Instructions for the online grant service Saari ResidenceFor residency applicants Saari Residence in Mynämäki, Finland Working at the Saari Residence Who can apply? What we offer Accommodation and workspaces Instructions for the online grant service Evaluation and decisions Frequently asked questions For Saari residents Accepting the residency and arriving at the Saari Residence Use of the residency grant and rescheduling Payment of residency grants Living and working at the Saari Residence Residency programmes Taxation and grant certificate Residency report The Saari Well Communication and social media Mentioning Kone Foundation and Saari Residence and the logos Saari Alumni Previous Residency Artists Community artist Ecologically sustainable residency The Culture Trail The Saari Invited Artist Residencies Reflected About Saari Residence History of Saari Manor Saari Residence co-operation The Advisory Board of the Saari Residence Saari Residence staff You can go directly to each section on this page by clicking the titles below. Go back to the top of the page by clicking the black arrow at the bottom right corner. Application form and the online grant service Selecting the evaluator(s) for your application Attachments Appending a recommendation letter to your application Checklist for applicants APPLICATION FORM AND THE ONLINE GRANT SERVICE Apply for residency by submitting your application and attachments using the Online Grant Service. The application form can be accessed only during the annual application period in March. Applications cannot be submitted after the deadline. Once you are logged in, detailed information about the different sections of the application form can be found behind the ‘?’ symbol. Signing in To access the online service, select “Register as an applicant here”. Your email address serves as your username. Once you have registered, a confirmation email will be sent to the email address you have provided. If you do not receive the confirmation email within a few minutes, please check your junk mail/spam folder. Submitting an application You can choose the language from the top right of the online service’s page (Finnish or English). Log in using your account information, or if you are a new applicant, register as a new user. Choose the correct form (New application) and create a new application. Fill in the required information. Submit the application before the deadline. Only applications submitted during the application period will be considered. Applications cannot be edited after the deadline. Applications cannot be sent via email or post. Please let us know as soon as possible if you are awarded other funding after the application deadline. If you have questions regarding your application or problems filling it in, please contact us using the Messages function in the top right corner of the page. We will reply to your message as soon as possible. After submitting the application, the status of the application will be marked as ‘Application received’. No separate email will be sent upon receipt of the application. Within a week of the deadline, the status of the application will update to ‘Application under evaluation’. Language of the application The application form is available in Finnish and English. The application and attachments can be written in Finnish or English. APPLICATION FORM On the first page, choose the correct call: The Saari Residence residency program for year 2026 Individual applicants: apply in your own name. Work pairs: choose whose username you will use to apply. Both applicants’ details are required for the application. No group residencies are on open call for 2026 due to the renovation of our workspaces. Sections of the application form 1. APPLICANT Fill in the basic information. Monthly grant classifications for individual residencies Choose the applied monthly grant classification: €2,700 / month (early career) €3,200 / month (mid-career, min. 10 years of artistic work) €3,800 / month (experienced, min. 20 years of artistic work). If you are applying for a grant in category 2 or 3, you are required to provide details of your experience in their application. The amount of the monthly grant varies according to the applicant’s experience. A highter grant level cannot be justified, e.g., by the need for supplies or travel costs. Grant recipients are expected to live and work at the Residence for the two-month period. If the applicant is awarded a residency spot and receives another working grant simultaneously, a reduced monthly grant is paid, which is usually half of the grant sum. Work pair / artist duos If the applicant wishes to work at the Saari Residence with a work pair, they must apply for the residency using the same application form. At the bottom of the form page, please tick the box “Applicant is a workgroup of two people” and fill out the required information. Please select the correct monthly grant classifications for both artists. Please mention if you have any preferences for accommodation (such as sharing an apartment or requesting separate apartments). 2. RESIDENCE Keywords You may also list keywords or fields related to the project and its themes on the form. Preferred period of stay and duration at the Saari Residence Choose the residency period most suitable to your needs. Please select all suitable periods. Specific requests regarding the residency period may be expressed in the “Additional information and wishes” field. Please note that workspaces outside the apartments are available only for spring 2026. In autumn 2026, all work will take place within the apartments. Work periods for the two-month residencies are as follows: Period 1: January to February 2026 Period 2: March to April 2026 Period 3: September to October 2026 (no workspaces outside of the apartments) Period 4: November to December 2026 (no workspaces outside of the apartments). Partner as an applicant If your partner is applying for a residency with a different project, please submit your own separate applications but mention that you are both applying for the same residency period. The application should also state whether you wish to be offered a residency even if your partner is not. You can have short-term