Application Deadline: 5th of January 2025, 12 Midnight

Interdisciplinary Residency Dates in 2025:
 March 10th - 23rd
 August 11th - 24th
 October 6th - 19th
 November 10th - 23rd 

*Each residency can host up to 16 practitioners selected through open call or via partnerships.

 Selected by:

Juana Adcock: Born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, based in Scotland, Juana Is a Poet and Translator working in both English and Spanish.

Deniz Uster: Is an artist, researcher and milliner with an indefatigable passion for astronomy, geology and microbiology.

Interdisciplinary Residency Programme:

The Interdisciplinary Residency Programme 2025 is open to those working across the arts, who have urgent projects to address, or require time to focus on a specific area of development in their work. The programme is open to applications from National and International artists, researchers and creative practitioners working across all art forms. This can include, but is not limited to, writers, musicians, architects, producers, dancers, choreographers, curators, designers, educators and researchers.

The Interdisciplinary Residency is an opportunity to spend two weeks of highly focused time with peers working in a broad range of practices and can be a test bed for new ideas and work.

More About the Interdisciplinary Residency Programme:

The Interdisciplinary Residency Programme at Hospitalfield has been devised to appeal across all art forms. It has been planned as an opportunity to support those working across the arts to provide space to focus on the development of their work.

We will ensure that this is a productive time set within the retreat-likeenviornment of Hospitalfield. The residency period is two weeks long and each residency can host up to 16 people, Hospitalfield facilitates a programme of interaction and discussion within the group to encourage community within the residency cohort.

This residency is an opportunity that appeals to those arts professionals who need time to work on a specific project, undisturbed, in a supportive environment. The selectors bring together a group that reflects a broad range of practices, who will find the time invaluable and gain much from working within the residency setting.

We encourage applications from those working in creative practices that feel that the residency would be of benefit to their work. It’s important that residents commit to the entire residency period, to provide consistency for the group and to make sure you can immerse yourself in the situation and your work.

 Recent redevelopment to the estate and facilities provide even more opportunities for our residents. In 2024 we re-opened our 19th and 20th century studios after extensive restoration work. These studios allow large working spaces for a broad range of visual arts and other practices, as well as space to conduct research. We also launched our new 21st century studio, that has been designed for artists working with moving image, sound, and photographic practices.

 For 2025 South Lodge, a contemporary house on the estate, will provide accommodation for our focus on supporting new writing. We are looking for up to 4 writing residents per residency period who are interested in joining us as we develop this part of our programme.  

 Residents have their lunch and dinner provided in a communal setting during the week and are provided with fresh produce at the weekend. These times are a valuable opportunity for socialising and afford residents more time to concentrate fully on their work.

The Facilities:
 Our vision for the programme is to provide space, hospitality and groups of artists working alongside one another. This is not a workshop model residency, but there are facilities to support a range of practices. 

 The 19th and 20th century studios are large purpose-built artist studios, which are North facing, creating a steady light throughout the day. These large studios now have underfloor heating, increased insulation as well as large sinks and accessible bathrooms. They are well suited for painting, installation, sculpture, ceramics, drawing and other making based practices as well movement and performance.

The new 21st century studio features a space suited to recording of sound, music and performance and an editing studio which is ideal for editing moving image or sound. Both studios can be fully blacked out from light and have sound insulation. The editing studio has a cinema grade projector and surround speakers. Also in this new building is a small wet dark room for B&W development and printing. This is our first full year of using the 21st century studio and we will be welcoming feedback and input from residents over the year about how we can best use and resource this new building.
 

The South Lodge is a 4-bedroom house that suits our new strand of residencies dedicated to supporting writers. Residents will have communal writing space in the lodge itself as well as access to the study in the main house and our growing 21st century library and reading space.

Where applicable, practitioners may also work in some of the rooms in the historic house, the Memorial Chapel, and can participate in tours and discussions about the heritage and collections.  

If attending in the summer months or in good weather, we can also facilitate outdoor working and enable access to the garden and grounds.

Programme streams:
Whilst the residencies are open to a very broad range of practices, we have some places set aside in each residency period for some specific practices. If you are applying for any of the below, please make sure and note this on your application in the allocated space. 

Print, Each residency period we award one PRINT Place on the Interdisciplinary residency which provides solo access for one artist to work in the Kinpurnie Print studio which is designed especially for safe etching and mono printing. Please indicate on the application form when you apply whether you would like to be considered for this place and detail how you will use this in your project proposal. 

Photo, If you would like to use the small B&W dark room, please detail this in your proposal. This is the first full year of using our new photographic studio and we are still in a ‘testing’ period so it would be best used by experienced photographers. This facility can be shared by two residents in a group.

