Jazz Road Creative Residencies

Creative Residencies  

This cycle there will be two options for Creative Residencies.

1. Jazz & Human Connection

Grants: Up to $40,000 | Applications Opening Soon 

Residencies should explore the theme of Jazz & Human Connection, whether through artistic creation, meaningful community engagement, or a combination of both. These projects are meant to deepen an artist’s creative practice and amplify the social power of jazz through connection, storytelling, and shared experience.

Residencies may be:

• One to four weeks long (continuous or broken up),   
• Located anywhere in the U.S.—from remote rural towns to urban neighborhoods,
• With or without partner organizations, collaborators, or ensembles.

South Arts encourages original, artist-driven proposals that may include:

• Developing or recording new or existing work,
• Collaborating with other artists or disciplines,
• Engaging specific communities through interactive or reflective experiences.

Residencies may involve public engagement, but live performance is not required. Sharings, recordings, or digital programs are equally valid as long as the outcomes focus on in-person human connection.  

Applicants must clearly define:

• Their artistic goals and creative vision,
• How the residency connects people,
• The structure, timeline, and location(s),
• Any artistic collaborators or partner organizations involved,
• Tangible outcomes that will advance their creative practice or deepen their connection with community.

Examples might include:

• A jazz pianist writing new music inspired by family oral histories in a small Southern town which he does a live recording of.  
• A saxophonist partnering with a local arts council to explore grief and healing through sound.

Residencies in academic settings are eligible only if the focus is on the artist’s creative work and not tied to a formal teaching appointment or curriculum. Projects must center the artist’s practice, not school programming. 

2. Jazz Road Legacy Residencies: Honoring the Artists Who Carry the Story 

For Jazz Artists Age 55+ 

Grants: Up to $40,000 | Applications Opening Soon

Residencies must occur between July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026 

Overview: Jazz Road Legacy Residencies celebrate the artists who have shaped the sound, story, and spirit of jazz over decades. Designed for artists age 55 and older, these residencies provide time, space, and support to reflect, create, and share your artistic legacy on your own terms. 

But this isn’t just a grant, it’s a partnership. South Arts will work alongside each artist to help facilitate the project, offering not only funding but also connection to resources, planning support, and guidance tailored to your vision. You bring the story; we help bring it to life. 

What Is a Legacy Residency? 

Legacy Residencies are artist-centered projects rooted in: 

• Creative reflection: revisiting or reinterpreting earlier work • Storytelling: documenting or sharing your artistic journey 
• Community wisdom: engaging younger artists, elders, or cultural communities 
• Cross-generational exchange: creating in conversation with the next wave 

Residencies might include writing, recording, gathering collaborators, mentoring, curating archives, or producing new work inspired by your life’s journey. Projects can be quiet or public-facing, deeply personal or community-based, but always grounded in the legacy of lived experience. 

And importantly, you won’t be alone. Jazz Road staff and partners will be there to help plan, troubleshoot, connect, and celebrate alongside you.   

Examples of Legacy Residency Ideas 

• A bandleader reunites their ensemble to reinterpret a classic album, culminating in a live recording and dialogue session. 
• A composer collaborates with youth musicians to transform oral histories into new compositions rooted in place. 
• A vocalist documents decades of road stories in a multimedia journal while leading intergenerational storytelling circles. 
• A percussionist partners with a local arts center to develop a mentorship residency for emerging drummers.   

Who Should Apply? 

This opportunity is for jazz artists 55 and up, individuals or ensembles (up to 3 people total) who are ready to shape and share their legacy in a way that feels meaningful. You do not need to be famous or widely recorded. If you’ve lived the music, built a life in jazz, and have something to say, this is for you. We especially welcome artists: 

• From historically excluded or underrepresented communities 
• Working outside of major markets 
• Practicing hybrid, rooted, or culturally specific forms of jazz

Award Amounts for Creative Residencies & Jazz Road Legacy Residencies

Grant amounts of up to $40,000. Grants are awarded directly to artists.

Important Dates & Deadlines

• Applications Openening Soon
• Deadline: May 1, 2026
• Notification: June 2026
• Grant Period: July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027

Guidelines

While preparing your Jazz Road Creative Residency application, please refer to the following guidelines.

Sample Residency Concepts - Jazz & Human Connection

These are general and by no means an exhaustive list. Suggestions are intentionally general and only meant to spur on creativity by which an artist can build upon.  