guests staying in your apartment during the residency. Workspaces You must choose the kind of workspace you require. For more information about the workspaces, please see Accommodation and workspaces. Note! There are no separate working spaces outside of the apartments in autumn 2026 (September–October and November–December). The artists work in workspaces connected to the apartments. This should also be taken into account in the work plan, as it is not possible to work with spacious or mess-producing materials in the apartments, which are mainly suitable for working at a desk. If you have needs or requests regarding your workspace, please provide more information in the appropriate section. Also, please indicate in the additional information if you are interested in a residency period, even if we cannot offer you your preferred work space. In the section “Working at the Residence”, we also request more details about your working methods to ensure that we can assign workspaces according to the your needs. Pleas note that you must acquire the materials for your work yourself. Please inform us if you are interested in sharing your workspace (during spring 2026). Please note! The Saari Residence decides how the facilities are used and assigned. In spring 2026, workspaces in the Barn are limited and assigned according to priorities. However, each artist has their own workspace that they do not need to share. Family and children Families are welcome to the Saari Residence. The Residence has a limited number of apartments suitable for families If you want to apply for individual residency with your family, please tick the box “Family/Partner” “(I wish to come to the residency with my family/partner”). Also, please provide more details (who is coming with you, the age of the children coming to the residency, how you are arranging childcare etc.) in the section for additional information. In autumn 2026, we cannot provide working spaces outside the apartments, so it is good to consider this if you are applying with your family. Also, please let us know if you will accept a residency position even if we cannot arrange accommodation for your family. Accessibility If you need an apartment and workspace accessible for individuals with disabilities, please note this on the form Please specify your accessibility needs in the space provided, including if you have an assistant and what should be considered in terms of accessibility for movement, vision, hearing, communication. One of the apartments has been renovated to be wheelchair accessible. It includes a kitchen, an accessible bathroom and three rooms. This spacious apartment is on the first floor and can be accessed with an easy-access elevator. Please contact us to discuss any special requirements you may have. We will do our best to accommodate you in any way possible. 3. PROJECT DESCRIPTION Fill in the working title. In the summary (max. 2,000 characters), please provide a short description of your project’s primary content and the intended methods for implementing the work. There is also a section where you can present your artistic thinking briefly. You must also provide a more detailed work plan as an attachment. The summaries are important in the evaluation of the applications – it is usually the first section the evaluator reads. When a residency is awarded we may use the applicants’ titles and summaries in the Foundation’s communications (such as on our website or social media), and the summaries are published on our website. 4. MOTIVATION The application form for individual artists includes the following questions regarding your motivation and interests: What are your reasons for wanting to work and stay at the Saari Residence? (Also asked in the group residency form.) What kind of themes or things (besides your work) are you interested in? The Saari Well is the focus of the activities of the Saari Residence, and it is a metaphor for gatherings and the shared residency experience for the Saari Fellows. What kind of ideas and expertise do you wish to share with the other residents, and what would you receive from them? Possible themes for the Saari Well? It’s important to consider these questions carefully, as your answers help us determine which artists will work at the Residence at the same time. 5. SUPPORT FOR TRAVEL For artists outside of Finland, it is possible to apply for ecological travel support, a slow travel working grant or travel support from the Global South. Please leave this page blank if you are not applying for travel grants. We do not support flights, or other ecologically unsustainable ways of travelling (except for travel from the Global South). We do not award support for travel by land within the borders of Finland unless the journey starts outside the Finnish borders. If you receive a residency and travel support for the same trip from elsewhere, you must notify the Saari Residence. We do not award overlapping support for travel, so one of the awarded funding must be withdrawn. In the application, please provide a short itinerary, and attach a more detailed itinerary with a breakdown of costs on on page 8, “Attachments and Links”. The breakdown attached to the application must provide a realistic and accurate estimate of costs. Support for ecological travel Ecological travel refers to ecologically sustainable means of transport and avoidance of air travel. We recommend using trains and buses . If you are traveling to Saari Residence via Stockholm and Turku, we recommend an overnight boat trip on Viking Line Grace or Viking Line Glory. You can read more about ecological travel on our website. Please explain how and on what schedule you would arrive at the Saari Residence from outside Finland, and how you would depart via the most direct route possible. When preparing your itinerary, you can use online services like EcoPassenger to compare the energy consumption, CO2 emissions and other environmental impacts of planes, cars and trains. We recommend the Deutsche Bahn application when planning train journeys in Europe. Also, websites like Rome2Rio and The Man in seat 61 have many tips. If you use a ferry from Stockholm to Turku, we endorse choosing the overnight ferry Viking Line Grace or