This was my first experience doing an artist residency, and I was incredibly lucky that it took place in a space like Lagos. For one month, I had a place to work where I felt very comfortable. The studio I worked in was pleasant, with natural light, ample space, and a good internet connection.
The common areas were welcoming, clean, and conducive to interaction with the other resident artists. I was also fortunate to share the space with artists who were open to dialogue and exchange.
On top of all this, I had the curatorial support of olgaMargarita dávila, which was invaluable in giving a new direction to my work, making my time there highly productive, and strengthening the ideas I developed during the residency.
— Georgia E. Durán, Mexico City 2025
The opportunity to do a residency at Lagos was invaluable. It is not only a wonderful, spacious, unique, and light-filled place where fascinating artists from all over the world converge, but also a space where the guidance, warmth, and sensitivity offered by olgaMargarita were fundamental to the development and reflection of the work I carried out during my stay. I am deeply grateful for, and already miss, my time at Lagos. I would recommend it to any artist with a thirst for exploration and growth.
— Elisa Malo, Mexico City 2025
My time in CDMX was infused with the city’s vibrant energy and color. At Lagos, I had a spacious, quiet studio, a space where I could truly sit with my thoughts and experimentations while absorbing the buzz of the city outside. I felt a rare freedom there to experiment fully, trying colors and methods I had always wanted to explore but never felt I had the time for, from working with new materials, painting techniques, to experimenting with scale. The residency became a turning point; for the first time, I stepped away from my previous practices and embraced abstraction. Under the guidance of Lagos, I began exploring how to paint essences, feelings, and energies rather than concrete forms or images. The community at Lagos was incredibly encouraging, curious, & inspiring, making the experience both a challenge and a liberation that continues to shape my practice today.
— Gigi Guttersen, Mexico City 2025
My experience at Lagos in Mexico City was incredible. The space is beautiful, spacious, filled with great natural light, and I loved being able to work privately in my own studio while still having the chance of sharing the space with other artists who I now consider friends.
What I value most from my stay, and what I think makes this program truly unique, was the curatorial support provided by olgaMargarita dávila, which was very hollistic and guided me to take my artistic practice to an entirely new level, deepening it conceptually, helping me understand the meaning of my work and exploring new materials and disciplines.
In addition to this guidance, we had several in-studio visits from curators and established artists and we also visited spaces and galleries with the aim of understanding the local scene and building connections in the city, something I believe is incredibly important, especially for emerging artists like myself.
— Andrea Taro, Mexico City 2025
My residency was a much-needed period of formal experimentation after completing my master’s degree abroad. Although my practice is mainly centered on discursive creation, this space allowed me to unfold the body of work I had accumulated over many years while also reflecting on the kind of artist I want to become, the time I need to develop my pieces, and the materiality required by my ideas.
The daily commute across the city to reach the studio enriched my visual background. The residency is located in a residential and commercial area, far from the main tourist spots yet only fifteen minutes by subway from the city center. The nearby workshops and street vendors shaped the rhythm of my artistic activity, inviting me to tune into the pace and energy of the city. Signs, metal gates, and the variety of visual experiences in the surroundings contrasted with the cleanliness and neutrality of the studios, allowing me to build a vocabulary of plastic gestures in dialogue with the environment. My stay also coincided with the rainy season, which offered me shelter from the weather and allowed me to isolate myself in order to focus on my practice during studio hours.
I believe artistic practice is not entirely solitary; dialogue is essential to understanding the diversity of interpretations that a work can provoke. In this sense, curatorial guidance becomes fundamental in giving coherence and cohesion to a body of work. Likewise, the physical space of the residency, spacious and conducive to experimentation, provides a calm and neutral working environment, where one can concentrate and find refuge from the fast-paced and sometimes chaotic rhythm of the city.
— Alan Sierra, Mexico City 2024
I had a truly rewarding experience during my time at Lagos Mexico City. The studio space was roomy, filled with great natural light, and offered an atmosphere that let me be creative. I found the time incredibly productive and meaningful for the growth and development of my work. I was able to produce enough work (14 pieces) to do a small show during the open studios.
