TPWM announces Artist Residencies & Critical Writing Programmes for 2012- 2013

Faye Claridge, Descendants of the Unfamiliar, series of framed photographic prints, courtesy of the artist and Danielle Arnaud Contemporary Art, 2009

Four organisations in the West Midlands will lead on TPWN new artist residency opportunities and one organisation on a critical writing project:

Library of Birmingham

The West Midlands based artist Faye Claridge will develop new work that engages with the work of Sir Benjamin Stone photographic archive in the new Library of Birmingham. Faye Claridge uses photography, video and installation and shows work internationally and through Danielle Arnaud Contemporary Art.  

 Faye Claridge says: 

I’m excited about the TPWM funded residency because it will allow me to work with a collection that I’ve been interested in for years, both for its content and its ostentatious ambition of creating ‘A Record of England’ in photographs. It’ll be fantastic to bring a new audience to Sir Benjamin Stone’s work and use the opportunity to look at how photographic projects from the turn of the 20th century can be part of a critical debate about the role of photography today.

The Library of Birmingham is building on its recent programme of exhibition and publication projects, these include Brian Griffin; Face to Face A Retrospective, Take to the Streets, Magnum Street Photography, Perspectives, Ghosting the Archive: Keith Piper and Reference Works, Library of Birmingham by establishing this Artist-In-Residence commission in 2012/13.  There will be an exhibition of new work in 2014.

National Trust, Dudmaston

The National Trust will invite an artist to explore the collection at Dudmaston Hall in Shropshire. The collection includes works from the 1920's to the 1960's by modern British artists such as Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson.

The National Trust will increase links between Dudmaston and contemporary art and artists and has identified partners and networks with which to work, including Shropshire Visual Arts Network, Shropshire and Telford Arts Partnership and Shropshire Audience Development Network. It already has links with the curatorial team at New Art Gallery Walsall from the time the artist Bob and Roberta Smith responded to the Epstein archive.

University of Worcester, with Movement Gallery and Worcester City Museum

The University of Worcester with partners Movement Gallery and Worcester City Museum and Art Gallery will work to support a new artist in residence. The artist will interact with the context of the City of Worcester with the City as site for intervention, production and discourse and as a resource that includes archives and collections.  The artist will have the opportunity to contribute to a critically engaged environment and will engage with other artists, curators, academics and the people in Worcester and the wider region. 

Eastside Projects

The Residency opportunity will focus on research and development and studio experimentation. Two short term residency opportunities for West Midland based artists will be offered to emerging and established artists. Eastside Projects works with a network of prestigious arts organisations outside the West Midlands and the artists will be hosted by these organisations to develop their ideas, thinking and networks and to develop new work in contexts outside the region. Mentoring will also be offered as part of the residencies.

Writing Bursary: Grand Union

TPWM has awarded a writing bursary to Grand Union (in association with Eastside Projects), in order to offer an opportunity for a new or emerging writer to develop skills in critical writing for publication and encourage writing practice within the West Midlands.  The writing bursary will be awarded following an open submission. 

We received several strong proposals and although not possible to fund them all, TPWM will work and help support groups and organisations that are keen to collaborate with each other. The proposals that have been selected all demonstrated a high level of support for the artist, a strong knowledge of quality and ambitious work and clear plans to develop links with others beyond the lead institution.

Each lead organisation (with the exception of the Library of Birmingham) will put a call out to artists to apply in due course and this will be included in TPWM's Artists' News & Opportunities Bulletin.