Common Ground Ensemble Artist Award 

The Common Ground Ensemble Artist Award aims to support artists with exceptional talent and remarkable potential. The winner, nominated by the Common Ground Ensemble community and selected by a jurist of artists and curators, will be invited to a month-long residency at the stunning Common Ground campus on Kauaʻi and receive the broader support of the Ensemble community.

Award details 

The winner of the 2025 Common Ground Ensemble Artist Award will be awarded a residency at the Common Ground campus on Kauaʻi during November 2025. The residency will include accommodation at our artist’s lodge and access to various creative spaces on campus, including a private studio and communal work spaces. Common Ground Ensemble will pay for travel expenses of up to $5000, and the winner will also receive an additional $5000 cash prize. 

Common Ground Ensemble will work with the artist to cater their residency to their particular artistic and career needs. We will help transport the necessary tools and materials for the artist to work on our campus and we will customize a private workspace to fit their purposes. We will also connect the artist to the broader artistic community on Kauaʻi, as well as other natural and community spaces that might serve as artistic inspiration. 

In addition, the winner will receive a sponsored ticket to the Common Ground Summit, which will take place in November 2025. At the Summit, the winner will meet a network of artists, activists, civic leaders, academics, and business leaders who are committed to building a regenerative future. The winner will have the chance to share their unique perspective with other Summit participants, showcase their work, and connect with a broader community of people working towards a better future for all. 

Selection process 

The winner will be chosen through a nomination and jury process. Between November 2024 and February 2025, the Common Ground Ensemble community–a network including artists, filmmakers, writers, and community leaders–will submit nominations. Following that, a jury of professional artists and curators will consider the nominees. The jurists will convene twice to select a short-list and a finalist. The winner will be notified at the end of March, 2025. 

Nomination criteria 

Nominators are encouraged to advance artists who show exceptional dedication and excellence in pursuit of their craft. Artists may be in any stage of their career, but they should have a portfolio of their work available for consideration, and they should also have at least one work of art available for display during the Common Ground Summit in November 2025. 

Our inaugural award will be for visual art: this includes, but is not limited to, painting, sculpture, digital art, textiles, photography, filmmaking, and video. Artists should be able to bring their work (or a portion of their work) to the Common Ground campus on Kauaʻi with our reasonable support. 

Nominators should also consider whether the artist would be eager to join and contribute to the Common Ground Ensemble community. We are particularly excited about artists who exemplify the ethos of Ensemble—either by contributing to their own community, representing an underrepresented community, or actively seeking out connections across community divides. 

Nomination process 

If you are a member of the Common Ground Ensemble community and looking to nominate an artist for the award, please fill out this form by February 15th 2025.