Artists Residency Callout - No Matter How Strong. Residency: 27 June – 27 August 2019. Exhibition: 5 September – 19 September 2019

About Artcore:

Artcore is a contemporary arts space that celebrates the cultural richness and diversity of Derby, the East Midlands and beyond. The venue presents an ever-changing programme of art exhibitions, creative activities for adults and young people, film screenings, artist residencies, talks, and festivals.

With our statement “together we stand”, we want to engage and connect with a diverse range of communities in Derby. Our key objectives are to use art as a tool to strengthen community cohesion, to engage with a wide range of audiences, to educate, raise awareness and provide a space to build self-confidence and mutual trust and respect.

We engage with society’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable people, by offering inspiring and motivating programmes in areas where there is a lack in provision and engagement with the arts is minimal. Our mission is to become a place where talent and creativity is nurtured and where art and culture are accessible to all. We aim to bring positivity and shine into people's lives, providing a platform to encourage dialogue between people of all ages, abilities, diverse cultural background through creative activities, skills sharing and development.

Artcore offers a contemporary gallery, workshop and artist studio promoting distinctive art and culture. Through a vibrant programme of events, exhibitions, residencies, art talks, screenings we  provide a platform to showcase significant art locally, nationally and internationally by supporting early, mid-career artists and established artists.

At Artcore, education is fundamental to the work we do. We develop and strengthen this through an informal education approach. Our main objective is to engage young people in learning experiences to enhance their curiosity and interest on their art skills, developing their uniqueness and progression as individual, also through volunteering and work experience.

We believe art acts as a learning tool, breaking down barriers and contributing to the production of knowledge and dialogue as a vehicle for analysis and growth. Moreover we engage with our audience through creative, imaginative and meaningful activities, offering the individuals the opportunity to experiment with creativity, enhance learning and broaden career prospects.

Our Location:

Derby has a developing visual arts culture, with galleries at QUAD, Derby Museum & Art Gallery and at Artcore, a University with Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses in the School of Arts, and much DIY activity across the City. Artcore has hosted two annual Visual Arts Summits, and is the lead organisation in supporting the development of the visual arts ecology of Derby.

We have recently taken on a large City Centre space, and this residency will be the first to use our new building, placing our work in a prominent space right in the heart of Derby.

The Residency Opportunities:

We are looking for two early career artists to take up supported residencies with Artcore, responding to the title ‘No Matter How Strong’.

The fragile nature of the human condition has been an enduring subject for artists throughout history. The ‘No Matter How Strong’ residency is an invitation to contemporary artists to address this title, sharing a sensitivity to both the physical aspects and allegorical connotations of the materials with which they work. This could be manifested in deeply personal engagements with the human body, nature, and the passage of time, or expressed through the media with which you work and the forms it takes – simultaneously ephemeral and resilient.

Your work might allude to the impermanence of the object and its inevitable disintegration. Probing the binary distinctions between corporeal and transcendental, emergence and decay, belonging and displacement, life and death, the residency artists will reveal and question the political, spiritual, and psychological forces that shape who and what we are.

We are offering each artist:

• An Artist bursary of £800 for exhibition ready work
• A studio space for the duration of the residency
• An opportunity to exhibit the work produced during the residency
• Artist blog
• A chance to deliver artist talks
• Mentoring support throughout the residency
• E Catalogue
• An option to deliver workshops or participatory projects
• Publicity and marketing support

We would anticipate the artists being present at Artcore for at least three days each week through the residency period. There is no additional budget for travel and accommodation, so ideally artists should live within a reasonable travelling distance of Derby, or be able to base themselves in Derby for the residency period.

We welcome applications from artists working in any visual arts discipline, and with a cross-disciplinary practice. 

We expect artists to have a commitment to developing their practice, and to engaging in dialogue with the local communities and the wider international contemporary arts and cultural sector. 

We welcome artists with an interest in how sharing space and collaborative working can inform the development of their work. 

We expect to retain a selection of the artworks produced during the residency to be part of Artcore collection. 

Residency timetable: 

Deadline – Please send your submissions by midnight on Monday 10 June 

Selection will be made by Friday 14 June

Residency start date: 27 June 

Residency end date: 27 August

Exhibition dates: 5 – 19 September

How to Apply:

Applications should be made through Curatorspace using the forms on the website.

You will be asked to provide:

• A proposal telling us about how you plan to respond to the residency theme, why you would like to take part in this residency, and what you would like to achieve through it, both artistically and in terms of your development as an artist 
• A statement describing your practice, materials and methods of working
• Curriculum Vitae if you have one
• Visual material directly relating to the proposal such as previous or proposed art work (please either attach images or direct us to specific work you would like us to consider on the web. Please label any images – title, medium, dimensions and year)