Six residencies available

CELEBRATING AND SUPPORTING COLLABORATION, INNOVATION AND DIVERSITY

Glass Art is an ancient craft and a heritage industry but when Sam Herman opened The Glasshouse in 1969, British Studio Glass exploded into the international contemporary art scene and garnered avid collectors internationally. Today, with the pandemic shutting galleries and places to learn or apprentice in kiln cast glass dwindling, the medium in the UK is due a renaissance.

In setting up the Glass Lab, The Glass Foundry want to create a school of glass alchemy that fosters diversity, innovation and collaboration. We want to revive the spirit of The Glasshouse for the BLM generation: ensuring that the line of mastery is not only unbroken but also multiplies and embeds in diverse ethnicities. We want to shift the cultural ecology of this artform to reflect more equity, inclusion and diversity. We also want to support women to positions of leadership in the field.

We are looking for…

Creatives who wish to innovate and experiment in glass in a collaborative and diverse professional studio environment.

We are in especially interested to receive applications from minority groups.

You will already have at least some knowledge or experience of working in glass or be an emerging or established artist, designer or architect who is curious about exploring potential applications of kiln cast glass in your current practice.

Why?

Glass, a unique and curious material, works in many forms from sculpture to vessels from architecture to furniture and lighting

Glass can also be a very expensive art form.  Purchase of raw materials, access to professional equipment and guidance from skilled makers is beyond the reach of many aspiring creatives.  This can limit risk taking in creative applications and stifle ambition and originality.

Aspiring creatives can struggle to find opportunity to access professional studios to continue their practice and artists have over the years, for the factors mentioned above, abandoned the medium.  No more. The renaissance starts here!

What is on offer?

• Six fully funded residencies available Spring/Summer 2021  
• Residencies are for 1 month as 3-4 studio days a week 
• Travel, accommodation and subsistence for the month will be provided up to a limit of £1000
• Materials and studio use will be provided, up to a limit, for the duration of the residency.

You will also receive

• guidance from professional staff
• kiln use within reasonable and negotiated limits
• shared use of studio equipment under professional supervision
• allocated studio space to work from

What we expect from our creatives in residence?

• Successful applicants to work with The Glass Foundry to tailor their residency experience through online planning meetings, so that they can hit the ground running.
• To agree in principle with our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion statement and in practice to work towards its aims and adhere to its values. –

“The Glass Foundry while celebrating diversity recognises that historic prejudices have created a society where systemic barriers to the inclusion of ethnic minorities and women remain.  We are committed to confronting these inequalities.  This means having the difficult conversations necessary to ensure that we de-colonise ourselves, the arts and our institutions.  We also recognise that biases are part of all our conditioning and as such we bring compassion and understanding to this process.”

• To attend Health and Safety training and follow guidelines for working in the studio and using the equipment appropriately.
• All innovations and artworks will remain the intellectual property of the artist but The Glass Lab to be credited with supporting the innovation.
• Creatives to tag The Glass Lab and The Glass Foundry with all social media posts relating to the residency and contribute to articles on The Glass Foundry website on their residency.
• For 2021 the artists in residence to credit both the Arts Council of England and the Culture Fund in their media and publications relating to the residency.
• All artist residents have the opportunity to contribute to a final Glass Lab exhibition in Summer 2021. This need not be a completed piece but could be an account of the residency experience or work in progress. Venue tbc.

Note on COVID

We will do our utmost to be flexible around the schedule of the residencies so that they can be completed despite the sporadic restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

We will request that successful candidates take a COVID test before beginning their residency. Although we wish to encourage collaboration between artists we will also adhere to social distancing and hand washing requirement and the disinfection of workstations between users.

Application Procedure

1^st December 2020 - OPEN

28th January 2021 - Deadline for all applications

29-30^th January 2021 - Shortlisted applicants notified

1st - 4th February 2021 - Online Interviews

5th February - Successful Applicants Notified

8th February 2021 – Unsuccessful applicants notified.

Spring/Summer 2021 residencies begin.

Due to government restrictions  we have extended the original residency period.

APPLY NOW