Writing, Please indicate on the application form if you are applying for a space in our South Lodge space that is dedicated to supporting writers.  Residents will have communal writing space in the lodge itself as well as access to the study in the main house and our growing 21st century library and reading space. Residents on the writing programme will still eat with and share activities with the residents using the main studios.
 

Residencies include:
Full board catering
Individual bedrooms
24-hour access to the artist studios
Access to heritage spaces and rooms in Hospitalfield House and Grounds

How to apply:  

Selectors are looking for applicants who apply with an urgent project or can demonstrate clearly what their project or focus for the residency will be.
Please note we actively discourage proposals which are site specific or directly draw on Hospitalfield itself as we want people to come with, and leave with, work which is relevant and useful to them in a wider context. 

Applicants have roughly a 1 in 3 change of being awarded a place on this residency programme
 

Eligibility:
Undergraduate students are not eligible to apply to this residency
If you are still studying at the point of the deadline, you can't make an application, please apply in the future and join our mailing list to hear about other residency news and deadlines including our Graduate Residency.

We welcome applications from individuals, and those wishing to work in collaborative groups please get in touch with us at programme@hospitalfield.org.uk ahead of your application  if you are planning to apply as a collective to discuss this further.

Costs:
 £990 (including VAT) per person for a two week, self-funded, subsidised, full board catered residency with 24 hour access to studio space. [This cost represents a 51% subsidy]
 

Self-funded:
The Interdisciplinary Residency Programme is a subsidised, self-funded residency, it costs £990 per person to attend. It is not supported directly through public funds.

We expect that some of the applicants will pay for themselves, and others will look to professional bodies, local cultural support structures, private trusts, or advocating agencies for support. Many practitioners secure funding from national and trust funders to undertake the residency.

Examples of these Nationally would be; Creative Scotland project funding, A-N Artist Bursaries, Arts Council England DYCP funding, regional VACMA Artist & Craft Maker Awards, Hope Scott Trust, Royal Scottish Academy Residencies for Scotland Scheme and The Cross Trust in Scotland. For agencies in other countries, practitioners can request information from relevant Arts Councils and artist support organisations.

 If you are selected for the residency by our panel, we are happy to provide supporting documentation, such as an official letter, after the offer has been made.

Hospitalfield Interdisciplinary Residency Guide to Funding

Access:
Your residency proposal can be submitted either as text or as an audio file via the online form, please get in touch if you have questions regarding the application process.

On the application form there is space for you to include any access requirements, mobility, or health factors you would like to inform us about.  Hospitalfield is a 19th century artists’ house and there are several steps and stairs up to many of the rooms in the house and between the House, and around the Grounds.

After you are awarded a place, you are given the option of completing a more detailed access rider where you can raise access requirements.

The studios are fully accessible and have fully accessible bathroom facilities. There is access to shared and private working spaces.

Dining at Hospitalfield happens together and the residency involves being part of a group which you can engage with as much or as little as suits you.

There is space on the application form to tell us about any dietary requirements you have. 

Prior to your application we aim to provide as much helpful information as possible around access to best inform your decision about whether to apply. If you have any questions, please email programme@hospitalfield.org.uk
 

Questions and further Information about Hospitalfield
 Hospitalfield’s Residency Programme supports artists, researchers and creative practitioners working across all art forms in the production of new work. While each strand of our programme has its own focus, our overall intention is to provide space and time for artists to focus on questions, problems and ideas that will have an impact for them now and into the future.
 Participants in the programme live and work in the house, studios, gardens, and courtyards of the estate. The location, overlooking the North Sea, provides an extremely peaceful place to work. Hospialfield is situated on the edge of the small town of Arbroath, once off the threshold of the estate you are within walking distance of useful amenities and the beach. Arbroath station is on the east coast train line from London to Aberdeen and is linked to all the main Scottish towns and cities by train and buses. The long daylight hours in the spring and summer, beautiful coast line and high percentage of sunshine hours defines this part of Scotland.
 Further information about our residencies and facilities can be found on residency pages of the website, HERE

Further information about Hospitalfield can be found HERE

For more information or for questions about the Interdisciplinary Programme please email programme@hospitalfield.org.uk

More about the Selectors:

Deniz Uster (b.1981-Istanbul), is a Scotland-based multidisciplinary artist researcher. Spanning across geological and scientific inquiry, Deniz Uster’s art practice is permeated by anthropological and historical research to form pluralistic social narratives, using science fiction as her primary discipline. A fictional shift in nature within these ‘filmic’ narratives forms the foundation for alternative social structures, cultures, economic systems, futures and histories.  Uster continues to create cinematic speculative-fiction narratives through miniature dioramas, installations, films, drawings and sculptural headpieces under the brand name OTHERSCAPES.

