artist residency
Artist Cad Taylor editing work during an artist residency.

Calling all artists! Libraries seeking artists in residence

Five artists will be given the opportunity to be in residence at Hadleigh Library for a week, exploring their practice as well as their role as creative practitioners in community settings.

This is the first of two BLOC LABs that will be taking place this year, the second taking place in Lowestoft in October.

Local artists are invited to come and use the library as a work space to explore the role creativity plays as catalyst for nurturing confidence and wellbeing in the community.

These opportunities are called ‘BLOC LABs’ and are part of a programme called ‘BLOC – Building Libraries on Creativity’ funded by Arts Council England.

BLOC LABs are week-long mixed media artist residency in libraries across the county.

Melissa Matthews, Creative Programmes Manager for BLOC, said:

“Our first LAB was in August of last year was a huge success. We worked with 10 artists from a variety of backgrounds. This was an incredible experience for Suffolk Libraries and has shaped how the programme has developed.”

Last year, fields of study from the artists in residency included but was not limited to: bronze-working, sculpting, painting, tech-driven projects, collages, dancers, authors and sound artists.

Melissa added:

“Working with artists across different disciplines is really freeing and has led to some innovative ideas which we have been working on with our libraries in the past year.”

“Freelance practitioners often miss out on the chance to bounce ideas around and work as a group and so the LABs are a great opportunity for artists to have a bit of breathing space to explore new ways of working in their field in a supported way.”

Some comments from the residency last year included:

“It was an incredibly useful period for reflection, idea ‘seeding’ and professional/personal development. It was a really fantastic experience to enjoy the company of like-minded people in a work context, just as people.”

“The overall atmosphere of the week was just incredible. Everyone was very welcoming and just lovely! This created an environment where I felt very comfortable in expressing myself and communicating with everyone.”

Deadline for applications for the Hadleigh BLOC Lab is 15th July, with the residency expected to take place between Monday 12th August and Friday 16th August.

About BLOC:

In April 2018, Suffolk Libraries were awarded NPO status by Arts Council England. Suffolk Libraries is made up of 44 individual libraries across the county and as part of this creative process the BLOC –  Building Libraries on Creativity programme was created to develop libraries as creative community hubs. Suffolk Libraries worked with established NPO Metal to develop the programme with artist led practice being at the heart of the programmes development.

How to apply:

Visit: www.suffolklibraries.co.uk/bloc/artists 

Find out more:


 

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