Viking Line Glory. You can read more about ecological travel on our website. If you are applying for support for ecological travel with your work partner, please do so at the same time. It is possible to apply for funding for overnight stays in affordable accommodations if necessary. Support for ecological travel is awarded solely to the recipients and not, e.g., to family members. Select a cost category based on your travel plan. The level of support for ecological travel and living does not depend on the working grant category. Select a cost category based on your travel costs. If the journey takes more than a week, you can apply for a slow travel work grant; if you do so, please explain in your workplan how you will be working while travelling. If the journey takes more than a week in total, the work grant for the individual residency is calculated according to the following grant classification: 1 week is 25% of the full grant, 2 weeks 50%, and 3 weeks 75% etc. Please provide a short itinerary and remember to attach a more detailed itinerary with a breakdown of costs on page 8, “Attachments and Links”. Example of itinerary with a breakdown of costs Support for travels from Global South As part of the social sustainability, diversity and accessibility of the Saari Residence, artists coming from the Global South can apply for support for air travel and visa costs. For artists travelling from the Global South, the “Itinerary in brief” section of the form should include your flight plan and any travel related to obtaining a visa, for example if the visa requires travel to another country. In addition to the information provided on the form, please attach a separate breakdown of costs and a travel plan. It must provide a realistic and accurate estimate of the costs. If the residency is awarded, you are responsible for making your own travel arrangements to the Saari. If you come outside the Schengen states, you will need a visa to visit Finland. Please read more from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ webpage. Example of breakdown of cost Global South 6. FUNDING FROM OTHER SOURCES List all working grants received during the preceding three years and any applications pending at the time of applying for Kone Foundation funding on the application form. Working grants are personal and intended to cover working and living costs. Inform the Saari Residence office immediately if you receive funding from any other source during the application and processing period. If you simultaneously receive some other grant to support your work, we pay a reduced monthly grant(usually half of the grant sum). If you are granted funding from other sources without informing, the Kone Foundation decision may be repealed. Kone Foundation grants are usually not awarded to applicants who have already secured funding for the project in question (grant or salary) for the entire upcoming calendar year. Please also let us know if you are applying for more than one grant from the Saari Residence at the same time. In such cases, please name the other application or project in your application. Please also let us know if you have worked at the Saari Residence before or received other funding from the Foundation. If you have, provide more details about your stay or funsing under “Additional details”. Your answers do not affect the evaluation of your application. Please list the residencies you have attended during the last 5 years (each residency listed on its own line: name of residency, year and country). We also wish to know where you heard about the Saari Residence. 7. SELECTING THE EVALUATOR You must select which artistic field you want the evaluator assessing your application to represent (first choice). Evaluators come from the following fields: Film Literature Media and sound art Music Performing arts Visual arts A maximum of two selections can be made, but it is worth noting that your first choice of expert will generally be the one assessing the application. If you choose two evaluators, please let us know why. Please check the separate guidelines for Selecting the evaluator of the application. 8. ATTACHMENTS AND LINKS Before submitting your application, check which attachments are required for your application. See the section Description of the attachments. 9. RECOMMENDATIONS Please read the section Appending a recommendation to the application for more information. A recommendation is optional. 10. PROXIMITY TO THE FOUNDATION According to the Finnish Foundations Act, all foundations are required to provide information about their related party transactions. The act has a broad definition of a related party of a foundation. Related parties may still apply for funding from Kone Foundation. 11. SUBMISSION Only applications submitted via the online service will be considered. The application must be submitted by the deadline, 31 March, 16.00 (Finnish time). If you want to edit your application after submitting it, go to My Applications, View Application, and at the bottom of the page, and choose Cancel Application. Cancelling does not clear your application data. After editing the application, you need to submit it again by the deadline. After the submission period, you cannot change or submit your application anymore. The status of the application will then read “Application received”, and within a week of the deadline it will update to “Application under evaluation”. No separate email will be sent upon receipt of the application. Agreement Applicants must agree to the processing of personal data and other conditions mentioned in our Privacy Policy Statement. SELECTING THE EVALUATOR Review of applications is based on peer review. Please select which artistic field you want the expert assessing their application to represent. If your application is multi-disciplinary, you can choose a maximum of two selections. Please note that the applications will generally be assessed by your first choice of expert. The application will be evaluated by a wide-ranging expert in the artistic field that you choose as option 1. In multidisciplinary applications, more than one evaluator from different art fields may assess the application if it is essential for the application. You