Artquest provides everything visual artists need to know by encouraging critical engagement and providing practical support
Helping artists to make work, sell work, find work and network, Artquest provides the information to drive creative practice and help artists thrive on some of the lowest incomes in the creative sector.
Access to our whole website is free for anyone, anywhere, with no registration required. Artquest doesn’t run any paid-for advertisements on the site, and our content is 100% written by artists, curators and other visual arts professionals.
As an example of our content we will share here an article on Residencies, written by Nick Kaplony, who is a visual artist and Artquest Senior Coordinator.
Common Types of Residencies:
There are many different types of residency. Choosing the most suitable residency for you depends on individual circumstances such as work and family commitments, facilities and accommodation offered as well as the environment you find most conducive to working.
To appreciate the range of residencies available, visit websites like resartis and TransArtists, and the listings on Artquest.
Before applying, consider whether you work better in a rural or urban environment. Are you most inspired by cities with social/cultural/historical attractions? Does climate affect your discipline? You may prefer solitude and self -sufficiency or perhaps you work best within a large group in a busy, structured environment.
There is a spectrum of different residencies: some where trips, group critiques and visiting speakers make up a programme of events; others where you may be remote and isolated with little contact from the outside world. Most lie in between: domestic set-ups with a few other artists, allowing for both time alone and critical but informal discourse.
Some residencies are platforms for cross-artistic disciplines and invite composers, writers and choreographers. Think about who would you ideally like to interact with during your residency? Practice-based residencies are most common, but there are those which ask artists to focus on research or curatorial investigation and don’t expect the production of work. Some are rigid and insist you complete the project you proposed in your application. Others are more flexible and leave you to your own devices.
Examples:
Studio Residency
The most commonly expected type of residency, providing a studio space to develop new work. Some studio residencies involve artists sharing a studio, such as Artquest’s LIFE BOAT programme, so they can provide mutual critical and practical support.
Research Residency
These residencies give artists access to specialist materials, expertise or knowledge, such as a historical archive or specialist curators. This type of opportunity is often more about developing ideas than realising finished pieces of work, and may not provide a studio. One example of this is the Artquest and British Library Jeweller in Residence programme that run in 2012/13.
Artist-in-residence
Some organisations or businesses not connected to the arts have artist-in-residence programmes. This might be hosted by an organisation that values the different perspective that an artist can bring to the work it does. Common examples of organisations that run such schemes include schools and museums. More often these are research based though can occasionally grant the artists access to specialist production facilities, require the artist to engage directly with the work of the organisation, and may provide a stipend or bursary.
Read the rest of the articles and case studies on the Artquest website, starting from: General points to consider before choosing your residencies.
Contribution by Nick Kaplony, Senior Coordinator, Artquest, University of the Arts London
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