The New York–based Joan Mitchell Foundation has named the 31 artists who will participate in its 2026 residency program.
Taking place at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans, the residents will participate in either six-week or 14-week residencies during three seasons (spring, summer, fall) this year, with no more than nine residents being on hand at one time. The first residents will arrive on February 2.
The foundation’s residency program is unique in that it not only brings artists from across the United States to a locale but also engages a number of local artists. Within the 2026 cohort, 17 artists are based in New Orleans, while the remaining will travel from cities like New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and Atlanta. The recipients range in age from 27 to 75.
“The 2026 Joan Mitchell Center Artists-in-Residence reflect the rich diversity of creative practices throughout the US and within the vibrant arts scene of New Orleans,” Christa Blatchford, the foundation’s executive director, said in a statement. “We are proud to provide each of these artists with time and space to pursue specific projects or develop new ideas, continuing the generosity that Joan Mitchell showed to other artists who came to live and work at her home in France.”
She continued, “The Foundation’s ongoing support for artists is particularly meaningful and important in this challenging moment of diminishing opportunities, and we continue to be committed to our values in ensuring that the Joan Mitchell Center is a safe and inclusive space for creative work and exchange.”
The selected artists include Fred H. C. Liang, Trish Tillman, Nadrea Njoku, and Edra Soto, who also won a United States Artists Fellowship this week. The cohort also includes two leaders in New Orleans’s famed Black Masking Indian tradition Kelly Pearson Boles (Big Queen Kelly) and Efrem Z. Boles (Big Chief ZeeBo), who will participate in separate seasonal cycles. Other local artists include Vee Adams, paris cian, and Ana María Agüero Jahannes.
The 2026 residents were selected by a five-person jury that included artists Hannah Chalew and Dewey Tafoya, independent curator Rian Crane, LSU art history professor Allison K. Young, and Ama Rogan, the managing director of A Studio in the Woods at Tulane University.
In a statement, Joan Mitchell Center senior director Veronique LeMelle said, “With each residency season, we see the transformative impact a residency can have on an artist’s practice—whether through uninterrupted time to focus on their work, connections made through studio visits and public events, exchange with fellow residents, or immersion in the unique culture of New Orleans.”
| Artist | Location |
| Vee Adams | New Orleans, LA |
| Michael Arcega | San Francisco, CA |
| Rachel Berwick | Killingworth, CT |
| Farah Billah | New Orleans, LA |
| Efrem Z. Boles (Big Chief ZeeBo) | New Orleans, LA |
| Kelly Pearson Boles (Big Queen Kelly) | New Orleans, LA |
| paris cian | New Orleans, LA |
| Dillon Dillon | Bronx, NY |
| Michel Droge | Arrowsic, ME |
| Celia Eberle | Ennis, TX |
| Brandon Felix | New Orleans, LA |
| Rachel Gorman | New Orleans, LA |
| Shana M. griffin | New Orleans, LA |
| Ana María Agüero Jahannes | New Orleans, LA |
| Fred H. C. Liang | Boston, MA |
| Felicita Felli Maynard | New Orleans, LA |
| Jessica Monette | East Palo Alto, CA |
| Nadrea Njoku | Atlanta, GA |
| Hakeem Olayinka | Brooklyn, NY |
| Rachel Parish | Atlanta, GA |
| Mary Jane Parker | New Orleans, LA |
| Sienna Pinderhughes | New Orleans, LA |
| Naomi Kawanishi Reis | Brooklyn, NY |
| SÉAN | New Orleans, LA |
| Analia Segal | Brooklyn, NY |
| Shaina Simmons | New Orleans, LA |
| Edra Soto | Chicago, IL |
| Jade Thiraswas | New Orleans, LA |
| Trish Tillman | Brooklyn, NY |
| Gabrielle Tolliver | New Orleans, LA |
| Caitlin Ezell Waugh | New Orleans, LA |
