Applications are open for the 2018 Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary (ARMB) until 1 August! This opportunity is designed to support a mid-career disabled artist looking to develop their practice and build their profile through funding and a residency at a high-profile arts venue. We chatted with Simon Martin, Director of Pallant House Gallery, who will host the 2018 ARMB’s three month artist residency which accompanies the £10,000 award, to explore what will be on offer to the recipient.

Shape: We are delighted to be collaborating with Pallant House Gallery for the tenth Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary. What are your thoughts on being the host of a high-profile disability-led residency?

Simon Martin: Pallant House Gallery is delighted to be hosting the tenth Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary, joining organisations including Turner Contemporary, the V&A, Camden Arts Centre and BALTIC in their support of Shape Arts’ disability-led residency. Via its pioneering Community Programme, the Gallery already offers a range of creative and cultural opportunities for adults from a diverse range of backgrounds and circumstances to follow their art interests, and its support of this residency further supports our belief that everyone is entitled to a creative life. We believe that offering this residency in partnership with the University of Chichester brings something unique to the offer this year.

Pallant House Gallery is known for its leading exhibitions of modern and contemporary art and its superb programme. How will the artist in residence benefit from having the opportunity to respond to the gallery’s activities and collection?

Pallant House Gallery has one of the leading collections of Modern British, international and contemporary art in the UK. Alongside the opportunity to take inspiration from 20 rooms of artwork from some of the leading artistic figures from the 20th century, our contemporary installations including those by Lothar Götz, Laura Ford and Pablo Bronstein offer another dimension. We also have a remarkable archive which we hope might provide creative inspiration for the resident artist; it contains primary materials relating to Pallant House Gallery, its history, collections, exhibitions, and collectors associated with the Gallery and a wide range of materials from artists such as Paul Nash, Ivon Hitchens, Colin Self and Frank Auerbach.

The Library’s collection of over 18,000 volumes includes artists’ monographs and biographies, exhibition and sales catalogues, and printed materials on artistic periods and movements, developing and emerging art forms, and technique and method. The Library also has some material on broader subjects such as architecture, design, applied arts, photography and performance where relevant to the Gallery’s collections. Being within a public art gallery will also give the artist an opportunity to observe how the public engage with art and the opportunity to talk to staff and volunteers about how audiences are able to engage with art in a number of different ways.

The unique architectural offering at Pallant House Gallery – the historic townhouse and the contemporary extension – also provide a unique environment in which to take ideas, perhaps through the way that the old and the new can work together.

Close to Pallant House Gallery is artOne, a purpose-designed art building housing the University of Chichester’s Fine Art department, within which the recipient will have their own personal studio space throughout the residency. How do you think artOne’s resources can help to shape their experience and develop their practice? 

Being located in this purpose-designed studio space offers obvious benefits in terms of the state of the art new facilities to hand, but more than that, it will provide a supportive and creative environment in which the artist can engage with both BA and MA students in fine art, who are in the process of developing their artistic practice. 

Previous winners of the ARMB demonstrate each year how the residency shapes and supports their artistic direction over time. How do you think that a residency with Pallant House Gallery can provide artists, in the long term, with a pathway to a sustained career in the arts? 

Pallant House Gallery works with artists in a sustained way, developing meaningful and lasting relationships over time. Whilst there is no expectation of an ‘end product’, there is the possibility that outcomes and work produced through the residency could be exhibited at the Gallery at a subsequent point, and that the Gallery could work with the artist and Shape to find future venues for exhibiting and presenting work. It is a very special opportunity to work with a unique institution combining historic, modern and contemporary architecture and art which can lead to all kinds of possibilities. 

How might the successful recipient be able to engage with public audiences during their 3 month residency?

Pallant House Gallery has a vibrant public participation programme including talks and tours, events and creative workshops. Having an artist in residence provides a great opportunity to involve them in some of this offer. We are keen to keep the residency open-ended depending on the needs and ambitions of the artist, but possibilities include talks and creative workshops with staff, volunteers and members of the Gallery’s Community Programme, or sessions open to visitors to enable the artist to talk about their own creative practice and share skills and experience.

Other opportunities include the artist leading public tours of the collection (providing the opportunity for the artist to respond in a personal way to the collection) or involvement in our dementia-friendly Art Views discussion groups. We are also keen to engage the selected artist in our social media networks, perhaps through blogs and other forms of engagement. 

Thanks Simon…! Artists, apply before midday on 1 August for the 2018 Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary at www.shapearts.org.uk/news/apply-armb-2018

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For more information on the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary please visit: www.shapearts.org.uk/Pages/News/Category/adam-reynolds-memorial-bursary or for any specific queries please contact: [email protected]

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Banner image: Pallant House Gallery, image c: Janie Airey