Are you an experienced and innovative artist, looking to try something new in 2019?
Applications are now open for the 2019 Auckland Council Regional Parks Artist in Residence programme.
Each year, a selection panel chooses an artist to work with, in, and around nature for eight-weeks in an Auckland regional park. The aim of the residency is for the artist to create new art that is influenced by that park or by the residency experience.
The work is then shared with the public through the artist's choice of display, such as an exhibition, performance, publication or a permanent feature within the park.
The selected artist for 2019 can choose between two locations in the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park to live and work from, one at Anawhata and the other at Little Huia. The residency will run from October to November 2019.
“The residency is a one-of-a-kind experience that allows artists easy access to some of the most incredible natural environments in the country,” says Councillor Alf Filipaina, Deputy Chair of Auckland Council’s Environment and Community Committee.
“What better opportunity to escape your usual routine, challenge yourself as an artist and try something new.”
How to apply
For more information and to apply, visit aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/arts.
Applications are open to professional artists working across all media. Previous residents include a choreographer, poet, installation artist, composer, photographer, filmmaker and painter. Artists must be New Zealand citizens or residents.
“The selection panel is looking for artists eager to immerse themselves in nature and they expect to see the artist’s responses and reactions to their environment in the work,” says Michelle Edge, Artist in Residence programme coordinator.
“Applicants should also be willing to engage with other people, such as visitors, volunteers, park rangers and iwi. This interaction often enriches the work.”
Applications close at 5pm on Friday 15 February 2019. We recommend artists submit their applications early.
About the current Artist in Residence
Multi-media artist Jude Robertson, the 2018 Auckland Regional Parks Artist in Residence, creates art using sound, sculpture and photography.
Jude has been living and working in Waharau Regional Park since mid-October. Over the course of the residency, she has been working on creating a sound map of the park.
Jude has been mapping her experiences through field recordings and photography, composing sounds into an atmospheric soundscape. The public will be able to experience her sound map in an immersive space at the park from February 2019.
Her mission is to encourage and enable people to tune into the nature of the location in a new and unique way.
“The sound map is inspired by natural elements such as water, climate, geological forces as well as the wide range of bird species found in the Hunuas, especially the kōkako,” says Jude.
“I am hoping to draw attention to this rich sonic environment and offer the public a new perspective of the park through an immersive sound experience.”
Much of her previous work explores people’s relationship with their environment and examines ideas around location, terrain and mapping.
Watch below for a sneak preview of 'Shifting Atmospheres':
