Collage Artist Residencies in Scotland

Kolaj Institute is partnering with A’ the Airts and the Nithsdale Hotel in Sanquhar, Scotland to offer week-long residencies for collage artists in Spring and Fall 2024. Residencies are organized around a theme which results in a project that brings focus to the group’s engagement with one another. Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis until space is filled. Artists are encouraged to apply well before deadlines.

ABOUT COLLAGE ARTIST RESIDENCIES

Collage Artist Residency: Scotland is a week-long artist residency designed for artists working in collage who seek to make art in community with other artists. The residency will unfold over the course of a week. Each day the group will meet in the morning for a presentation or workshop. Faculty will make presentations about place in art and strategies for incorporating place into one’s practice. Designed for collage artists, professional development sessions focus on artist practice: topics include Collage Theory; Sourcing Materials, Copyright, Appropriation; Developing Materials; Collaboration; and Collage in Presentation. Additional presentations speak to themes and projects specific to that particular residency.

In the afternoons, artists may choose to make art or take up an afternoon activity such as a walk to the River Nith and castle or a visit to the Tolbooth Museum or Saint Bride’s church or an afternoon trip via rail to Dumfries or Glasgow. Artists will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with faculty. In the evenings, we will convene at the Nithsdale Pub to informally share the experience of our days. Our hope is that artists will return to their home communities with fresh eyes and be prepared to see their art practice and home communities in a unique way.

Starting in September 2022, Collage Artist Residencies: Scotland have taken place in Spring and Fall. Over 90 artists have participated and made artwork that has been exhibited at the Knoxville Museum of Art and as part of Kolaj Fest New Orleans and has been published in Kolaj Institute books and Kolaj Magazine.

WHO IS THIS FOR?

Collage Artist Residency: Scotland is centered on collage artists who want to develop their artist practice. Residencies are intended for self-motivated artists, regardless of the stage in their career, who want to develop their practice by exploring a topic or working method and collaborating with others to produce a final product and who want to develop a practice of working with place, historic sites or history associations, folklore or other themes to create and present art that embeds itself in non-traditional spaces and speaks to a general community about contemporary issues.

Residencies are open to any artist over the age of 21 from anywhere in the world. We look for artists who have a developed sense of practice (even if it is an emerging one) and those who have a strong connection to a community. People of color, indigenous people, and members of queer communities are encouraged to apply.

Spring & Fall 2024
Castles as Buildings, Metaphors, & Systems of Power

31 March-6 April 2024
7-13 April 2024
14-20 April 2024

8 -14 September 2024
15-21 September 2024
22-28 September 2024

The 2024 residencies focus on Castles as Buildings, Metaphors, & Systems of Power.

The idea of castles dates back to the medieval period. Conventionally defined as fortified homes for seats of power, over time the idea of castles has evolved dramatically. Rich in mythology and folklore, castles appear in the 20th and 21st century as palatial estates renowned for their aristocracy and romance, centers of theme parks of the imagination. The idea that a “man’s house is his castle” is one of the oldest principles in Anglo-American jurisprudence. The reality of castles is much more complex: Not homes, but villages where complex systems of power dictated rules and etiquette. As models of human organization, castle-like systems can be found in early colonial Americas and plantation culture where the romance of Lord of the Manor and Master of the House falls quickly against the realities of slavery, patriarchy, and class division. In 21st century late-stage capitalism, we see the castle system reproduced in the C-Suites of the corporate class.

In 2024, Kolaj Institute will conduct a year-long investigation of castles as buildings, metaphors, and systems of power. In collage artist residencies in Scotland, New Orleans, and virtual space, we will bring together artists to explore the ideas of castles as a way of understanding the systems of power that shape history and contemporary life. In Scotland, we will consider the castles of Sanquhar, Drumlanrig, and Morton; their history, folklore, and evolution. In New Orleans, we will reflect upon the plantations of the German Coast on the Mississippi River. Through virtual residencies, we will examine 20th century romantic notions of castles in popular media and theme parks. Collectively, artists will make artwork that expresses ideas that connect history and folklore to contemporary manifestations of power. The end result will be expressed in a book and exhibition.

Kolaj Institute believes that one way to raise the standing of collage is to put the art form in conversation with the civic discourse. We engage in a variety of projects that demonstrate how contemporary artists can express ideas that help us see the world in a more complex fashion.

Artists will make one artwork during the residency which demonstrates their approach to the project. After the Residency, artists will be invited to submit 3-5 additional collages and a statement. Some of the artwork submitted will be exhibited at Kolaj Fest New Orleans in 2025 which artists will be invited to attend and speak about.

DEADLINES

EARLY SPRING DEADLINE: Friday, 29 December 2023
FINAL SPRING DEADLINE: Sunday, 28 January 2024
EARLY FALL DEADLINE: Sunday, 26 May 2024
FINAL SPRING DEADLINE: Sunday, 30 June 2024

Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis until space is filled. Artists are encouraged to apply well before the deadline. Responses may not be sent until two weeks after each deadline.

APPLY HERE