2026 Arts/Industry Residency

Arts/Industry is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable collaborations between art and industry in the United States. The residency program is administered by the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, a nonprofit arts organization in Sheboygan, WI, and hosted and funded by Kohler Co., a private for-profit plumbing ware company in nearby Kohler, WI. Founded by visionary arts leader Ruth DeYoung Kohler, Arts/Industry provides artists a place to make their artwork in tandem with the skilled craftspeople who work for Kohler Co. The program is rooted in the collaborative efforts between contemporary artists and industrial artisans, resulting in brilliant works of art.

Hundreds of artists have benefited from this celebrated artist residency since its beginning in 1974. Arts/Industry offers artists the time and space to focus on the creation of new work in studios located within the Pottery and Foundry at the Kohler Co. factory.

Artists need not have experience working with clay or metal, but an interest in adapting industrial processes to their practice and an openness to the factory environment is needed. Residents are exposed to a body of technical knowledge that enables and encourages them to explore new ways of thinking and working.

Artists have the opportunity to spend three months creating works of art utilizing the company’s industrial materials and equipment. Artists-in-residence are exposed to a body of technical knowledge that enables them to explore forms and concepts not possible in their own studios. This emboldens artists to think and work in inventive ways.

The Arts/Industry residency program supports twelve artists annually, with four in residence at a time. There are three, three-month cohorts over the year. In each cohort, two residents work in the Kohler Co. Pottery and two in the Foundry to develop a wide variety of work in ceramic, cast iron, and brass.

Artists-in-residence have access to studio space in the factory twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In addition, they receive free industrial materials, use of equipment, technical support, photographic services, housing, round-trip transportation, and a weekly honorarium.