If you’re a New York City-based artist and you’ve been meaning to apply for something, the clock is short: Eyebeam’s AGENCY Residency, NYC track, closes applications Sunday, November 15, 2026, at 11:59 PM ET — less than two weeks from this piece going up.
What it is
AGENCY is the theme of Eyebeam’s entire 2026/2027 season, built around a question that’s gotten considerably more literal in the last year: who has agency, and how is it exercised, as “AI agents” and agentic systems increasingly act on people’s behalf? The season positions artists as commentators on both the possibilities and the risks of that shift, backed by public programs pairing AI researchers and scholars with artists.
The season runs as two separate residency tracks. The virtual track — six artists, Fall 2026, open to US-based artists living outside NYC — already closed on October 11. What’s still open is the NYC track: six NYC-based artists, running March 15 through June 11, 2027, each receiving a $5,000 stipend plus funding, mentorship, and access to tools and expertise through Eyebeam’s network.
Who’s eligible
- Living in one of NYC’s five boroughs
- Able to work on site at Eyebeam at least one day a week for the full residency term
- Applying as an individual — collectives and collaborative teams are not eligible this cycle
- Not a full-time degree student
- Not committed to another residency during the residency term
Full details and the application are at Eyebeam’s AGENCY Residency open call.
Why this one’s worth the fast turnaround
Eyebeam has a long track record as one of the more technically serious artist-in-residence programs in New York specifically for work that engages emerging technology rather than treating it as a prop — which makes “AI agents and who controls them” a theme it’s reasonably well positioned to host, rather than a trend-chasing pivot. A $5,000 stipend for roughly three months of part-time studio access is modest as artist funding goes, but the mentorship and network access is the part past Eyebeam residents have tended to value more than the check.