must explain why this would be necessary in your application if you wish for two evaluators to assess your application. The evaluators are specialists in the relevant field or sub-discipline under which the application has been collocated, and they have the necessary experience to assess applications. There is usually just one reviewer per application. This way we can choose more interesting projects than when there are many reviewers who might have to compromise. The roster of peer reviewers changes each year in order to guarantee a diversity of views. The names of the evaluators are not disclosed. The evaluators do not see your previous applications or possible reports on your awarded grants. The evaluators come from the following fields: Film Literature Media and sound art Music Performing arts Visual arts ATTACHMENTS The applicant’s ability to successfully complete the proposed project is evaluated based on their work plan, curriculum vitae and other supporting documents attached to the application. Before submitting your application, check which attachments are required for your application. The application and all attachments must be uploaded by the deadline of the open call, 31 March, 16.00 (Finnish time). You cannot edit the application anymore after the submission period. Attachments and applications received afterwards are not considered. All necessary attachments should be uploaded to the Online Application Service and attached to the application as a PDF. The maximum size for one file is 10 MB. Please select the file type from the drop-down list on the online application form. If a file exceeds the limit (10 MB), you can split it into more than one file. You may also provide a link to a webpage, video platform or other online portfolio or demonstration of your work. Select the file type from the drop-down menu on the online application form. If you wish to submit a recommendation letter yourself, you may attach it to the application as a PDF by the application deadline. The only exception are degree diplomas and permissions for the public defence of academic dissertations that have been awarded after the deadline. They can be sent to the Saari Residence by 15 April via the online grant service. Please note that we cannot accept attachments by mail or email. Required attachments Work plan (max. 4 pages) CV or equivalent Portfolio Description of attachments Work plan The purpose of the project proposal or work plan is to describe your primary goals and how you intend to accomplish those goals during your stay at the Saari Residence. The goal can be artwork or, more generally, artistic work and development of your artistic process. The project proposal may also include, for example, a description of your working methods and a rough schedule. In the evaluation of proposals, attention is paid to: artistic merit feasibility implementation of the Foundation’s key focuses An effective project proposal should answer the questions “Why?”, “How?”, “When?”, “Who?” and, if applicable, “With whom?”. The work plan should be one to four pages in length. If you are applying for the slow travel grant, explain how and what your artistic work will entail/include while travelling. In general, the workplan should include the following sections: the content; the aims and objectives of the project A description of the working methods The names of possible partners If you are applying for a working grant in the context of ecological travel, please explain how travel time will be part of your work. Curriculum vitae (CV) The purpose of a CV is to provide a concise overview of your training, experience and artistic merits. It should include significant exhibitions, performances, residencies, work assignments, grants and awards, as well as publications and other noteworthy accomplishments. The appropriate length for a CV is two to four pages. The CV can also be a link to an online CV. Portfolio The purpose of the portfolio is to give the evaluator an idea of your artistic work. By portfolio, we primarily mean a digital portfolio (PDF) . The portfolio is a free-form sample showcasing your form of expression, the quality of your artistic thought processes, know-how and special skills. You can decide on the content of the portfolio. The portfolio can include, in addition to samples of the applicant’s art, images, reviews, text, links or a list of written works. The portfolio can be submitted as a PDF (max 10 Mb), or you can compile it on your website and include the link in your application. Please include text samples (3-5 pages in Finnish or English) for written work. Other attachments If you are not applying for travel support, you do not need to include a separate travel plan/budget with your application. Support for travel attachments If you are also applying for ecological travel support from outside Finland to Finland or from the Global South to Finland (including visa costs), you must submit a detailed travel plan with expenses in addition to the information you have provided on the form. Please estimate the costs as realistically and accurately as possible. Please explain how and according to what schedule you are prepared to arrive at the Saari Residence (i.e., an itinerary) and any possible slow travel working grants and accommodation costs. If you are applying for support for travel with your work partner, you can do that at the same time. If you are applying for a working grant for your journey, explain in your work plan how you will be working while travelling. We do not award support for air travel. Exceptions are artists arriving from the Global South who can apply for support for air travel and visa-related expenses. See the itinerary example from here. Copies of certificates Applicants may include a copy of their most recent degree certificate or diploma or of any certificate that is relevant to the grant they are applying for. There is no need to have the copy stamped by a notary public. All supporting attachments should be sent with the application before the deadline. Appending a recommendation letter to your application Either a supervisor or another person familiar with your artistic work can submit a recommendation. A recommendation is not compulsory. Two