Geopark Artists Residencies

About

A partnership between Artizan Collective CIC, Torre Abbey and the English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark will work with four Devon artists to produce new collections of art that capture unique narratives about Torbay and its Geopark Heritage.

The Geopark Artist Residency Programme, has been made possible by the Torbay Local Heritage Grant Scheme, allowing us to invite practicing artists to  apply their creative practice to reveal a specific Geopark heritage narrative and to produce new bodies of work.
 
Over a period of six months, the four appointed residency artists will explore their chosen narrative with English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark partners and associate partners, as well as audiences from across Torbay. Throughout the residency, the artists will document their activity for audiences to follow along and engage with online, but in addition, each artist will also participate in a one month in person residency at venues in Torquay, where members of the public will be able to visit as they develop and produce the works. At the end of the Residency Programme, the completed works will be showcased in two celebratory events at Torre Abbey and Artizan Collective Gallery, Fleet Walk.

The four proposals span an exciting range of traditional and contemporary media including painting, photography, videography, textile works and mixed media, with the themes they intend to explore taking audiences on a journey above and below the water, as well as into the fabric of Torre Abbey’s walls and grounds. Artists Rachael Allain and Gill Melling were selected with a remit to look at the Geopark designation broadly, whilst James Murch and Laura Segan were selected to specifically look at Torre Abbey’s place within the Geopark, as it goes through a pivotal moment of restoration.

As part of the project each artist will undertake in-person studio residencies between September 16th and October 16th, with audiences able to visit Rachael Allain and Gill Melling at Artizan Gallery, Lucius Street, and James Murch and Laura Segan in the Learning Lab at Torre Abbey. Both venues are free to access, and full details of these in-person residencies can be found via the links below:

Gill Melling - https://www.art-hub.co.uk/ex/geoparkgm24
Rachael Allain - https://www.art-hub.co.uk/ex/geoparkra24
James Murch - https://www.art-hub.co.uk/ex/geoparkjm24
Laura Segan - https://www.art-hub.co.uk/ex/geoparkls24​