Art as Healing, Life as Art
We Are Launching Our Residency Program in Tulum, Mexico!
Fou Residency is a seasonal, one to two-month program located between the tropical forest and the Caribbean Sea in Tulum, Mexico. Rooted in the philosophy of “Art as Healing, Life as Art,” it offers a sanctuary for artists, researchers, and healers to reconnect with nature, immerse themselves in indigenous culture and craft, and explore the intersections of creativity, ecology, and inner transformation. Unlike residency programs centered around social networking or shared production, Fou emphasizes solitude, self-led creative exploration, and deep listening to the land and local community. Only one resident is hosted at a time, offering undistracted space for reflection, regeneration, and focused practice.
Residency Seasons
The program runs four times a year, each residency lasting from one to two months, depending on the availability of the artist and the space. The first resident, Gloria Fan Duan, begins in July 2025. The general available time of the residency is January to November.
Local Engagement
Residents will have access to a variety of local cultural, ecological, and healing resources, including introductions to local craftsmen, artists, healers, musicians, community builders, and Mayan cultural stewards, depending on their needs. We foster community engagement through collaboration with the local grassroots church Casa de Oración Camino al Cielo in Tulum’s Invisible Zone, where artists may choose to offer educational art workshops.
International Exposure
Virtual studio visits and conversations will be arranged regularly during the residency with international curators, writers, scientists, artists, collectors, gallerists, and other creative professionals — providing critical feedback, global exchange, and expanded visibility while maintaining the residency’s quiet, reflective ethos.
Fou Gallery will actively showcase residents’ work through its newsletter, Instagram, and other marketing channels to build visibility and audience engagement. We encourage the residents to take photo and video documentation of their residency for promotional use.
Post-residency, there is potential for residents to host workshops, artist talks, or lectures either at Fou Gallery’s New York space or through partner institutions, further supporting ongoing creative development and community connection.
Participation is optional and based on each resident’s comfort and practice.
Advisory Board
Nina Chkareuli-Mdivani (she/her, b. Georgia) is a Georgian-born and New York-based curator, writer, and researcher. She holds undergraduate degrees in International Relations and Gender Studies from Tbilisi State University and Mount Holyoke College, and a graduate degree in Museum Studies from the City University of New York. Chkareuli-Mdivani has contributed reviews, essays, and interviews to e-flux, Hyperallergic, Flash Art International, Artforum, MoMa.post, The Brooklyn Rail, The Arts Newspaper, Whitehot Magazine, Berlin Art Link, and among others. Her first book King is Female was published by Wienand Verlag (Berlin) in 2018. Her research involves the intersection of art history, museum, and decolonization studies focusing on totalitarian art and trauma theory. She has curated over ten exhibitions in New York, Germany, Latvia, and Georgia.
Meng Du (she/her b.1986, Beijing, China) graduated from the Graphic Design program of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing (B.F.A.) in 2008 and the Department of Glass Program of Rochester Institute of Technology (M.F.A.) in 2013. Currently, she is living and working in Beijing. Her work has continued to exhibit in China, Europe, and in the U.S.A., including Shanghai Museum of Glass, Shanghai (2023); Genesis Foundation, Beijing (2022); Today Art Museum, Beijing (2021); The Delaware Contemporary, U.S.A. (2020); Fou Gallery, New York (2022/2019/2016); Shanghai Museum of Glass, Shanghai (2018) and The International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa at Shiinoki Cultural Complex, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan (2016). Meng’s solo show at Fou Gallery (2016) signifies the debut of her artistic career, marking her inaugural solo exhibition. She served as a residency artist at Seto International Ceramic & Glass Art Exchange Program, Seto, Japan (2021) and Aichi University of Education Glass Program, Aichi, Japan (2017). She was invited to give lectures at TEDTalk (2024), YiXi (2020) and ROG International Art Project Online Symposium (2020). In 2016, she won the Honorable Mention for The International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa (Kanazawa, Japan). In 2018, she won the 2018 Saxe Emerging Artist Award at 48th Glass Art Society Conference (Venice, Italy). She is the youngest artist who presented a solo exhibition at the Shanghai Museum of Glass. Her work is in the permanent collection of Burberry (Shanghai), Corning Glass Works (Shanghai), Shanghai Museum of Glass, Zhuzhong Collection (Beijing) and Victoria and Albert Museum (London).
Yang Yan (she/her, b. Guangzhou, China) As assistant curator of the collection for the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art, which comprises works of art from Asia, the Islamic world, and ancient Mediterranean areas spanning more than 7,000 years, Yang coordinates and prepares permanent collections installations, conducts collections research, facilitates new acquisitions and loans, collaborates with faculty, and supports curricular gallery projects and special exhibitions. Her research interests focus on East Asian art. Recently, she helped organize and support the exhibitions Objects of Addiction: Opium, Empire, and the Chinese Art Trade (2023–24), Earthly Delights: 6,000 Years of Asian Ceramics (2022), and Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection (2020–21), among others.
Wendy Letven (she/her, b.1962, Philadelphia, U.S.A.) is a multidisciplinary artist working in sculpture, installation and painting in the New York area. Raised in Philadelphia, she received a B.F.A. from Tyler School of Art and an M.F.A. from Hunter College. She currently teaches Art and Design at New York University and at Parsons School of Design. She has created installations for Riverside Park Conservancy (New York, 2021), Urban Outfitter Headquarter (Philadelphia, 2020), PULSE Art Fair (Miami, 2019), Portal: Governors Island Art Fair (New York, 2019), Art on Paper Fair (New York, 2019), Market Art + Design (Bridgehampton, New York, 2019), Flatiron Prow Artspace (New York, 2018), and The Sheila R. Johnson Gallery at the New School (New York, 2018) among others. She is a MacDowell Colony Fellow and a recipient of a Workspace Grant from Dieu Donne Papermill in New York. Recently Letven was awarded a commission for NYC's Percent for the Arts Fund to create a large ceiling sculpture for a new public school in New York (2022).