This page captures some of the discussions relating to issues of access to artist residencies and the nature of the ‘offer’ they present, explored during the Building A Better Residency conversation event. The initial prompts offered to the room for discussion included the following questions:
- What makes for a good application process?
- Residencies as daily visits vs. living / staying in a space
- The offer of space in kind
- “Here are the keys, on you trot”
Click here to return to the main overview of the day.
| Focus on helping others: emerging / established dichotomy not helpful | If I had a residency, I would like it to look like two hours a week over a few months | Liberal arts organisations working in a capitalist / institutional power structure. How do we counter this? |
| How do you learn the context of an organisation? | Commission vs. residency | Send schedule out for when space isn’t in use? So artists can request it |
| What are the buzzwords? | Where are they being advertised? | The opportunity to do remote residencies and artists design. Framework in a set time or something. Give artists agency in their local / orgs give mentorship and logistics help and funding time |
| Access for folx who believe ‘residencies aren’t for them’ | Ways of applying – audio / video / voice notes / poems / mind maps – more accessible application styles | How do you put residencies in a wider context? |
| Opps exclusively for emerging artists | I discussed: connection between institutions & DIY art comjuncationes (i.e. queer community, ethnic communities, underground music communities), being afraid to invite collaborators in advance of procurement of the residency | Breaking residencies into flexi[ble] chunks – weekend access – 7 days over 7 weeks etc |
| More targeted residencies / focused call outs for specific groups | Perhaps consider mentoring / advice / “how to write applications” workshops for new folx to the local scene | Problems of residencies as objects of desire (through their cultural capital) and possibility of visibility (sustained survival through meritocracy) precisely because they’re scarce? Competition built into value. Re-value residencies! |
| Can students / mature students apply? Often left out + not sure why? | Poets / writers / artists-in-residence in universities > exploitative. Also expected to teach? Is this is a residency? | Money Network Mentoring Confidence Collaboration |
| How to eliminate reading between the lines? | Labour of application [to be] recognised. Paying artists to write apps. | Emerging =/= “under 25” |