Weds@105 event: When is a residency successful?

About

Weds@105 is a professional development programme based at UNION 105 that will happen twice a year (Autumn and Spring) in the form of a series of public, issue-based seminars every Wednesday evening over a 6 week period. Each series will focus on different aspects of contemporary arts practice.

Series 1: On Residencies
The first series of Weds@105 is connected to ESA's first residency at UNION 105 and focuses on unpacking what residencies are for, who should apply and why, how it helps with artists' careers, what contexts exist for residencies and who fund them. We will look at their history, benefits and costs, the application and selection processes, outcomes and their relation to professional development. Participants will be required to do some online research in a group environment and to actively take part in group discussions. Sessions will be facilitated by the ESA team and led by invited guests, artists and arts professionals.

Session 2: 23 June
Julia Lancaster: When is a residency successful?
Julia Lancaster, will respond to these questions through her experience with national and international residencies at Acme Studios, a London-based organisation founded by Jonathan Harvey and David Panton in 1972, providing affordable studio space, residencies and awards for non-commercial fine artists.

Further workshops:

Session 3: 30 June
Dr. Nuno Sacramento: Residencies at the Scottish Sculpture Workshop
Director of the Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Dr. Nuno Sacramento will talk about the different types of residencies his organisation has developed in the past as well as introducing SSW's new vision and programme launched in the Summer 2010. Participants will have the chance to discuss self-funded residencies, summer residencies, internships and residencies in school or community context.

Session 4: 7 July
Catalina Lozano: International Fellowships - An example from Gasworks, London
This session will focus on international fellowships that Gasworks offers for UK-based artists. The programme enables up to five artists each year to take up residencies in organisations working within the Triangle Arts Trust's network, in countries including India, Bolivia, China, Colombia, Kenya, and Mauritius.

Session 5: 14 July
The Leeds experience - a roundtable discussion with Louise K Wilson, Sheila Gaffney and Larna Campbell.
This session will bring together three artists to discuss their experiences as artists-in-residence in both art and non-art environments, as well as in Leeds in the past and present as part of the Year of the Artist scheme, AA2A and in the context of Union 105. Participants will learn and be able to share experiences about working in non-art contexts, art schools and communities.

Session 6: 21 July
Wrap up session discussion
For the final session we invite participants to contribute to a discussion about their findings during the series as well as evaluate the sessions and their usefulness. We will also pull together and set up any documents we looked at during the series to make it accessible for future research in Union 105's resource space.

Find out more on all of the sessions here.