artist
residencies
Funded residencies available at incredible sites, For visual artists who live and work in Calderdale
In partnership with Calderdale Year of Culture and with local venues across Calderdale, we are launching an Artist in Residence Programme taking place throughout 2024 and 2025. The programme will bring local visual artists to venues across the borough throughout the Year of Culture, in which the public will be able to see and interact with their creative practice. Immersed in a new environment, the residencies will celebrate the culture and creativity of Calderdale by allowing each artist to explore new ideas while engaging with the local community. People will have the chance to work with the artist in a series of fully accessible workshops and engagement activities, providing space for the exchange of ideas between artists and their communities.
We’ll be sharing more about each residency and the artists taking part as they are programmed. If you would like to apply for a residency you can find details of any open calls here.
Ogden Water
nature reserve
Sally Barker is Ogden Water Nature Reserve’s Artist in Residence as part of Calderdale’s Year of Culture.
Sally works mainly with sculpture and installation but also with video, printing, painting and the occasional performance. She explores ideas around power, control and fault both in relation to feminism and the natural environment. She often uses casting and ceramic techniques, as casting brings an element of reality and presence.
She explores our often destructive relationship with the natural world, by combining elements of the body with natural objects, whether through cast techniques or by manipulating and leaving her mark on the clay.
To find out more about Sally, please visit her website or follow her on Instagram: @sallyjbarker
The Smith
Art Gallery
Rachael Elwell is The Smith Art Gallery’s Artist in Residence as part of Calderdale’s Year of Culture.
During her residency at the Smith Art Gallery, Rachael will spend the first 1-2 weeks immersed in the surrounding outdoor environment, gathering visual research through photography, on-site drawings, painted sketches, and written notes. This diary of initial thoughts and observations will inform her creative process. Back in the studio, she will transform this research into large-scale expressive drawings and paintings. Throughout the residency, Rachael will refine her current methods while experimenting with new painting techniques and working on a scale larger than she has previously explored, pushing the boundaries of her artistic practice.
To find out more about Rachael Elwell, please visit her website or follow her on Instagram: @Rachaelelwellartist