Darlene Pérez, Jorge M. Photo: Manuel Alvarado
Delfina Foundation, in partnership with the Jorge M. Pérez Collection and El Espacio 23, have announced a new international residency initiative for Latin American and Caribbean artists, generously supported by Jorge M. and Darlene Pérez. The programme will offer four fully funded artist residencies over the next two years at Delfina Foundation, creating sustained opportunities for artistic development while strengthening cultural exchange between the United Kingdom, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The residencies will prioritise artists from countries in Latin America and the Caribbean underrepresented within Delfina Foundation’s recent programmes, as well as artists from related diaspora communities in the United States. Selected artists will undertake twelve-week residencies in London, immersed in an international environment with artists, curators, and thinkers, and engaging in the UK’s artistic and cultural landscape through research, dialogue, and professional exchange.
Applications for the first two residency opportunities – taking place in autumn 2026 and winter 2027, respectively – will open on 18 February 2026, with selected artists to be announced in late March. Eligible artists may apply here. There will be a further open call to follow for the remaining two residencies.
“Artists and their work are vital to shaping how we understand one another across borders, cultures, and generations. This residency initiative reflects our family’s longstanding commitment to expanding access and global opportunity for artists from Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly in geographies where their voices have been historically underrepresented,” said Jorge M. Pérez, internationally recognised philanthropist and founder of El Espacio 23. “By partnering with Delfina Foundation, we are investing not only in individual artistic development, but in meaningful, sustained cultural exchange between the UK, the Americas, and the diaspora.”
The initiative builds on shared values between Delfina Foundation and El Espacio 23, both of which advocate for long-term support and global exposure for artists. In addition to Delfina’s established residency programme, artists will benefit from mentoring and exchange with curators and colleagues connected to the Jorge M. Pérez Collection / El Espacio 23, extending the programme’s reach across Latin America and the Caribbean, the United States, and the UK.
Located in Miami, El Espacio 23 is a contemporary art space that also houses three apartments and a shared workspace designated for artists and curators in residence across various stages of their careers. Programming is year-round, with residents selected by El Espacio’s curatorial team in dialogue with the space’s exhibition program, the City of Miami, and the Jorge M. Pérez Collection.
“Programme support of this kind is transformational at a moment when Delfina Foundation is working to secure our building for the long term. This partnership enables us to remain focused on artists and international exchange while strengthening the foundation’s future, ensuring that our residency programme continues to be a place of experimentation, generosity, and sustained engagement for artists who are underrepresented in the UK,” said Aaron Cezar, Director of Delfina Foundation.
Jorge M. and Darlene Pérez have a longstanding legacy of support for artists and cultural institutions internationally, including in the UK. The Pérezes have been significant supporters of Tate Modern in London, most recently making the museum’s largest gift in more than 50 years. In early 2025, they established a multi-million-dollar endowment to ensure that curatorial research on African and Latin American art remains central to Tate Modern’s programming, acquisitions, and exhibitions, alongside the donation of a major painting by American abstract expressionist Joan Mitchell. The endowment supports a newly endowed curatorial post, now held by Osei Bonsu, curator of Tate Modern’s acclaimed exhibitions Nigerian Modernism and A World in Common, who has been appointed to the post of Jorge M. Pérez Senior Curator, International Art, Africa and the Diaspora.