SACKLER CENTRE FOR ARTS EDUCATION AT THE V&A

Residency Programme

Still from 'Glow' by Jo Lawrence. © Jo Lawrence (click image for larger version)

The new and innovative Museum Residency Programme at the V&A gives designers, writers, makers, musicians and artists of all kinds the opportunity to have a studio in the museum for six months.

Two studios for Museum Residencies in the Sackler Centre for arts education provide space for four residents each year. A further fully equipped studio in the new Ceramics Galleries offers space for resident ceramicists.

Using these studios as a base, residents have access to the V&A's unique resources including the extensive collections, curatorial and conservation expertise, practical art, design and digital media workshops in the Sackler Centre and experienced educational and outreach staff. Residents use these resources to develop their careers, carry out research, make new work and acquire or increase their experience of working with the public. Residents will hold Open Studios sessions for visitors to the Museum to see and discuss their work in progress.

As part of their time at the V&A, residents will work with a team of museum professionals to contribute to the Learning Programme. This may include workshops, lectures and gallery talks, courses, gallery activities for children or contributing to the V&A website. Their input into these programmes is inspirational for both the public and museum staff. Access to the collections can fuel imaginative ideas for activities and events for the museum's audiences as well as new bodies of work for the residents.

Museum Residents

July 2010 / December 2011

January 2009 / June 2010

Open Studios

Residency Studios, Level 1, Sackler Centre
13.00-16.00

11, 20, 21 August
8, 18, 20, 22, 24 September
9, 15, 16, 17, 27 October
10, 19, 20, 21 November
3, 8 December

Ceramics, Room 143A

4, 20 August
8, 20, 22, 24, 25 September
9, 15, 16, 17, 27 October
10, 19, 20, 21 November
3, 8 December

You are welcome to drop into the residency studios, at the locations and times listed above, to meet the Residents and ask questions about their work and see it in progress. The Open Studio Programme gives a fascinating insight into the processes creative practioners use to develop ideas and the techniques that are used in their work.

How we appoint residents

The V&A invite applications from practitioners working with a specific media, or with an interest in a particular area of the collections. These have included animation, digital art, architecture, fashion, basketry, ceramics, automata, poetry and more. A call for applicants is put out on the V&A website and in selected publications and advertising networks. The applicant is asked to develop a proposal outlining how they might work with the collections and with the V&A's diverse audiences. A panel of Museum staff and external experts, where appropriate, are brought together to select candidates for interview. If you think this is something that you might be interested in applying for, please go to our job vacancies site regularly.