SHIFT x MOMUS Residency

ABOUT SHIFT: A RESIDENCY FOR ARTS WORKERS

EFA is launching a new iteration of its SHIFT Residency in partnership with Momus, focused on the productive intersections between artistic practice and critical writing. The six-month program will bring together four New York–based practitioners whose practices move between visual art and art criticism—artists who write, or writers who make art—to explore the ways these disciplines can inform and challenge one another.

The cohort will convene at EFA under the mentorship of Ajay Kurian, a New York–based multidisciplinary artist, writer, and founder of NewCrits. Through studio access, seminars, and conversations with visiting professionals, residents will foster cross-disciplinary exchange and develop new critical frameworks that privilege dialogue and exchange over evaluation, and experimentation over fixed definitions. At its core, the residency is about creating space for reflection, mutual support, and the collective development of language around artistic and critical practices.

The residency will run from July through December 2027 at EFA’s studio complex at 323 West 39th Street in Manhattan.

Timeline

Application opens November 1, 2026
Application deadline: December 15, 2026
Selected applicants notified in Spring 2027
Residency period: July - December, 2027
Culminating Project: December, 2027