Where are the best artist residencies in Europe
As an emerging artist, you're probably juggling a day job, squeezing creativity into whatever time is left over, and constantly wondering if you're good enough to make it. That's exactly why artist residencies exist, and why they're absolute game-changers.
We've spent months researching these programs, and honestly? It's not just about the free studio space (though that's pretty amazing too). It's about giving yourself permission to be a full-time artist, even if it's only for a few weeks or months. You'll meet people who get it, push your work in directions you never imagined, and come home with a completely different sense of what's possible.
So here's our honest take on the European residencies that are actually worth your time.
1. Palazzo Monti (Brescia, Italy)
A 13th-century palace covered in frescoes, surrounded by artists from literally everywhere. Since 2017, over 250 artists from more than 50 countries have called this place home for a while. That's not just a statistic. That's a family.
Edoardo Monti, who runs the place, isn't just some rich guy with a palace (okay, he is, but hear us out). He genuinely cares about creating something special. The studios are carved out of these incredible historic rooms, and in 2025 they added a massive 300sqm space called Fertile. It's like the residency is growing right alongside the artists.
"In a residency, you’re given the freedom to experiment, fail, and try again—without the constraints of deadlines or expectations." – Anish Kapoor
Photography by Irina Boersma & César Mølsgaard
2. Villa Clea (Milan, Italy)
Architect Matteo Corbellini threw out the rulebook on how spaces should work. No fixed rooms, your bed might sit next to a sculpture, which might sit next to someone's dinner table. Sounds chaotic. It's actually brilliant. The whole place is designed to keep you slightly off-balance, in the best way: heavy materials softened by flowing curtains, furniture that moves around, natural light that shifts everything throughout the day. It forces you to think differently about how you work and live.
Need rigid structure and privacy? This will drive you crazy. Ready to have your assumptions challenged and be part of something genuinely experimental? It's perfect. Keep an eye on their Instagram for open calls.
Photography by Francisco Ascensão
3. Numeroventi (Florence, Italy)
Numeroventi is worth going to for the same reasons it's worth writing about - a frescoed 16th-century Florentine palazzo as your studio, real collaboration with Tuscan master artisans, and a hotel-funded model that removes the pressure to produce, letting artists focus purely on experimentation.
Photography by Marina Denisova
4. Frans Masereel Centrum (Kasterlee, Belgium)
MASEREEL (formerly Frans Masereel Centrum) in Kasterlee, Belgium is a print-focused residency built around serious craft, not comfort, a windmill-shaped studio housing intaglio, relief, screen print, and litho facilities, set in quiet countryside, where residents get their own house and disappear into process for four to eight weeks, backed by a 20,000-piece archive dating to 1972 and a name change to MASEREEL in March 2025.
Photography by Jeroen Verrecht
