The Mitchell Center for the Arts invites dynamic contemporary artists for inter-disciplinary residencies on a semester basis. Residencies vary in length and type based on the project and artist. If the Mitchell Center is seen as the laboratory for artistic experimentation, these residencies are for the reagents, the new catalysts introduced into the mixture. The residencies provide an opportunity for a new dynamic reaction and what is produced is always a profound and welcome surprise.

The Mitchell Center’s special projects include thematic initiatives, temporary public art projects, ongoing artistic, academic and community-based research, organizational partnerships, and publications. We promote site-specific works whenever possible, taking art out of its traditional context and making it accessible to a range of audiences. Site-specificity highlights what art does best, engages the audience in a re-visioning of a familiar (or unfamiliar) space.

Past featured artists include Terry & Jo Harvey Allen, Philip Glass, Liz Lerman, ETHEL, Fritz Haeg, Big Dance Theater, The Art Guys, Ronald K. Brown, Negativland, Ridge Theater (commission), Dick Hebdige, Mark Doty, Joan Tower, The Center for Land Use Interpretation (commission), Marc Bamuthi Joseph, SIMPARCH (commission), and Jeremy Deller.