We aim for time spent at Hospitalfield to act as a step change in the evolution of an artist’s work.
The residency programme at Hospitalfield provides opportunities for visual artists, filmmakers, writers and other cultural practitioners to focus on the development of a specific idea, project or the development of new work.
It is a context in which participants can work independently or collaboratively. Selectors are looking for applicants that can demonstrate clearly what their project or focus for the residency will be.
Please note that currently:-
- The funded residency programmes are devised for those developing their working lives within the scope of contemporary visual art practice.
- The Interdisciplinary Programme is a programme that welcomes applications from a wide range of cultural practitioners.
- The Graduate programme invites applications from art courses.
- We work with partners to devise and run other specialist residency programmes throughout the year.
Applications are invited from artists who have a specific project or period of work to focus on and for whom this time will be invaluable. We expect that applicants will have had a formal training or similar and will be developing projects and new work for public exhibition or developing their research with some form of future public outcome in mind. The programmes are structured for individuals working at a range of points in their career. Each has a specific focus, the Interdisciplinary Programme for example aiming to cultivate a group which has the broadest range of practices. Selectors will consider the application statements with care and in accordance with the aims of each of the programmes. We do not expect to do interviews so will select from the applications.
Participants in the programme live and work in the house, studios, gardens and courtyards of the estate. The location overlooking the North Sea gives a feeling of isolation and is an extremely peaceful place to work however, once off the threshold of the estate the reality is that Hospitalfield is a part of the small fishing town of Arbroath and within walking distance of useful amenities. Arbroath station is on the east coast train line running from London to Aberdeen and the direct trains to all of the main Scottish cities. The long daylight hours in the spring and summer, beautiful coast line and high percentage of sunshine hours defines this part of Scotland.
Selectors for the residency programmes at Hospitalfield are looking for applicants that can demonstrate clearly what their project or focus for the residency is and what they anticipate the potential that this setting will offer them and the progression of their work.
To read more about Hospitalfield's Residency Programme please visit our website...
Hospitalfield Commission in partnership with Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust (THAT)
We are looking for an artist that works with socially engaged practice to work with Hospitalfield and T.H.A.T. around the theme of Pollination.
We aim to appoint an artist in August to work with participants during this August - October 2025.
Reporting to: THAT Development Officer + Hospitalfield Volunteer and Engagement Co-ordinator.
Application: Please apply using the application form available at [LINK HERE]
Deadline for application: midnight Friday 6th June 2025.
If Shortlisted: We will let you know if you have been shortlisted by Tuesday 10th June . We will then arrange for an in-person interview at Hospitalfield.
About the project
Hospitalfield working in Partnership with Tayside Healthcare Arts (THAT) have delivered creative artists opportunities since 2020. This is the sixth commission that we are offering as a partnership. Previously commissioned artists have been Luke Pell, Alison Scott, Kim Walker, Fiona McCubbin, Chelin Millar. See links below for their projects.
We wish to appoint an artist who has a strong artistic practice which includes working with people and, in the case of this project, the commission would be to work with those experiencing long term health conditions. Together, the group will meet at Hospitalfield on a regular basis over eight weeks. This regularity offers an important opportunity for a group of people, who are often isolated, to meet, get to know one another and encounter the visual arts in an open and welcoming environment.
We view this commission as an important opportunity for artists who work in a socially engaged way to develop a project or an idea that is important to them and their practice. We would like to encourage artists to embed their own ideas and visual arts practice into this opportunity and outline in your application how you would aim to do this.
This project is structured as eight weekly workshops where the group explores themes through discussion and making and creating. The group will be led and encouraged by the artist and the artist will bring this period of working together to an end with some culmination. The form of this is to be determined and facilitated by the lead artist working with the group, with support from Hospitalfield and Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust (THAT).
This year Hospitalfield’s programme will be brought together under the theme of pollinate.
Each year we invite artists, cultural programmers and curators to work with us to develop our programme at Hospitalfield and we fine that loose programmatic theme makes it possible for us to draw all the strands together. Our programme is a platform for ideas, enabling us to focus on an ongoing conversation, it is a place where we can work things out, listen to one another and enjoy learning from a network of contributors.
