Application to De Ateliers
De Ateliers is an artists’ institute open to artists at the beginning of their professional career. It offers a two-year studio and tutoring programme that is best tailored to the needs of highly motivated artists who wish to strengthen their artistic foundation, develop their ideas and deepen their practice in a focused, critical environment among peers from around the globe. The programme is centred around weekly individual studio conversations, with regular and guest tutors, most of whom are practicing artists. The aim is to create a better understanding of one’s artistic position and process by offering a multiplicity of perspectives and critical feedback.
The individual and intensive nature of the De Ateliers programme, with weekly one-on-one studio visits by tutors on Tuesdays, demands a highly motivated and committed attitude. For those artists who are actively looking for regular critical feedback and who have an open attitude towards a wide range of artistic voices and opinions, the generous time and space the De Ateliers programme offers, can produce a life changing experience.
Applications for the working period 2025-2027 will be open from December 1st 2024 until January 15th 2025. The deadline is Wednesday 15 January at 23:59 / 11:59pm CET. The working period will start on September 1st, 2025 and end on August 31st, 2027.
Who can apply?
- De Ateliers is open to all visual artists at the beginning of their professional career, from all countries and nationalities.
- De Ateliers is most suited to artists that are highly motivated to develop their artistic practice through regular critical feedback; who wish to strengthen their artistic foundation, develop their ideas and deepen their practice in a focused, critical environment among peers from around the globe.
- A formal or completed (art) education is not required.
- Although there is no formal age limit for applications, our experience is that most participants are between 20 and 30 years old. Artists who are older, but who are still at the beginning of their professional career, can apply, but should make clear in their ‘Reason to apply to De Ateliers’ why they fit this description and how De Ateliers would benefit them.
- Application to De Ateliers is not open to artists who are working / have worked at one of the Dutch postgraduate institutions, the Jan van Eyck Academy (Maastricht), BAK (Utrecht) and Rijksakademie (Amsterdam).
- While a good command over English is required for participating in De Ateliers, applicants do not need a IELTS or TOEFL test.
- Duos can apply to De Ateliers. When accepted, duos will share one studio, but each member of the duo will receive the stipend and the production budget.
What do we offer?
- A private studio with wireless internet, electricity and heating, in a monumental building in central Amsterdam. The studios are light, high-ceilinged and very spacious, measuring between 70-100m2 each. Participants have access to their studios 24/7.
- Weekly studio visits by regular tutors and guest tutors.
- An extensive side programme, including artists talks, seminars and (inter)national excursions.
- Access to several workshops (for wood, metal, and synthetics), a soundproof studio for video editing and sound recording, and a dark room for analogue photography. These workshops are supervised by two technicians who are available for technical guidance. De Ateliers also offers an art and theory book library.
- Woonhuis, an in-house exhibition and try-out space, collectively curated by the participants of De Ateliers.
- A stipend of €15.864 (2024-2025), provided by the Ateliers Support Fund (ASF) and a yearly production budget of €2.100 (2024-2025), provided by Ammodo Foundation for Arts, Architecture and Science.
- Affordable housing in Amsterdam, firstly to participants coming from abroad and secondly to participants already living in the Netherlands.
- Visa support for international artists. De Ateliers (as certified institutional sponsor) will apply for a residence permit at the Immigration and Naturalisation Service. This residence permit is a student visa and will be valid for the duration of the working period. De Ateliers provides in the costs for the visa.
Application form
The online application form is divided into four sections:
- Personal data & (art) education: Besides your personal details, this section includes uploading an up-to-date CV (e.g. solo / group exhibitions, residencies, publications, awards etc.) and a copy of a valid ID (passport, identity card or driver’s license). The second part of this section requires information about your (art) education (e.g. institute, course of study, study period, degree etc.), if applicable.
- Portfolio: In this section, you can submit your artist statement and upload documentation of your work, as well as descriptions of your documentation. An artist statement can contain a maximum of 400 words and should give insight into your artistic position, ideas, and interests. You can upload a minimum of ten images and a maximum of twenty. You can submit three videos, with a maximum combined length of ten minutes. Please note: only artist applying with ‘Video / Sound’ or ‘Performance’ as their main area of work, can upload videos.
- Application: In this section, please provide us with the reason you are applying to De Ateliers. What is your motivation for this particular institutional context? You can write a maximum of 400 words about your reason to apply to De Ateliers.
- Review & submit: Here your application details can be reviewed and confirmed before proceeding to the payment section and submitting your application. Please make sure to save your application before proceeding to the payment section.
Applications should be written in English.
Application fee
The application fee is €65. We accept payments made through iDeal, PayPal or credit card only. Please note payment is non-refundable, both for completed and incomplete applications. Applicants from and living in the ‘Least Developed Countries’, ‘Low Income Countries which are not LCDs’ and ‘Lower Middle Income Countries and Territories which are not LCDs’ on the DAC list are exempt from payment. Applicants from the ‘Upper Middle Income Countries and Territories’ on the DAC list do have to pay the application fee. Please see the DAC list attached here.
Duo application
Duos can apply to De Ateliers. In the case of a duo application, both applicants will have to fill out the online application form and pay the €65 application fee. You can both upload the same works, resumé and motivation. Please clearly describe the nature and process of your collaboration.
Questions about the application
If you have any questions about the application, please see our page with frequently asked questions, here. If you have another question, please contact Nina Oude Ophuis:
Email: applications@de-ateliers.nl
Phone: +31 (0)20 6739359
Jury process
De Ateliers receives a high number of applications each year, varying between 800-1000 per application cycle. Out of all these applications, a maximum of ten artist will be selected for a studio at De Ateliers. De Ateliers usually selects two to three artists with a Dutch nationality, and seven to eight international artists. The jury process takes approximately 2-3 months.
What happens after you have submitted your application?
After the application deadline, all applications are checked for completion. We also check administrative details, such as the payment of the application fee. If anything has gone wrong or is missing, someone will reach out to you to make sure everything is correct.
The jury process happens in three rounds:
- In the first round of the selections, the jury consists of groups of three to four tutors as well as the director who view all applications. They select a longlist of applications that go through to the second round. The main focus of this first round is the visual documentation, your portfolio.
- During the second round, all core tutors and the director review the longlisted applications together in more depth, taking extended time with each application (artist statement, reason to apply to De Ateliers). Collectively, they decide which applicants they would like to invite for an interview.
- The last stage of the jury process consists of three days of interviews. Approximately 25 applicants are invited to an interview. The interviews can take place at De Ateliers or online. Each candidate engages in two consecutive conversations, with two separate juries. One focuses on work, artistic position and ideas; the other on the working period at De Ateliers.
Applicants are informed on the status of their application by email. In the last week of March 2025 you will be notified as to whether you are invited for an interview.
Due to the large number of applications, it is not possible to elaborate on individual decisions. Unsuccessful applicants are welcome to apply again with new work the following year.
The names of new participants are announced on the De Ateliers website early July.
How does the jury assess my application?
Your application will be assessed along criteria such as potential for development, artistic urgency, and an interest in the visual/material/formal possibilities of art practice in a studio context.
Who are in the jury?
The composition of the jury changes every year. The jury always includes the director and a mix of regular tutors and guest tutors of De Ateliers, a list of whom can be found here.
For the jury process in 2024, the jury consisted of Chris Evans, Cudelice Brazelton IV, David Jablonowski, Dominic van den Boogerd, Geo Wyeth, Ima-Abasi Okon, Lara Almarcegui, Martijn Hendriks, Maxine Kopsa, Nina Canell, Pauline Curnier Jardin and Rezi van Lankveld.