The Farm 2027 Artist Residency Program in Western Australia Fully Funded

There are artist residencies. And then there are once-in-a-career opportunities, the kind that give you uninterrupted time, an extraordinary place, a living wage, and the professional infrastructure to create work that actually matters.

The Farm 2027 Residency Program in Margaret River, Western Australia, is exactly that.

Set on an ancient, ever-changing piece of rural land in the southwest of Australia, surrounded by karri forests, rugged coastline, artesian springs, and mineral-rich farmland, The Farm Margaret River is both a working agricultural property and a serious home for artistic research. It is a place unlike anywhere most artists will have worked before. And for 8 to 10 weeks in 2027, it could be entirely yours.

Applications are now open. The deadline is 1 June 2026. Here is everything you need to know.

At a Glance

Details	Information
Program	The Farm 2027 Funded Residency
Host Organization	The Farm Margaret River (not-for-profit)
Location	Margaret River, Western Australia (Wadandi Country)
Duration	8–10 Weeks
Program Period	February – November 2027
Funding	Fully Funded
Artist Fee	AUD 15,000
Application Fee	Free
Open To	Australian and international visual artists
Application Deadline	1 June 2026 at 5:00 PM AWST

About The Farm Margaret River

Founded in 2017 by Helen Taylor Mack and Darryl Mack, The Farm Margaret River began as a family-led vision and has grown into one of Australia’s most distinctive artist residency programs. It operates as a not-for-profit arts organization rooted in the belief that meaningful creative work requires more than a studio; it requires place, time, and genuine immersion.

The Farm sits on Wadandi Country, on an ancient piece of land in the South West of Western Australia. The property is simultaneously a working rural farm and a dedicated creative space. Studios are embedded within agricultural land and native bushland surrounded by the hum of farm life, the scent of Karri and Marri trees, and a landscape shaped over millennia. It is not a gallery or an urban arts centre. It is something rawer and more honest than that.

This is the environment that defines the residency and the work it produces.

What Makes This Residency Different

The art world has no shortage of residency programs. Many offer studio space. Some offer accommodation. Fewer offer a meaningful fee. Almost none offer all of the above alongside a living landscape that actively shapes your creative process.

The Farm residency is built on a different philosophy: that the most powerful artistic work emerges not from isolation in a neutral space, but from genuine engagement with a specific place and its ecological, agricultural, and cultural layers. Artists here are not simply given room to think. They are invited to respond to the land they can see from their studio window, to the farming cycles unfolding around them, to the deep Indigenous history of Wadandi Country.

The result is site-responsive work that has real specificity and weight. Work that could not have been made anywhere else. That is what The Farm is after. That is what makes it worth applying for.

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What the Residency Covers: Full Funding Breakdown

The 2027 residency is fully funded. Here is what the selected artist receives:

Financial Support

• An artist fee of AUD 15,000 to cover living expenses and project-related costs during the residency period. This is not a small grant; it is a serious financial commitment designed to allow you to work without financial distraction.

Accommodation and Studio

• Private live-in studio accommodation on site at The Farm. The studio is equipped with a bathroom, kitchen, potbelly fire, fan, and internet access, a genuine live-work space embedded in the landscape, not a generic apartment block.

Workshop and Equipment Access

• Access to on-site equipment, including easels, saws, a sanding machine, a drill press, and a small test kiln
• Access to various studios and workshops across the property

Travel

• Full travel costs to and from Margaret River are covered separately from the artist fee, including international travel for overseas applicants. This is a significant benefit: international airfare alone can easily exceed AUD 3,000 to 5,000, and it comes entirely on top of the AUD 15,000 artist fee.

Professional Development

• Dedicated mentoring and research support throughout the residency
• Introductions to local arts networks and arts organizations in the region
• Professional documentation of the residency and all developed work, including a photoshoot, something many artists would otherwise fund out of pocket
• Media exposure for the residency and the artist’s work
• Opportunity to present the developed project to a funding panel for access to additional resources and financial support

Community Engagement

• The residency culminates in a community engagement event where the artist presents their developed work to local audiences, a built-in public outcome that extends the reach of your work beyond the residency itself

Intellectual Property

• All intellectual property of the artworks created during the residency remains entirely with the artist. The Farm does not claim any ownership of work produced on site.

What Artists Are Expected to Cover

In the interest of full transparency:

• Catering and food during the residency are the artist’s own responsibility (covered from the AUD 15,000 fee)
• Artists must bring their own personal equipment, laptop, camera, and other personal tools
• Visa arrangements for international applicants are the artist’s own responsibility (The Farm covers the travel costs but does not process visas on behalf of applicants)
• A valid driver’s licence is strongly recommended. Margaret River is a rural region with limited public transport options, and being able to drive will significantly improve your mobility during the residency

The Studio: Where You Will Work

On farms, sheds have always been the epicentres of work, the places where things are made, fixed, and figured out. At The Farm Margaret River, the sheds have been thoughtfully converted into artist studios designed to do the same thing.

The studios sit within agricultural land and bushland, surrounded by the sounds and rhythms of a working farm. They are places for refuge, research, reflection, and creativity built to immerse the artist in the landscape rather than separate them from it. Access to artesian springs, coastal cliffs, and endemic native flora is part of the daily experience of being here.

This is not a white-walled, neutral studio environment. It is a place with character, weather, seasons, and life. For artists whose work draws on environment and place, it is ideal.

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Residency Dates and Scheduling

The 8 to 10-week residency will take place within the window of 1 February to 30 November 2027. The exact dates are determined collaboratively between The Farm and the selected artist, giving some flexibility around personal circumstances, project needs, and travel logistics.

