Sometimes you need to see it to believe it. These documentaries, video series, and free online courses offer a window into residency life, creative process, and practical professional development.
Popular Films
Lonely Planet — Netflix / Rated R
At an idyllic writers retreat in Morocco, a newly single novelist finds an unexpected connection with a younger man who's reevaluating his life choices.
Past Lives — A24 / Rated PG-13
Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are torn apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Decades later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront destiny, love and the choices that make a life. Nora attends an artist residency as a writer in Montauk.
Black Bear — Momentum Pictures / Rated PG-13
Starring Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott, and Sarah Gadon, this psychological drama takes place at a remote, lakeside creative outpost. A filmmaker suffering from a creative impasse uses the isolation of the rural retreat to manipulate her hosts, resulting in a mind-bending look at the lengths artists go to generate material.
The French Dispatch — Searchlight Pictures / Rated R
In Wes Anderson’s popular anthology comedy The French Dispatch, the segment "The Concrete Masterpiece" features Benicio del Toro as an incarcerated painter serving a life sentence. The prison warden runs an eccentric, mandatory art studio program that effectively operates as a dark, highly structured artist residency.
Showing Up — A24 / Rated R
Directed by Kelly Reichardt and starring Michelle Williams, this acclaimed indie film offers one of the most realistic, funny, and mundane looks at an art school and local artist community. It focuses on a sculptor balancing her day job in arts administration with preparing for a career-changing gallery gallery show.
Directed by Winnie Cheung, this fictional horror/thriller is explicitly framed around a cursed artist residency. Set inside a New York artist studio, the film is a chaotic, stylized look at a group of female artists being pushed past their psychological limits in the name of creativity.
Documentaries & Series
MacDowell: Living at the Colony — PBS
NHPBS documentary exploring daily life at MacDowell — the studios, the routines, and how the residency's environment nurtures creative work. If you've ever wondered what a residency actually feels like day-to-day, start here.
The Art Assignment — PBS Digital Studios / YouTube
Sarah Urist Green's acclaimed series demystifying contemporary art. The "Case For" episodes and artist profiles are essential viewing — they'll broaden your understanding of what art can be and give you language for talking about your own work.
Skowhegan School: 75 Years of Artist Community — Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture
Alumni and faculty reflect on Skowhegan's legendary 9-week summer intensive — video messages and archival material from 75+ years of the program. A rare inside look at one of the most respected residencies in the country.
Free Courses
Creative Capital: Artist Lab — Creative Capital
Free online professional development for artists — courses on grant writing, financial planning, taxes, artist statements, and career strategy. Each course is self-paced and designed specifically for working artists. The taxes and financial planning courses alone are worth your time.
Know of a video, documentary, or course that should be on this list? Let us know.