Juana Adcock, was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, she is a poet writing in both English and Spanish. She is the author of Manca (Tierra Adentro, 2014), Vestigial (Stewed Rhubarb, 2022), and Split (Blue Diode, 2019), which was a Poetry Book Society Choice, and I Sugar the Bones (Out-Spoken Press, 2024). She is co-editor of the anthology Temporary Archives: Poetry by women of Latin America (Arc, 2022) and translator of Laura Wittner’s Translation of the Route (Bloodaxe/PTC, 2024) and Hubert Matiuwaa’s The Dogs Dreamt. She performs regularly at literary festivals in Europe, Asia and Latin America



Photo Credit: Ruth Clark

 HOSPITALFIELD

Post - Community Gardener 

Pollinate – planting a pollination corridor at Hospitalfield

Contract: fixed term 12 weeks for the duration of the project (may be extended) 

Hours: 25 hours per week (schedule negotiable) 

Salary: £18 per hour 

Reporting to: Director supported by the Volunteer and Engagement Programme Manager 

Application: Please apply using the application form available at hospitalfield.submittable.com/ 

Deadline for application: 23.59pm Thursday 9 January 2025

 If shortlisted: Notification on the 10 January. In person interview Tuesday 13 January 2025. 

This role is funded through Angus Rural partnership and the funds must be designated by the end of February 2025. We are aware of the pressures that this brings in terms of the start date for the project. Please be aware that dates are therefore not flexible and you should be available to start the post in late January.

Context:- The site at Hospitalfield has been populated since the 13th century when the monks who ran Arbroath Abbey established their hotel or hospital, here they must have grown a medicinal garden and brewed potions as medicines to improve the health and wellbeing of those who they cared for. The site is now the location of a 19th century Arts & Crafts house designed and build by the artist Patrick Allan Fraser and his wife Elizabeth. On his death in 1890 Patrick left his estate to support artists and education in the arts. Today we run a programme of activity that is anchored within contemporary art practice – horticulture has become a vital cross cutting theme within our programme.

Introduction to role and job description:- In 2021 Hospitalfield opened the walled garden to the public. It is designed by the horticulturalist Nigel Dunnett. We have made some additions such a creating a medicinal garden and we have a team of volunteers, who are led by the Community Garden in the ongoing maintenance of this ‘naturalistic’ garden. As well as the ongoing maintenance of the walled garden there is still more to do on a project-by-project basis. 

Our next project is the development of an area of unused land, on one side is farmland and on the other our neighbours who live in the 1980’s style housing estate that borders the Hospitalfield estate. 

The Project:- We are designing and planting a new designated pollination corridor within the grounds at Hospitalfield as part of our 2025 theme of ‘Pollinate’. The Community Gardener will join the team to lead the practical aspect of the delivery of this planting scheme. 

A Community Liaison officer will be appointed alongside this role to support the consultation and community engagement. In addition to involving our immediate neighbours you will be involving and working with a group of vulnerable women and girls from Angus, this is a partnership with other community agencies that Hospitalfield has a long working relationship with. 

Our aim is to ensure that the project allows everyone to learn from one another and to gain a sense of ownership from the project. Whilst the consultation and delivery is planned to take place over a tight timetable, the interpretation, nurturing and maintenance of the site will form part of the ongoing horticulture programme at Hospitalfield.

I third member of the team involved in the delivery of the project will be artist, Rebecca Chesney. She will record and document what is achieved, participate in the consultation and become a core project for Hospitalfield’s summer programme. The legacy of the group will continue into the warmer months; measuring and observing the improved impact of the planting on insect habitat particularly butterflies, moths and insects that will pollinate the fruit trees. 

Over the 12-week period the gardener will plan prepare and work with a dedicated group to clear ground, plant pollinating trees and seeds that will improve the site and create a corridor for pollinating insects. Winter is the most important time for planning, clearing and planting a project of this sort. It can also be the worst time of year for those who are somewhat isolated in their homes. 

The Community Gardener will support engagement and participation in the horticultural story of Hospitalfield. The Community Gardener will be supported by the full time Volunteer and Engagement Manager and the Pollinate Community Liaison Officer. Together they will plan the programme, working with established and new community participants. Who will learn as they plant, build confidence and create new community connections. 