The preference is for the residency to take place in one uninterrupted block rather than split across multiple visits. This continuity is important: the residency’s immersive, site-responsive model depends on sustained engagement with the place, not brief periodic visits.

Eligibility: Who Can Apply

The Farm 2027 Funded Residency is open to both Australian and international visual artists. There are no geographic restrictions on nationality.

To be eligible, you must:

• Be a visual artist, the residency specifically supports visual arts practice (including site-specific installation, sculpture, land art, painting, photography, and other visual disciplines)
• Be 18 years of age or older
• Be capable of working independently in a self-directed residency environment without close institutional supervision
• Demonstrate a strong and consistent artistic practice. The selection panel is looking for artists with a developed body of work and a clear creative voice
• Show genuine openness to creating work inspired by the land, environment, ecology, and cultural context of the Margaret River site

On collaborative applications: Collaborative projects are welcome, but applicants must apply as individuals, not as an organization, company, or collective. If your project involves collaboration, you must apply in your own name and clearly articulate your individual role within the collaborative process.

Selection Criteria

The Farm is not looking for just any artist. The selection panel is looking for an artist whose work will both enhance engagement with the land and region and meaningfully benefit their own professional career. These two things are not in tension; the best applications will demonstrate both clearly.

A strong application will show:

Quality and Ambition of Existing Practice. Your support material is the primary evidence the panel uses to assess the calibre, consistency, and relevance of your practice. Present your best and most relevant work from the past ten years. Older work may be included only where it directly illuminates your current practice, and you explain its relevance briefly.

Specificity and Relevance of the Proposed Project.

Your creative proposal should demonstrate genuine engagement with the themes that define the residency ecology, landscape, agriculture, and the cultural context of Wadandi Country. Vague proposals about “exploring nature” will not stand out. Specific, thoughtful proposals that show you have engaged with what this particular place offers will.

Career Benefit:

The panel wants to understand how this residency will meaningfully advance your practice and professional trajectory. Be concrete about this. What work will you make? What does this opportunity unlock that you could not access otherwise?

Capacity for Self-Direction:

This is a self-directed residency. There is no curriculum, no scheduled program to follow, no cohort of residents working alongside you for most of the period. The Farm is selecting someone who can make the most of open, unstructured creative time, someone who thrives with space rather than being overwhelmed by it.

How to Apply: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Prepare Your CV

Your CV must be a maximum of 2 pages. Keep it clean, current, and relevant. Focus on exhibitions, commissions, publications, residencies, and significant professional engagements. Do not pad it, curate it.

Step 2: Build Your Support Material PDF

This is the most important document in your application. It must be:

• Submitted as a single PDF file
• Named exactly as: Surname_Firstname_SupportMaterial
• A maximum of 20–25MB

Your support material should include:

• A succinct overview of your existing practice, focused on relevant recent work
• Documentation of works, images, exhibition records, and, where applicable, links to audio or video
• Captions for all visual work: Artist Name, Title, Year, Medium, Dimensions
• Works from the past ten years are preferred; older work only if briefly explained

The support PDF is how the panel assesses you. It is not a portfolio dump; it is a curated argument for why your practice is right for this residency. Prepare it carefully.

Step 3: Answer the Application Questions

The online application includes written questions about your creative practice, your proposed project, and how the residency will benefit your career. These questions are your opportunity to show that you understand what The Farm is, what this residency is designed to achieve, and why your work belongs there. Write with specificity and intention.

Step 4: Submit Online Before the Deadline

All applications are submitted through the official online application portal at The Farm Margaret River’s website. Applications must be submitted no later than 5:00 PM AWST on 1 June 2026.

The Farm explicitly recommends applying early to avoid any technical issues with file uploads or the submission system in the final hours before the deadline.

Practical Tips for a Stronger Application

Do your research on the place. Margaret River is not a generic rural location. It sits on Wadandi Country land with deep Indigenous cultural significance. The surrounding landscape includes karri forests, coastal cliffs, artesian springs, and a farming history that shapes the place’s character. The more specifically you engage with this in your proposal, the stronger it will read.

Be concrete about your project. The panel is not looking for a broad theme or a loose intention. They want to understand what you will make, how you will make it, and why this place is the right context for that work. A specific, grounded proposal will always outperform an abstract one.

Curate your support material ruthlessly. Quantity is not the point. The panel is looking for quality, consistency, and relevance. Ten strong, well-captioned images that speak directly to site-responsive, landscape-engaged practice will do more than thirty images showing the breadth of everything you have ever made.

Address your capacity for self-direction. Residencies like this one can be exhilarating or disorienting, depending on the artist. Show the panel through your track record and your proposal that you are someone who uses open time productively and independently.

Get a driver’s licence in order. Margaret River has limited public transport. If you do not currently hold a valid driver’s licence, address this before arriving, as it will significantly affect your practical experience of the residency.

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Final Thoughts: Is This Opportunity Right for You?

The Farm 2027 Residency is not for every artist. It is not a structured program with workshops, networking events, and a cohort of peers to fall back on. It is a long stretch of unstructured, self-directed time in a remote and powerful landscape with full financial support, a serious studio, and the freedom to make whatever the place demands.

For the right artist, that is everything.

If your practice engages with land, ecology, environment, or cultural place, if you make work that responds to where you are, if you are ready to step away from the noise of your regular life and build something ambitious and site-specific, this residency was designed for you.

The application is free. The funding is real. The deadline is 1 June 2026.