Our Mission

The Venice International Watercolor Festival Artist Residency Programme is a creative exchange initiative established specifically for artists participating in the current and previous editions of the festival, as well as for international watercolor artists and enthusiasts at large. Its purpose is to provide a dedicated residency space where artists from around the world can immerse themselves in China's traditional culture and the distinctive landscape of the Jiangnan water towns, fostering genuine encounter and deep dialogue between Eastern and Western artistic perspectives.

The programme's guiding philosophy is rooted in the belief that nature is the greatest teacher, and culture the deepest source of inspiration. Watercolor art shares an intrinsic spiritual connection with water, and the ancient town of Zhouzhuang in Suzhou is the ideal embodiment of this vision. Located to the east of Suzhou, Zhouzhuang is one of the best-preserved millennium-old water towns in the Jiangnan region, renowned for its intricate network of waterways, ancient stone bridges, and whitewashed walls beneath dark-tiled rooftops — widely celebrated as "the foremost water town in China." Its ever-shifting interplay of light and reflection across the canals offers an inexhaustible source of inspiration for watercolor artists exploring the relationship between light, color, and water.

The programme's partner, the Suzhou Fine Arts Sketching Base, is a comprehensive professional facility dedicated to supporting artists in outdoor creative practice and teaching. Equipped with professional studio spaces, sketching support infrastructure, and artist accommodation, the base has extensive experience hosting residencies for both domestic and international art institutions and professional artists.

The residency will be held on a regular basis, with each session bringing together watercolor artists from China and abroad for a programme combining plein air painting, academic exchange, and cultural immersion. We believe that when the luminous waters of Venice meet the timeless waterways of Zhouzhuang, the most profound creative inspiration in watercolor art will naturally follow.

Our Facilities

The Suzhou Fine Arts Sketching Base is located in the ancient town of Zhouzhuang, Wuzhong District, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Set against the rich cultural heritage and serene natural beauty of this millennium-old water town, it offers artists and participants an ideal residency environment that is at once historically atmospheric and deeply conducive to creative inspiration.

Within the base, five historic residential buildings dating from the Ming and Qing dynasties have been preserved and repurposed as reception rooms, student studios, and multimedia classrooms. The timeless elegance of these traditional structures creates a working environment perfectly in harmony with the spirit of plein air painting. The base provides 100 dormitory rooms with a capacity for over 500 guests, along with a large dining hall accommodating 450 and a medium-sized dining hall, offering comprehensive facilities capable of supporting large-scale artist groups and residency programmes. A convenience store on site supplies daily necessities and art materials, while easels, drawing boards, and stools are available for rental, ensuring artists have everything they need for uninterrupted creative work.

The Suzhou International Art Hotel, the second phase of the base, is located at No. 23 Nansha Road, Zhouzhuang Town, and has been in operation since 2021. The hotel offers 222 guest rooms with a capacity for over 800 residents, two large dining halls accommodating over 800 guests simultaneously, and a multimedia conference room for up to 200 people — fully equipped for academic seminars and exchange events. The central atrium exhibition space regularly hosts sketching exhibitions for resident artists, providing a direct pathway from creative practice to public presentation.

With an annual intake of over 100,000 visitors and partnerships with more than 600 art institutions, the base is one of the largest and most comprehensively equipped professional fine arts sketching and artist residency facilities in China, providing a solid foundation of infrastructure and professional services for the Venice International Watercolor Festival Artist Residency Programme.

Our Activities

Shengxinyu Art has dedicated more than two decades to international artistic exchange, establishing the ancient town of Zhouzhuang in Suzhou as its core activity base. Over the years, it has organized multiple plein air painting events of considerable international influence, transforming this millennium-old water town into a vital meeting ground where Chinese and foreign artists come together in creative dialogue.

In 2019, Shengxinyu Art co-founded the "Colourful China — International Plein Air Painting Week" programme in partnership with Beijing Yibangda Culture, hosting two major international painting events in Zhouzhuang. The inaugural edition brought together celebrated plein air artists from Australia, the United States, and Ireland to paint alongside Chinese artists. That same autumn, a delegation led by José Gabriel, President of the Spanish Association of Painters and Sculptors (AEPA), travelled to Zhouzhuang for a nine-day joint painting residency and academic exchange with over 50 Chinese artists. Throughout the programme, Chinese and international artists worked side by side among the ancient waterways and stone bridges, painting outdoors by day and attending expert lectures and artwork critiques by evening — a deeply immersive model of international artistic exchange. Following a rigorous review by the Spanish artistic delegation, more than 50 Chinese artists were formally admitted as members of this century-old prestigious association, becoming its first-ever Chinese members in its history.

These activities received extensive coverage from leading media outlets including Artron, Sina News, and China Radio International, affirming the enduring significance and international impact of the Zhouzhuang plein air programme. Building on this rich foundation, the Venice International Watercolor Festival Artist Residency Programme will continue to deepen this legacy — warmly welcoming watercolor artists from around the world to gather in the heart of Jiangnan and let their brushes speak across cultures.