France Announces New Artist Residency Programme for Rural and Priority Schools The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of National Education have invited applications for 50 six‑month artist residencies aimed at providing contemporary artistic experience to students in France's rural and priority territories. The program, run by Les Ateliers Médicis, will allocate residencies without a one‑per‑department rule, targeting schools that have not recently participated in similar initiatives and will provide a space, accommodation, and professional connections for the artist. Details, eligibility and application procedure are available on ADAGE and Eduscol. In a move designed to bring contemporary artistic practice to France's less-heralded educational communities, the Ministry of Culture, in partnership with the Ministry of National Education, has launched a call for applications to host 50 artist residencies in CM1-CM2 classes during the 2027 school year. The program, administered by the Atelier Médicis Foundation, will welcome a young artist into a specific school for a full six‑month residency, during which the artist will collaborate with students on an original research and creative project. Over that period the artist will conduct 20 "transmission sessions" - intensive workshops and seminars that blend theory and practice - and will be expected to create tangible artefacts that can be showcased and worked on by the pupils.In order to maximise the exposure of cultural resources in lagging or underserved areas, the call is limited to schools located in priority territories. These include rural districts, zones de revitalisation rurale, priority urban sectors, and overseas territories. Only schools that have not participated in the earlier "Création en cours" program since 2020 and have not hosted an artist residency in the 2025‑2026 academic year are permitted to apply.The intent, according to the Ministry, is to redistribute the scarce residencies to schools that have been left out of prior initiatives, ensuring a wider reach across the territory. Application windows open on 22 June 2026 and close on 30 September 2026 via the ADAGE digital portal. A successful applicant must provide a suitable creative space either on school grounds or nearby, and must welcome the artist with accommodation and professional networking opportunities.In other words, the host must act as a living, breathing partner in the residency rather than a simple venue for a one‑off session. The programme has abandoned a previously entrenched requirement that one residency be allocated per department; instead one department may receive several residencies while another may receive none, depending on the strength of applications and the perceived priority status of each territory.Prospective schools are encouraged to detail the physical work area available for the artist, the local professional connections that can be leveraged, and how the residency will fit within the three pillars of France's artistic and cultural education. The Atelier Médicis, acknowledged for its nationwide network of artists and its alignment with national educational objectives, has cited the goal of sustained, immersive exposure to contemporary artistic practice as a way to enrich classroom learning and foster a more holistic education.The collaboration is expected to produce a lasting legacy: not only will students walk away with new aesthetic insights, but the community at large will gain access to a professional artist's craft and the ability to integrate this art into broader cultural practices. The program's schedule, pedagogical objectives, and the specific framework for each residency, including a resource‑concrete calendar, are made publicly available on the Éduscol platform, allowing schools to ensure alignment before submitting their applications.The announcement reflects a clear intention to shift resources towards the most disadvantaged or underrepresented areas, injecting fresh talent into locales where cultural engagement is often limited. Implicit in the rules is a desire to prevent a concentration of residencies in the same schools or regions by ensuring that previous recipients are excluded, thereby cultivating an equitable distribution across priority regions.In summary, schools located in France's priority territories - rural zones, revitalisation zones, priority urban districts, overseas territories - are invited to apply for the next round of artist residencies. The call focuses on schools that have not previously benefited from similar programs, guarantees sustained activity over six months, expects the host school to serve as a partner in integration, gives academies flexibility in allocation, and exposes students to contemporary arts in a meaningful, institutionalized way