ways to submit a recommendation 1) The recommender submits the reference via an email link Requests for written recommendations are emailed to potential recommendation writers on page 9 of the application form. You will need an email address from the recommendation source to request a recommendation. We also advise that applicants contact a potential recommendation source well before the application deadline to provide enough time to compose and submit the recommendation. The deadline for recommendation is 31 March, 4 p.m. (Finnish time). The request will only be emailed once to each recommender, so please ensure that the email address is spelled correctly. If a request is sent to an incorrect email address, you can delete the incorrect information and add a new request. However, if you delete a writer of recommendation, any recommendation they may have made will also be deleted. Fill in the information requested on the form (first name, last name, phone and email address) and click Submit Recommendation Request. The request is automatically sent in Finnish and English and can be replied to in both languages. The recommendation writer will receive a link to the online grants service in the email. The writer of recommendation then submits their recommendation using the link emailed to them via the Kone Foundation online grant service, which directs the recommendation as an attachment to your application. Please note! If the writer of the recommendation has not received the request sent, we recommend checking the spam folder first. In the service, the writer of recommendation can view your project plan attachment but cannot view any other parts of your application. Please note that updating or removing the attachment on the application will also update the version viewable by the recommender. Submitted recommendations are not visible to applicants in the online service. 2) Attach the recommendation letter to your application yourself If you have received a recommendation letter personally and wish to submit it yourself, you may attach it to the application as a PDF. In this case, you must submit it as an attachment by the application deadline, 31 March 4 p.m. (Finnish time) Checklist for applicants Before applying for residency , please read through this checklist to prepare your application according to our guidelines. 1. Make sure you are eligible to apply for the Saari Residence. Please read through Kone Foundation’s and the Saari Residence’s focuses in awarding grants and Who can apply?. Does your project fit -? Are you a professional artist? Kone Foundation does not fund non-professional activities. In addition, we recommend reading our instructions for Saari residents. They contain important information about, for example, how to apply for residency and how the residency works. 2. Which residency programme are you applying for and when? Residencies are always two months long in spring, autumn and winter. We do not grant, for example, residencies lasting only one month or taking place in the summer months. You can also apply for residency with a work pair. Please indicate in the additional information on the application form if you have any preferences regarding which periods suit you best. The grant awarded will be for work carried out in the following calendar year. Grants or travel support are not awarded retroactively. 3. What grant category are you applying for? The available grant categories are €2,700, €3,200 and €3,800 per month. The amount of the monthly grant will vary depending on experience. Residency grant classification: Grant 1: early career – €2,700 / month Grant 2: mid-career – €3,200 / month (min. 10 years of artistic work) Grant 3: experienced artist – €3,800 / month (min. 20 years of artistic work). If you apply for grant 2 or 3, please describe your career phase on the application form. A higher grant level cannot be justified by the cost of supplies or travel. Work pairs apply in the same application but in individual sections and choose their own grant category. 4. Are you applying for travel support? You can apply for support for ecological travel to Finland from outside Finland and travel from the Global South. For these expenses, please also attach a budget to your application. We do not grant support for supplies, travel within Finland or travel by environmentally unsustainable means of transport from outside Finland to the Saari Residence, daily allowances or salaries. 5. Attach a separate work plan to your application. In addition to the summary on the application form, please attach a work plan to your application as a PDFIf you are applying for ecological travel support and the related slow travel work grant, please justify it in the work plan. For more guidelines on how to write a plan, see Attachments. 6. Will you be applying for funding for the same project from other sources? You must immediately inform Kone Foundation if you receive funding from any other source during Kone Foundation’s application processing or if your situation changes significantly after the application has been submitted. 7. Compulsory attachments Before submitting your application, please check the Attachments section to see which attachments are required for your application. 9. Will I need recommendation? Recommendation is not a compulsory attachment. It can be a valuable tool to assist the evaluator in the evaluation process. The recommender should know the applicant and the project for which funding is requested well enough to add value to the application. For example, a recommendation may confirm the project’s relevance in the field of arts (projects that are innovative in the field) or open the planned cooperation to the evaluator of the application. Read the guidelines on recommendation and contact your recommender in good time. Important dates Open call for Saari Residence is open 1 – 31 March. Send your application with the attachments via the online service by 31 March, 4.00 P.M. EET (Finnish time). Degree diplomas and permits for the public defence of academic dissertations can be sent by 15 April using the online application service. Funding decisions are announced on 16 June 2025. Return to the residency applicants’ main page