• Create and rehearse new work inspired by personal or community histories, culminating in informal gatherings or listening sessions.
• Collaborate with local artists, elders, or culture bearers to co-create music rooted in shared experiences or places.
• Facilitate open rehearsal spaces where community members are invited to observe, ask questions, or share stories that inform the music.
• Explore intergenerational connections through music, developing work in partnership with youth programs or senior centers.
• Establish a “musical porch” or “residency in residence” model, setting up in a visible community space and inviting people to drop in.
• Use live sound as a tool for healing or collective reflection in partnership with local wellness, spiritual, or social support organizations.
• Host a series of listening circles where recorded or live jazz performances spark group conversation, storytelling, or memory sharing.
• Partner with a neighborhood or small town to create a jazz concert series.
• Jazz Education programs in underfunded schools.
• Lead small group improvisation or composition workshops focused on shared experiences rather than musical skill level.
• Pair with libraries, barbershops, churches, or community hubs to activate spaces where organic human connections already happen.
• Develop a series of “musical meals” or artist-hosted gatherings where food and music are shared as part of a communal experience.
• Spend time in a community by simply listening, observing, and documenting interactions, with music as the response or reflection. 

Examples of Residency Sites and/or Partner Organizations:

Residency projects can occur in many kinds of spaces/venues, be they traditional or alternative, arts-identified, or not. Though not required, applicants can choose to collaborate with organizations in informal ways or identify formal residency partner organizations. Eligible organizations are wide-ranging and include the following.

The following are eligible to be included in a project:

• Nonprofit and commercial jazz/arts presenters, venues, and clubs
• Performing arts centers, theaters, and concert halls
• Rehearsal and recording studios
• Home studios
• Universities, colleges, and institutions of higher education
• Jazz festivals
• Local arts agencies/councils
• Radio station live in-studio programs
• Artist spaces
• Community centers  
• Churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship
• Embassies
• Galleries
• Museums
• Listening rooms and libraries
• House concerts
• Open-air markets, plazas, parks, and patios
• Community hangouts from bodegas to recreation centers
• Local retail and civic/municipal events
• Other entities as applicable 

Letter of Intent/Agreement Requirements

Each primary artistic collaborator and partner organization listed in the application must demonstrate their commitment to the project by providing a co-signed Letter of Intent/Agreement between themselves and the artist.

The following parties must provide Letters of Intent/Agreement for the application, if applicable:

• Primary collaborating artist(s) (Not to include applicant’s ensemble members)
• Primary organization identified as a partner/host organization
• Any additional entity listed in the residency narrative that is integral to the project

The letter must include, if applicable:

• Primary residency provisions/usage/terms including date, time, location, and partner’s contact information
• Primary residency provisions/usage/terms related to payments, fees, and other key conditions listed in the project budget

Letters may or may not be considered legally binding and/or contingent upon receiving funding from Jazz Road Creative Residencies based on determination.  

Contracts that include the above information can be submitted in lieu of the Letter of Agreement, if applicable. 

Eligible Expenses and Budget Information

The following expenses are eligible for grant support:

• Salaries/artist fees: the equitable amount the artist/ensemble and collaborating artists are normally paid for creative development (planning, rehearsal, production), performance, and community engagement time and activities for this project
• Travel (ground and air)
• Hotel/Lodging
• Meals
• Backline and equipment rental
• Space rental
• Sound recording and video production engineering (personnel and materials)
• Technology needs (hardware and software) for electronic and/or virtual work
• Tour/project management personnel or services
• Copyist, if applicable
• Supplies and materials
• Shipping
• Communications and event publicity/promotion costs (personnel, print and social media)
• Costs specific to community engagement (including community participant stipends, meeting costs, transportation, and space rental, if applicable)
• Related permit and license fees, if applicable
• Costs specific to project evaluation
• Child/elder care costs, if applicable
• COVID-19 safety precaution costs, if applicable 

Project Budget

Applicants are required to use and submit the provided Jazz Road Creative Residency budget template with their project. 

Download this budget template.

Grant Support

Jazz Road Creative Residencies grants will be up to $40,000. Grants will be awarded directly to artists to cover eligible residency expenses.