A key part of that growth was the input and support of the director, olgaMargarita Dávila. Her thoughtful, honest input, feedback, and encouragement made a real difference in my process and helped me push my work in new directions.
I also appreciated the social aspect of the residency, events both in and outside the studio allowed me to connect with fellow artists, gallerists, collectors, curators, and build lasting relationships. It also helped me gain a deeper understanding of the art scene in Mexico City.
This residency provided not only space and time to create, but also a supportive and inspiring community. I would highly recommend it to any artist looking to deepen their practice in a dynamic and welcoming environment.
— Jerry Mclaughlin, Mexico City 2024
My time at Arte Lagos was a very special period, both personally and artistically. Although I am originally from Mexico City, it had been a long time since I last created work there, it was meaningful to return to a warm and supportive environment. I was able to work with very little restrictions and no distractions, developing a significant part of The Cenote Ring, a project exploring cosmology, geology, and myth through interconnected cycles of grief and renewal. This residency offered both space and dialogue, making it a crucial moment in my creative development.
Nowadays it's very difficult to get opportunities to work in studios of that size and light in such a rich setting. I wanted to concentrate on painting and the spaces in Mexico City offer unique conditions to focus while getting support from Olga and the local community. Lagos is an incredible setting for long, inspiring nights of making too
— Paola Estrella, Mexico City 2024
An industrial, bright, and powerful space for the development of projects of different natures, painting, sculpture, installation... Enriching conversations with Olga about the work in residence, and a city to discover where art beats strongly.
— Alejandro Martínez, Mexico City 2024
My experience at Lagos Residency was profoundly enriching. The space offered me the time, calm, and environment I needed to delve deeper into my artistic research, allowing me to experiment with materials and concepts that are in dialogue with my practice. Living and working alongside the community and other resident artists opened new perspectives and fostered meaningful exchanges, both creative and human.
Lagos became a place of inspiration and connection, where individual work is nourished by a collective context that amplifies ideas and nurtures long-term relationships. Without a doubt, it has been an important milestone in my trajectory.
At Lagos, I found beautiful studios filled with natural light and generous spaces that invite creation in all kinds of formats and across any discipline. The freedom of schedule and work allowed for a deep, unhurried creative process, something rare to find in other residencies with more rigid agendas.
— Regina Obregón, Mexico City 2024
My time at Lagos was a very enriching experience, both personally and professionally. Each offered me a unique space to connect with peers and deepen my processes. Lagos is not just a place to produce work, but also to rethink it, contextualize it, and share it with others from a genuine place. What most distinguishes Lagos from other residency programs is the quality of the studios. It offers a professional, comfortable, and functional environment. There is also a very lively community around the project, it’s not just about sharing a space.
— Alonso González, Mexico City 2024
Lagos will remain in my memory as the first space where I was able to share and interact with the art scene, and to immerse myself in the world of art in Mexico City and in the country as a whole.
The neighborhood and the space became the starting point for experimenting with new media and materials, which has led me to the solutions I am currently exploring in my work.
It was a deeply enriching experience, both through the exchange with my studio peers and through the constant visits from people in the art field who came to Lagos.
Without a doubt, it was a very beautiful and meaningful chapter!
— Jose Romussi, Mexico City 2023
My residency at Lagos CDMX was a transformative experience that marked a before and after in my journey as both an artist and a person. Over four months of studio work and a year of guidance and mentorship, I went through a deep, pedagogical process that expanded my practice beyond what I had imagined possible.
The curatorial guidance of olgaMargarita, together with the space and the community of artists, pushed me to rethink my direction and artistic approach. I arrived from photography, my foundation, and discovered new contemporary languages through which to inhabit my ideas: video, performance, installation, augmented reality, printmaking, and neon. This openness allowed me to explore the Collective Unit of the Sacred Feminine through multiple mediums, integrating my interest in the symbolic, the ritual, and the collaborative.
Beyond the work itself, Lagos offered me an environment of dialogue, learning, and friendship. The residency strengthened my confidence and gave me the tools to reassemble my future practice, at a moment in my life when, as a mother, I was also reclaiming my artistic self with renewed strength. It was a cycle of dedication, commitment, and creative expansion that will remain one of the pillars of my career.
— Carla Aparicio, Mexico City 2023