As we discussed this year’s programme, Laura Mansfield, who has worked with us on the festival programme for a number of years, suggested we start with the physiology of a single pollen grain. Each grain relies for its resilience in its protective outer shell. This is a natural polymer called sporopollenin which can preserve a single pollen grain for hundreds of millions of years.
With this starting point we can focus on a breadth of programming. This is evidenced clearly within our Residency Programme, where artists live together, work in the studios for a number of days, weeks and months. Their working time here is fertile, but the outcome is not always immediately obviously. The trust relationship is such that we don’t need to see or experience an outcome, we know that the impact will be felt within the artist’s practice for a long time to come.
The resilience of a minute grain of highly fertile pollen, protected through its natural evolution places our human notion of time into sharp perspective and, in these times, is an optimistic reality. The starting point is woven into each strand of the public programme; the study days, the guided tours, work in the garden and our engagement programme.
Previous artists to lead projects as part of this programme have been Luke Pell and Alison Scott. You can read more about previous projects here.
Schedule
Workshops x 8
Date: Across 8 weeks between August 19th – 7th October [exact dates to be confirmed]
Time: 1.30pm – 3.15pm
Location: Hospitalfield Garden Café/ or Artists Studio
Intro Meeting & Review meeting THAT/Hospitalfield/Lead Artist
Date: TBC
Time: TBC
Location: Hospitalfield Garden Café / Online TBC
Fee
£1408 Total artist fee based on 32hrs @ £44p/hr (SAU Rates of Pay*)
Inclusive of delivery, planning, revision, and evaluation.
Additional budget for materials and project costs, and a small budget for travel.
The Lead Artist will:
- ·Work with Hospitalfield and T.H.A.T. to devise a project plan.
- Work with participants over eight weeks to develop a new participatory commission. This project will take place on site at Hospitalfield.
- Meet with Hospitalfield and T.H.A.T. staff and participants to develop ideas.
- Provide eight weekly sessions with regular updates on development of ideas, processes, and production.
- Assist in the promotion of this project through Hospitalfield’s website and social media channels.
- Contribute to promotional activity including providing an artists’ biography, up to date CV, up to ten images of previous work.
- Participate and provide an Artist reflective report for the evaluation of the programme, and review of aims/objectives will be an ongoing process between Hospitalfield, T.H.A.T. and support of the artist.
Eligibility
This opportunity is open to:
- Artists/Practitioners living and working within easy travelling distance to Arbroath, Angus.
- Practitioners working across disciplines Visual Artists, Artist Educators, Dancers, Musicians for example.
- Artist/practitioners working alone or in collaboration/as part of a collective.
- Artists/practitioners with experience working with adults with long term health conditions or other conditions.
If you have any access requirements or questions that you’d like to share with us ahead of your application, please get in touch as soon as possible at kirsten@hospitalfield.org.uk or by calling us on 01241 656124.
In alignment with our Equalities policy, we know that, for the organisation to be relevant and to thrive in a changing cultural context, Hospitalfield must represent, at all levels of the organisation, a diverse range of influences. We strive to offer people with different backgrounds and experiences, the opportunity to work with us.
About Hospitalfield
Hospitalfield is a place to work, study, learn, visit, and enjoy. Dedicated to contemporary art and ideas, our aim is to invest in the extraordinary heritage at Hospitalfield and in a future that is at the heart of the intention of the original 19th century bequest; to support artists and education in the arts. We are committed to interpreting this legacy through a contemporary prism that is right for our times. Hospitalfield aims to make art, horticulture, and history accessible without compromising on ideas. We believe that lives can be enriched through art and creativity, and everyone has the democratic right to experience, participate and learn about art, gardens, and history.
About THAT
Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust (THAT) works in the community and inpatient settings across Tayside delivering creative engagement programmes for people living with a range of Long Term Health Conditions. We break down barriers to accessing the arts and promote the positive health improvements that participating in the arts can bring while engaging and support artists within this area of care.