Call for grad student proposals: 2026 ONC ArtScience Fellowship Program

UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) are now calling for graduate student applications for the paid 2026 ONC ArtScience Fellowship program. The application period closes on December 23, 2025.

The ArtScience Fellowship strengthens connections between art and science that broaden and cross-fertilize perspectives and critical discourse on today’s major issues, such as environment, technology, oceans, cultural and biodiversity, and healthy communities.

This program is open to all current Fine Arts graduate students who have completed most of their course requirements with practice in any visual, written, musical or performance media, or art historical research. Co-led and sponsored by Fine Arts and ONC, the Artist-in-Residence program receives additional financial support from UVic’s Faculty of Science.

Our most recent ArtScience Fellow was Visual Arts graduate student Parvin Hasani. As the sixth Fine Arts graduate student to hold this position, she proposed exploring the extreme ecosystems of deep-sea hydrothermal vents via her sculptural practice. The result was the September 2025 exhibit and artist’s talk, Tides of Memory.

“Scientific data gave me the language of [vent] formation and collapse, but art practice allowed me to interpret the knowledge,” she explains in this video about her fellowship activities.

Learn more about previous ONC artistic residents, Megan Harton (Music, 2024), Neil Griffin (Writing, 2023), Colin Malloy (School of Music, 2022), Dennis Gupa (Theatre, 2021) and Colton Hash (Visual Arts, 2019).

About the ArtScience Fellowship

The ArtScience Fellowship (previously known as the ONC Artist-in-Residence program) will ignite cross-disciplinary exchanges, interacting with Fine Arts faculty members and scientists & staff at ONC, as well as with other individuals using ONC’s world-leading ocean facilities. This program is inspired by the ArtScience Manifesto of 2011, and numerous references to this concept in the literature. The Fellow will learn from and engage with the current research, connecting it to their own practice, and to wider societal and cultural aspects, creating work for public presentation at the end of the residency. The Artist will also be invited to contribute as a lead or co-author in scientific conference proceedings and/or journal articles.

The selected Artist will actively engage with researchers on a variety of ocean science themes that may include:

Deep Sea Ecology
Seabed-Ocean Exchanges
Coastal Ocean Processes
Marine Natural Hazards
The Ocean Soundscape
Arctic Ocean Observing
Ocean Big Data.

The ONC Artist-in-Residence program is established to:

explore the potential of the arts or alternative cultural practices in the area of the visions, challenges, philosophical, aesthetic, and ethical aspects of the ocean and the impacts humans have on it;
add a complementary artistic and creative perspective to ocean science, the societal ramiﬁcations of its exploitation, and its cultural aspects;
create opportunities for potential new research questions, experimental approaches and knowledge synthesis resulting from interaction between the arts and science; and
help envision and communicate the potential long-term impact of ocean changes on humanity.

Proposal Submission

Interested applicants are to email ONC’s Dwight Owens at dwowens@oceannetworks.ca with the subject line “Ocean ArtScience Fellowship,” and attach:

the artist’s CV
a concise portfolio of previous relevant artistic work;
a letter of motivation explaining your interest in the program and its alignment with your past experiences and future career goals; and
a 500-word project proposal with a separate project-costs budget.

The application period closes on December 23, 2025. Applications will be reviewed by representatives of Fine Arts and Ocean Networks Canada. Artists may be contacted for an interview or to supply further information before a decision is made.

Public Event or Exhibit

At the conclusion of the fellowship, the Fellow will host a public event and/or exhibit within a speciﬁed budget agreed to during the fellowship and depending on the type of project. Assistance for marketing and/or ticketing could be made available from other UVic departments (Visual Arts, Theatre, etc.)

Financial Provision for the Artist

The residency period will be May 1-August 31, 2026. A cost-of-living stipend of $3,500/month will be paid to the selected Fellow, with limited additional funds to support production or materials. At the conclusion of the residency, the Fellow will plan and deliver a public exhibit and/or event sharing the fruits of the fellowship. This event will be promoted by ONC and Fine Arts.

Parvin giving her ONC talk

About Ocean Networks Canada

Established in 2007 as a strategic initiative of the University of Victoria, ONC operates world-leading ocean observatories for the advancement of science and the beneﬁt of Canada. The observatories collect data on physical, chemical, biological, and geological aspects of the ocean over long time periods, supporting research on complex Earth processes in ways not previously possible. The observatories provide unique scientiﬁc and technical capabilities that permit researchers to operate instruments remotely and receive data at their home laboratories anywhere on the globe, in real time. The facilities extend and complement other research platforms and programs, whether currently operating or planned for future deployment.

The ArtScience Fellowship was initiated by ONC’s late Chief Scientist Kim Juniper, whose leadership and transdisciplinary approaches continue to inspire many in the ArtScience space.

About the Faculty of Fine Arts

With experiential learning at its core, the Faculty of Fine Arts provides the ﬁnest training and learning environment for artists, professionals, and students. Through its departments of Art History and Visual Studies, Theatre, Visual Arts, Writing and School of Music, the Faculty of Fine Arts aspires to lead in arts-based research and creative activity and education in local, national, and global contexts by integrating and advancing creation and scholarship in the arts in a dynamic learning environment. As British Columbia’s only Faculty exclusively dedicated to the arts, UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts is an extraordinary platform that supports new discoveries, interdisciplinary and diverse contributions to creativity, and the cultural experiences of the students and communities UVic serves.

With thanks also to the Faculty of Science for their support.