Artist residency at Chapel Arts Studios, Andover

We have partnered with Chapel Arts Studios (CAS) and the Beautiful Burial Ground Project to offer a residency for a disabled artist called ‘Themes of Life’. This is an open call for artists with a visual arts or cross-artform practice, identifying as disabled, and based in the Arts Council England areas of the South West or Midlands.

‘Themes of Life’

CAS sits right at the centre of the main cemetery in Andover, a unique space, a ‘garden of rest’ if you like, with its boundary edges like any other garden and cared for space, separating it from the world outside. It is a capsule of social history, not only for those buried here but also for living history as locals walk their dogs, young people chat on benches, relatives visit the graves of loved ones, and the homeless community share a drink together. The environment flourishes within the protection of the boundary walls with plant life and wild life active all around, squirrels running across pathways and trees of many species providing shelter. The residency invites an artist to involve the general public in response to the environment, the ecology and the living history, all of which converge in this unique space.

Practicalities

This is a funded residency, which includes an artist fee up to £8000, as well as further budget allowance for materials and collaborators, travel, accommodation and access costs. We invite proposals for the artist to do a residency project on site for a minimum of 4 weeks and up to 12 weeks, consecutive or not, February-April 2020.

Words from CAS

“Our connection with Unlimited and disabled arts goes back several years now, and it is with great pleasure that we find ourselves in a position to work alongside them for Themes Of Life. Supporting artists is at the heart of what CAS does, and through doing that we are able to reach into communities, schools, the local environment and more.  The diversity of our offer, and the accessible inclusivity of our programmes are fundamental to the way we operate, forming an approach that connects people, places and the societies we inhabit.

This partnership with Unlimited is an exciting step for CAS.  It provides us with a fantastic and much needed platform to improve the visibility of disabled arts in the South West region, and help increase opportunities for disabled artists. We get a chance to build new audiences, and bring new perspectives to things unnoticed through over-familiarity.

At CAS we are at a pivotal time in our organisational lifespan. Our recent inclusion in the ACE National Portfolio has literally felt like a rocket boost, lifting us up out of the mud and long grass where, like too many artists, we had been coping but struggling. Pretty much everyone needs support of some kind. I know from first-hand experience, as both a disabled artist and as the head of an organisation, that I wouldn’t be here without the generous and well-placed support of those who were there just when I needed them.

There is so much talent ‘out there’ and, thankfully, programmes like Unlimited have been around to champion it, bringing it closer to the forefront, and giving it the attention it deserves.  Our hope at CAS, by starting the CAS AIR programme is that we can now use it to make some meaningful contributions ourselves, giving an inventive, diverse breadth of artists the support necessary to try something new.”

– David Dixon, Director of CAS

How to Apply

You’ll find full detail of the criteria, timeline, budget, and application process here, on CAS’ website. The deadline to send in Expressions of Interest is 20^th October 2019, interviews of shortlisted applicants are likely to be week commencing 18^th November 2019. If you have any questions, or require the information in alternative formats, or would like to discuss access needs linked to the application process, please contact Susan@chapelartsstudios.co.uk