive a thorough studio orientation and are expected to work independently, although studio staff is available to provide assistance. Deep technical assistance can be arranged for an additional fee. Artists are required to provide the expendable materials for their own project and can use WSW’s studio materials for the Chili Bowl pots. WSW maintains an inventory of supplies and materials that artists may purchase while in residence.

As of 2019, all workspace residencies are fully subsidized! This means that while artists are still responsible for their own travel, materials, meals, and other personal incidentals while in residence, WSW provides housing and studio space at no cost.