flora Artist Residency at The National Botanic Garden of Wales
Deadline: 7 August 2015
Application fee: none
As part of the wider flora exhibition project originated by Oriel Davies flora.orieldavies.org we invite professional artists working across any medium from Wales and further afield to apply for a residency taking place at the acclaimed and unique setting of the National Botanic Garden of Wales, Carmarthenshire from October 2015.
We are looking for an artist with an established practice and a demonstrable practice profile who has specific interest in exploring the work and natural resources of the Garden as appropriate to the context of the flora exhibition project.
The artist will be selected on the basis of the originality of their approach to the residency, enthusiasm and curiosity for the Garden and its work, and their wish to extend their practice in this context.
WHEN:
5 month residency (minimum 30 days to be spent at the Garden) between October 2015 – February 2016
FEE:
£6,000 (to include artist fees, production costs and all expenses)
DEADLINE:
Midnight Friday 7 August 2015
If your application is successful, you will hear by Monday 24 August 2015 (no feedback can be given for unsuccessful applicants)
INTERVIEWS:
Are currently planned for early September 2015 at the National Botanic Garden of Wales
WHAT
The flora Commission Residency requires the artist to produce a new piece of work in whichever medium is appropriate to that artist, to present it within the residency timeframe and in discussion with both Oriel Davies and the Garden.
It is expected that the resident artist will spend a minimum of 30 days at the Garden exploring the Garden’s work and resources and undertaking their own research. They will be expected to work collaboratively making contact with staff and the work at the Garden, presenting work to the visitors to the Garden (during both the development and delivery of their residency).
We require that the residency artist shares their experience during the residency through the flora website and Garden public communication avenues.
WHAT IS INCLUDED
• £6000 commission residency fee (to cover artist’s fees, production costs, accommodation and travel expenses)
• Contact time with the Garden team and the work undertaken at the Garden
• Project Review with Oriel Davies, Oriel Myrddin and the Garden team during the 5 month period
• Desk Space
• Publicity and promotion as part of wider flora project
• Publication recording this and another flora residency as part of a wider publication supporting the whole project.
• Ongoing advice support from Oriel Davies during the 5 month residency
ELIGIBILITY
We will consider applications from:
• Established artists living and working in Wales and other parts of the UK
• Individual artists or artist duos
• Undergraduates and students in full time education are not eligible to apply
• No other applications will be considered
OTHER INFORMATION
The residency artist is expected to have their own public liability insurance.
HOW TO APPLY
Electronic applications only.
Please complete application form available at http://flora.orieldavies.org/residencies
Completed forms and additional material should be emailed to:
Alex Boyd Jones alex@orieldavies.org
Subject: flora residency – National Botanic Garden of Wales
About the National Botanic Garden of Wales
http://www.gardenofwales.org.uk/
The National Botanic Garden of Wales (the Garden) is a registered charity, opened to the public in May 2000 as one of three Millennium Projects in Wales. It is the only one situated outside the nation’s capital, occupying a site of historic parkland covering approximately 220 hectares (560 acres). The Garden is a showcase for some of the world’s most endangered plants and incorporates the Waun Las National Nature Reserve which is run as an organic farm.
In its first 15 years it has received more than 2.2 million visitors. It is an embodiment of the old and the new, with 18th century features set alongside the futuristic, iconic single-span glasshouse designed by Foster and Partners. The Great Glasshouse has become an international landmark for Wales and is home to the best collection of Mediterranean climate zone plants in the world. The Garden is recognised as a national asset for the people of Wales.
Its work is determined by its Ten-Year Strategic Plan, its vision is the well-being of people, plants and the planet through “Conservation, Education, Inspiration” and its mission is to dedicate itself to the research and conservation of biodiversity, to sustainability, lifelong learning and the enjoyment of the visitor. The Garden has a strong track-record of working positively with artists of all disciplines and has several areas that are likely to be of interest to the residency, including its horticultural collections, its active research in plant conservation science with particular interest in the role of pollinators, its landscape and National Nature Reserve, and its library resources.
Possible areas of research (but not restricted to);
Saving Plants and Pollinators
The importance of the Garden for Society
The plants and fungi of Waun Las
The Mediteranean collections of rare and endangered plants
The library and herbarium resources e.g. James Cosmo Melvill herbarium and Henry Bradbury’s Nature Printing
About flora
flora is an ambitious contemporary arts project curated by Oriel Davies and developed in partnership with six key organisations across the breadth of Wales from May 2015 and throughout 2016. The key project partners include five art galleries in Powys, Carmarthenshire, Torfaen, Ceredigion and Gwynedd and also The National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthenshire.
From common weeds to exotic cultivars, flowers have been and are embedded in people’s lives across the globe, not least as inspiration to artists. The visually stunning exhibition both in the gallery and out in public sites presents new and existing work of nine key artists who present ways in which flowers make visible cultural, historical, geographic, social and scientific ideas.
After launching at Oriel Davies on 23 May the exhibition will tour to Oriel Myrddin in Carmarthen 19 September – 31 October 2015, Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw, near Pwllheli 20 March – 15 May 2016 and Aberystwyth Arts Centre 20 July – 17 September 2016.
Over the next eighteen months four new commissions, two artist residencies, and work on loan from national and international artists, private collectors and UK National and Regional collections will explore the powerful effect that flowers present within different arts practices.
Exhibiting Artists:
Emma Bennett, Michael Boffey, Anya Gallaccio, Ori Gersht, Owen Griffiths, Anne-Mie Melis, Jacques Nimki, Yoshihiro Suda, Clare Twomey
flora.orieldavies.org
About Oriel Davies Gallery is a key public art gallery of Wales, based in Newtown, rural Powys presenting world-class, thought-provoking and challenging art by national and international artists in an environment that is welcoming, engaging, informative and free. www.orieldavies.org
ENQUIRIES
For any queries please contact Alex Boyd Jones, Curator, Oriel Davies Gallery alex@orieldavies.org 01686 625041. Please DO NOT contact the National Botanic Garden of Wales directly about the residency.