New residency for artists in craft and object art

Media release

New residency for artists in craft and object art

A new international residency for New Zealand artists working in craft and object art is being offered by the Arts Board of Creative New Zealand. Worth $20,000, the residency is available to artists currently working and exhibiting in New Zealand.

Unlike Creative New Zealand's other international residencies, this residency is not attached to a particular institution or location. Applicants determine the location, the residency period and the nature of the project.

Arts Board Chair Murray Shaw says the residency provides flexibility for artists across the craft/object art field - from jewellers, weavers and ceramicists through to furniture makers and designers.

"It means that applicants can choose the location that best suits their needs and their artform," Mr Shaw says. "In some cases, the artist may wish to work with a mentor and so the location may depend on where the mentor is based. In other cases, the artist may wish to work in a particular institution.

"Whatever the artist's primary objectives, the residency will provide the necessary time and stimulus to experiment and take risks, develop new techniques and build international networks."

In the past, Creative New Zealand offered a residency for jewellers at the Object Studios in Sydney but this residency programme is no longer available. Miriam Gribble, a contemporary jeweller based in Lyttelton, undertook the four-month residency in October 2000.

"The residency has had ongoing benefits for me," Gribble says. "It opened up new ways of working, which continue to influence my current work practice. And the networks I developed with Australian galleries and jewellers have provided work opportunities both for me and other New Zealand jewellers."

A project grant from the Arts Board in 2002 supported Gribble to participate in a second residency in Australia - this time at the Grey St Workshop in Adelaide where she was mentored by Australian contemporary jeweller Julie Blyfield.

Applications for the craft/object art residency close at 5pm, Wednesday 30 April 2003. For more information please contact Danielle Tolson, Assistant Arts Adviser, Creative New Zealand, PO Box 3806, Wellington (Tel: 04-473 0184 Email: daniellet@creativenz.govt.nz ) or visit the resources section of the Creative New Zealand website (www.creativenz.govt.nz ).

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For further information:

Undine Marshfield

Media and Communications Advisor

Creative New Zealand

Tel: 04-498 0725

Email: undinem@creativenz.govt.nz

Iona McNaughton

Communications Writer

Creative New Zealand

Tel: 04-498 0715

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