Artist in residence
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There are many different types of Artist in Residence programme, and the reasons for establishing them extremely diverse. Although some residencies can be extremely prescriptive, by perhaps requiring the artist to produce a particular work of art within a given timeframe, others allow the artist to simply be a presence in the host organisation, contributing to the community as they see fit, and producing whatever artworks emerge from their interaction with members of the host organisation.
A frequent form of artist in residence programme is the placing of a visual and other artist in a setting where artists would not otherwise be found. For example, a residency might be set up in a hospital, an engineering factory or on an oil rig. An unusual example of this is the Antarctic Artists and Writers Program, which places artists amongst the scientists working in Antarctica.
Artist's residencies are also located in places more often associated with art, such as art schools, art galleries and arts festivals. Often these result in an exhibition or performance at the venue, and the aim is usually to allow the organisation hosting the artist to bring in someone with a different outlook to the permanent arts staff. They might, for example, have different experiences, pursue a different art medium or have a different concept of art. Alternatively the artist might have simply come up with a proposal for a residency that took the fancy of the host organisation.
A third category of artist in residence programme is to place artists in locations where a limited amount of art activity is going on, such as a childrens' school. The aim here might be to augment the provision of art in the host organisation, and perhaps excite the members of the host organisation with a special arts project.
Although artist in residency programmes are now well established around the world, they are a relatively recent phenomenon. The first example, called the Gregory Fellowships, comes from England and dates from 1951. The Gregory Fellowships, funded by the Yorkshire printer Peter Gregory, placed painters, sculptors, poets and musicians in the University of Leeds. The University was, at that time, primarily a technical institution with very little arts activity, and the presence of the artists was intended to humanise the university. The Gregory Fellowships helped to set the typical formal for subsequent artist in residence schemes, with the fellows being free to move around the university as they wished, and not being tied to any one department.
The Gregory Fellowships also prove that artist in residence schemes can have an impact on the host organisation as they were instrumental in helping the University of Leeds to establish its school of Fine Art and expand teaching of literature and music.
Although host organisations will often fund artist in residence schemes themselves, and private individuals and foundations will support others, a large amount of government money is also used to create the schemes. Indeed, in countries such as Britain and Ireland, the increasing requirement by bodies such as the Arts Council of England, the Scottish Arts Council and An Chomhairle Ealaíon for artists to justify their social relevance before they receive funding is encouraging the growth of community-based artist residencies.
