AiR Helmond

merging artists into every-day life through living in a unique house in the heart of a neighbourhood.

AiR Helmond is an artist residency based in the city of Helmond in the Netherlands. AiR Helmond welcomes artists from a wide array of artistic disciplines. Artists are chosen based on their methods of community art, interdisciplinary and participatory artistic processes and how they interweave local stories with their own and how they intend to engage the community.

The house is uniquely built in a traditional Dutch architectural style and was traditionally used as housing for the workers working in the textile factories that used to be the industrial driving force of Helmond. We also offer two light and spacious studio spaces detached from the house which can be used by both visual artists, performance artists, musicians, etc.

The house and the studio spaces are located in a multicultural area with a strong sense of community and due to the position of the house and the culture of the neighbourhood, the artist is very close to the everyday-life in the neighbourhood. We bring the artist and the art to the streets and the everyday-life to the artist, and with every programme we experience how these socially and culturally diverse meetings enrich the lives of both the inhabitants and the artists. Community art is about seeing art as a change-agent within communities, merging fields with urban development and cityscaping.

AiR Helmond is highly internationally focused and we wish to create collaborations across borders. The artists bring their culture with them to Helmond and will have the opportunity to be immersed in the local and national culture of our residency; in turn work and experience with them back to their countries of residence and can in turn share their experience from the Netherlands in their local community.