Fred Hüning Untitled (2 photographers), 2008 C-print
Children may be endlessly creative but they have a way of stymieing their parents’ creativity. Parenthood, particularly in the early years, can feel like a creative black hole, with your output limited to drawing endless firetrucks and finger painting with primary-coloured poster paint.
Having a room of one’s own – and even better, a stipend and someone to look after your kids – might become more of a reality, as more organisations worldwide realise the benefits of family-friendly artist residencies.
This year, the organisation behind one of Australia’s oldest literary and cultural magazines Overland Journal has offered the Overland Writer’s Residency, a new initiative supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund. Research from VIDA, the Stella Prize, and Women in Literary Arts Australia has found that female writers with children are often isolated and struggle to find the time and space to concentrate on their craft. ‘We think the residency addresses a lack of opportunities for a drastically underrepresented group of writers. This material and financial lack contributes to a sense of artistic isolation and, eventually, fatigue,’ said Jacinda Woodhead, editor of Overland.
Karen McKnight was the inaugural recipient of the residency, which includes use of a private office at Overland’s offices; a $500 weekly stipend; and a mentorship with Melbourne writer Alison Croggon. McKnight works as a community teacher of writing for disadvantaged students and is the mother of a teenage daughter. She aims to use the residency to develop her collection of stories, The Polyester Dress, to publication stage.
‘Overland received more than 60 serious applications from women writers desperately in need of the kind of support this residency was offering – from women with babies to those who had teenagers, from women whose children had special needs to women who’d put their writing and careers on hold while they worked to raise their children to almost-adulthood,’ said Moorhead.
In 2011, conceptual artist Lenka Clayton had her first child and found that existing residencies weren’t accommodating of artists with children, so she set one up in her own home. While traditional residencies provide escape from the realities of everyday life, Artist Residency in Motherhood ‘subverts the art-world’s romanticisation of the unattached (often male) artist, and frames motherhood as a valuable site, rather than an invisible labor, for exploration and artistic production.’
Clayton writes ‘For the 227 days of the residency the fragmented mental focus, exhaustion, nap-length studio time and countless distractions of parenthood as well as the absurd poetry of time spent with a young child will become the artist’s working materials and situation, rather than obstacles to be escaped from.’
Among the works she created was Objects Taken Out of My Son’s Mouth, below.
Clayton had made a free downloadable residency set-up kit for other artists, including documents to help artists plan the structure of their residency; an editable manifesto; and a form for the artists to fill in detailing the duration of the residency, its website and location.
Around the world, residencies range from all-inclusive programs with a hefty stipend, on-site childcare and state-of-the-art studios, to a simple space in a shared studio. The following family friendly residencies all accept international applications.
Headlands Artist in Residence, San Francisco
Stay in the multi-room Family House at the multidisciplinary, international Headlands Centre for the Arts in San Francisco. Artists receive a monthly stipend, paid airfares, chef-prepared dinners and access to the historic museums, galleries and public events in the Bay Area.
Bundanon Trust Prelude Artist-in-Residence, various locations
Prelude provides the time and space for composers to create new work. Composers and their families can stay in historic National Trust homes around Australia. The current homes include Peggy Granville-Hicks’ restored terrace in Paddington, NSW, and the Gallop house, an 1877 Victorian home in Dalkeith, WA. The program also includes a stipendof $15,000 for twelve months.
Parent Artist Space Grant, Brooklyn
Based in Brooklyn, New York, this is one of the only programs aimed at parents of preschool-aged children that offers a stipend to cover the cost of childcare. Two places are offered to a choreographer and a performance artist, and includes 50 hours of free rehearsal space at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange.
Ballinglen Arts Foundation Fellowship Program, Ireland
Stay in a cottage in the small rural town of Ballycastle, on the windswept north-west coast of Ireland. The Program accepts residents for a minimum of six weeks, provides purpose-built studios and even encourages artists to enrol their kids in the local primary school.
Malakta Art Factory AiR, Finland
An artist-paid program, Malakta AiR offers a two bedroom fully furnished apartment in a historic building in western Finland. Residents can use the traditional Finnish sauna, bikes, and large garden complete with sandpit. Access to a studio, darkroom, foundry and rehearsal space is included.
Sapporo Tenjin-yama Art Studio, Japan
Artists and their families can rent apartments in the purpose-built building consisting of 13 studios and apartments for local and international artists. The studios are in the middle of a park and face a traditional Japanese garden, but are only minutes from Sapporo, the largest city on the northern island of Japan.