• Partnering organizations may be financial or non-financial partners and may provide coverage for various expenses and/or in-kind services as applicable, or not at all. Should the project budget include eligible expenses that the applicant and partner will jointly incur, they may be included in the grant amount request.
• The grant amount is not required to be matched. If matching revenues transpire for the project, they are not required to be listed in the project budget template.
• Grants will be awarded for the total amount requested provided all expenses are eligible and the request is no more than $40,000.

Review Criteria

Panels composed of specialists in the jazz field will review applications and make recommendations for support. Panels will reflect diverse racial, ethnic, gender, and geographic representation as well as range in jazz aesthetic points of view and experience. Applications will be evaluated using the following criteria:

Artistic Excellence (25%)

• Artists (individual and/or ensemble applicant(s) and primary artistic collaborator, if applicable) demonstrate artistic excellence as evidenced by submitted work samples and artist(s) record of achievement (defined in biographies).

Project Narrative (25%)

• Project narrative includes a clear and viable description of the residency goals, participants, activities, location, planning, and timeline;
• The applicant defines how they and/or the project represent the equity priorities (listed below);
• If partnership(s) are included in the project, they are clearly described with roles, parameters, and shared expenses plainly defined, if applicable, as well as how the partnership is necessary for the success of the project. 

Residency Outcomes (25%)

• Application describes what project outcomes the residency is intended to produce and how they will be achieved;
• Application describes the level of artistic and creative growth, and kinds of career-defining outcomes, that are expected as a result of the residency;
• Application describes what creative or professional outcomes are to be achieved through community engagement, if applicable, and how the outcomes impact the artist(s) .

Capacity (25%)

• Application demonstrates project management capacity to complete the residency, including ample direction and logistical coordination which collaborating artist(s) and/or partners rely on, if applicable;
• Applicant demonstrates financial planning, which includes developing and maintaining an appropriate and realistic project budget;
• Applicant has developed an appropriate evaluation plan to describe the successes/challenges of the residency and measure residency outcomes; 

Priorities

South Arts prioritizes projects that demonstrate how jazz—America’s original musical art form—can foster human connection and bring people together in these fractured times. We are especially interested in residencies that not only deepen this communal impact but also support the artist’s career growth and, where possible, contribute to the evolution of the jazz field. We aim to support a diverse pool of artists and fund projects across all six U.S. regions, including rural and remote communities.

Demographic Information

Demographic details are collected for internal use only. Applicants will be asked to share the following:

• Birth year
• Gender identity
• Race/Ethnicity
• U.S. citizen and/or residency status

Grant Award and Payment

South Arts contracts with the applicant artist (as an individual, an artist-led nonprofit organization, or an artist-led corporation). The applicant must provide government-required documentation showing his/her U.S. citizenship or Permanent Resident status, if applicable. The grantee is solely responsible for the management of the residency project and disbursement and reporting of the grant income. Grant award agreements will include all essential terms required for receipt of the award, including advance notice of content required for final report completion.

Grantees will receive 75% of the grant amount no sooner than 45 days before the project begins. The remaining 25% will be disbursed upon approval of a submitted final report and required photo/video documentation. Grant funds are taxable income.

Application Submission and Deadline

South Arts recognizes that individuals are not always able to successfully access the technology platforms necessary to complete an electronic application. South Arts does not intend technology to be a barrier to apply; if you require assistance, please contact us at jazzroad@southarts.org or 404.874.7244 x813.

Completed applications, including Letter(s) of Intent/Agreement and work samples, may be submitted either electronically through our Salesforce portal (by 11:59 p.m. ET) or physically via mail (postmarked) by the deadline of April 2, 2025.

Physical copies of the application may be requested, and should be returned to:

Attn: JAZZ ROAD
South Arts
1800 Peachtree Street, NW
Suite 808
Atlanta, GA 30309

Applications will be submitted through the Salesforce portal.

Application Requirements

• Applicant/Artist Information
• Artistic Collaborator(s) Information, if applicable
• Primary Partner Organization(s) Information, if applicable
• Biography(ies) of Applicant and key artistic personnel or collaborators, if applicable
• Link to Artist Website(s) and Other Social Media Links
• Residency Summary
  • Artistic Excellence
  • Project Narrative
  • Residency Outcomes
  • Capacity
• Signed Letter(s) of Intent/Agreement, if applicable
• Residency Project Budget
• Three video and/or audio links that best represent the applicant’s music