Person specification 

The Hospitalfield Trust aim to recruit an enthusiastic, knowledgeable Community Gardener to work on a horticultural engagement project. It is important that the gardener has extensive experience of working with community groups and feels confident to play a leading role  in catalysing an group of Angus based women and girls who have challenges in their lives, may not have done anything like this before but who are very eager to work and learn. 

You must be able to demonstrate within your application that you have experience of working with others in an horticultural context. This is a practical role that requires an aptitude for teaching and communicating enthusiastically to those who want to learn and get involved. 

You will be able to show that you have had experience of working in leading and taking responsibility for community gardens or similar, or in gardens where there has been a volunteer workforce. The role is crucial in supporting the continuation and growth of our community engagement and volunteer programme delivered in the gardens at Hospitalfield. 

You will work closely with the volunteers and with the Pollinate Community Liaison Officer and turn the design into a planting scheme that can be efficiently maintained and entertainingly interpreted. 

Experience of working in public gardens would be useful, where there is a sensibility towards a wider range of diverse audiences, some experts and others who need more straight forward information to access the intention behind the planting. 

Through working with you on this project the participants will have the opportunity to work together to;

· Learn about horticulture – the group will learn from the Hospitalfield staff but mostly they will learn through doing. They will have the opportunity to work with an artist who has great experience of both horticulture projects and also working with communities on such planting programmes. This is core to Hospitalfield charitable purpose, and we believe that it interesting to learn what an artist does and how art can be more than the expected painting and drawing.

· Learning about the climate emergency –this project enables us to speak about the impact of climate change and how we can work together in small ways to make a difference. this project is inspired by the need that we have to replace habitat and to create well managed wildness.

· Health and wellbeing – physical work to raise the heart rate; dig the land, sow the seeds and plant trees – gaining all that excellent wellbeing impact from strenuous work.

· Benefit from working together as a group – where we know that loneliness is part of so many people’s lives at whatever age they might be – this is a group designed to create a support network for women and girls.

Post Purpose and Outline 

• To work with staff , participants and community partners guiding them and ensuring that they feel part of the experience of working at Hospitalfield. 

• Working with the team to develop garden engagement opportunities for a wide range of individuals including our dedicated group of volunteers and wider community partners. 

• To work with the staff team on the interpretation and communication of the garden to visitors. 

• Through planning and developing the garden, ensure a commitment to Nigel Dunnett’s principles of design. 

Skills and Experience 

Essential Qualifications 

• Excellent experience of horticulture either to RHS Level 2 or through practical experience working in horticulture. 

Learning 

• Experience of delivering and facilitating garden projects 

• Experience of and commitment to using the garden as a place for learning and training. 

• Experience of working with a volunteer workforce. 

Approach to work 

• Conscientious and organised. 

• Excellent communication skills 

• Good grasp of computer working specifically: e mails, word processing. 

• Ability to work to deadlines with limited supervision. 

• Experience of working as part of a team and working with volunteers of a broad range of experiences. 

Desirable 

• Experience of working in a public garden or nursery. 

• Awareness of the responsibilities of working with the public. 

• Understanding of community learning and development. 

• Understanding of the ways in which horticulture can be used in the context of well-being. 

• Interest in growing food and the link to the catering/food destination that Hospitalfield will become. 

Equalities In alignment with our Equalities policy, we know that, in order 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. If you have any access requirements, please make us aware if you reach interview stage. 

Context 

Hospitalfield Dedicated to contemporary art and ideas, Hospitalfield is a place to work, study, learn, visit and enjoy. Situated just to the south of the coastal town of Arbroath, Hospitalfield House is an artists’ house: We run an international programme of residencies for artists across art form, we commission new work: summer schools; events; talks; festivals; conferences. We care for the historic collections and run a heritage programme. We open the doors and run tours and events that relate to our heritage. We have a trading arm that runs a programme of hires and events that earns income for the Trust. The distinctive double Walled Garden at Hospitalfield has been redesigned by garden designer Nigel Dunnett. The gardens opened to visitors for the first time on 27 May 2021. The scheme was developed to reveal the unique horticultural history of the site at Hospitalfield, which has been tended as a garden for over 800 years. The Fernery at Hospitalfield was designed in 1872 by Patrick Allan-Fraser as a grotto-like building intended to house a collection of New Zealand tree ferns. The building fell into ruinous disrepair during the early-20th-century and has now become part of an exciting new chapter for the Walled Garden, sensitively restored to its former glory under the guidance of architects Caruso St John. It has been replanted with the varieties of ferns, a collection gifted by the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh. This is the only surviving Fernery on the east coast of Scotland, and one of only four buildings of this type in Scotland.