Supporting creative practitioners to have freedom and resources to develop ideas is an incredibly important part of our work at Watershed, so we are truly delighted to announce an open call for this year’s funded residencies…

About the programme

Our Winter Residencies programme is a fantastic opportunity to develop and share ideas, to meet incredible people, to make, experiment and think. It is open to creative practitioners of any discipline, career stage and background, who have ideas for projects that blend art and technology.

We have three residencies available. Each comes with a structured programme, work space at the Pervasive Media Studio, a network of peers, plus financial, technical and critical support. The programme will take place in Winter 2018/19 and we’re flexible about how you structure your time. This is a remarkable opportunity to have time, space and freedom to get an idea off the ground.

Gemma Paintin and James Stenhouse of Action Hero, Artist in Residence 2017 say:

“We felt very cared for during our residency and that the Pervasive Media Studio (and the people in it) were genuinely invested in and excited about our project. There’s literally no way we would be where we are now without it. The residency has genuinely opened up a bunch of new possibilities that will be felt in our practice for many years.”

Residents will be based at our Pervasive Media Studio joining an incredible community of over 100 artists, creative companies, engineers, academics, scientists, technologists and tinkerers, who work on new and emerging ideas. Ideas span gaming, projections, location-based media, city intervention, connected objects, tangible interfaces, space exploration and new forms of performance. Some are cultural, some are commercial. Run in partnership with the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol, the Studio has a great workspace, an open ethos and a can-do attitude.

David Lisser, Artist in Residence 2017 says:

“The Pervasive Media Studio is an absolutely fascinating place, primarily because of the people who congregate there. To have a chat next to the coffee machine can be dangerously interesting – you start talking about coffee or chocolate and in half an hour you’ve covered experiments in isolation, dementia, physical storytelling and the darker side of virtual reality. For anyone who is curious about the world, it is wonderful.”

We are also excited to announce a change to the structure of our residency programme. In past years we have offered multiple programmes such as Artist in Residence and New Talent Residencies which sought to support practitioners at different stages in their careers. But we feel that creating the conditions for amazing work to thrive is to bring together people who are different from one another, so this year we welcome applications from everyone. You could be just starting out, mid or late career, you could be pivoting in a creative direction or returning from a career break. All career stages, creative disciplines and backgrounds are welcome. This year is a trial of the new structure and we welcome feedback.

We are open for applications now. If you have any questions or would like to chat about any aspect of your proposal or the application process, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you.

• Application Deadline: Mon 25 June, 10:00
• For further information please read the Residency Brief.
• You can access the Application Form here.

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