Applications are open for Fluid Earth, the title of GroundWork Gallery’s fifth annual artist residency and exhibition programme for 2025. It builds on our track-record of environmental art residencies which have taken a strongly inter-disciplinary approach. We welcome broad and imaginative approaches to the subject. The Fluid Earth GroundWork Residency runs overall from 4 August – 10 September. During this time, each selected artist is required to join in with a research week from 4-9 August, followed by a choice of venue for the production phase for 10 days. Briefing notes are below here and further information about dates is on the application form.

Extractivism: the overarching theme

The overall concept for the residency up till now has been about extraction and extractivism: the removal of resources from the earth, whether natural or otherwise. Extractivism describes an overarching attitude which legitimises removal as a default, as opposed to replenishing resources or thinking in terms of regeneration. This is often accompanied by an assumption that extraction is a permissible exercise without full consideration of the longer-term implications for sustainability, for pollution, or of ownership of the materials or environments affected. The artists in residence have to date taken rigorous perspectives. They have been drawing attention to overconsumption and using resources with enormous sensitivity. They have highlighted little-known practices and properties of materials, minimizing or making effective use of waste products. Results of their work can be seen in the exhibition pages since 2020, the more recent ones being The Ground Beneath Our Feet, 2023 and Ground Up, 2024. Ground Water is also part of that theme.

Fluid Earth 2025

While extractivism remains an important part of our underpinning focus for 2025, we find that there has been a growing interest in diverse human and broadly natural factors which we need to take into account if we are to consider the future of the planet in terms of justice, equality, equity, for people and for nature. Indeed, we cannot consider the future of issues like nature recovery without considering how humans are both part of the problem and part of the solution. But also, that both the problems and solutions involve immense complexity and diversity and need to be approached creatively with that in mind. It emerged during our GroundWork Network conference in 2024 that more and more people want to increase the variety of voices in the activity and conversations to learn how our communities understand and experience the environment. See recordings here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjudsZc5zx6iOmFZM7-Xy53X6XP17KyLb&si=xuSIA87CoTN6k9yc So, for 2025 we want to raise some of these issues through our research and investigations.

Residency Benefits

Everything that Groundwork Gallery does is about connecting art and environment and making that more evident and powerful. You will be part of that. One of the main benefits is the sharing of resources and skills that takes place across all the participants, between venues and hosts, expert guides, and all the participating artists. In previous years this has been especially appreciated and each year everyone has formed a strong bond. We are working with a growing group of residency host partners and advisers. Our aim is to create a network between us of resident artists, past and present, hosts, and advisers, so that together we can strengthen our practice and have a growing effect on the way we see the resources around us. Last year we launched GroundWork NetWork and many of our partners as well as a wide range of creative environmental practitioners and organisations are represented there and can apply to be part of it.

Application process

Deadline Sunday 6 April 2025

Complete the residency application on this google form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYERUw7U0J34JW8p9JDi_Tsg5GT3W0yWppx0G4fpjPtq8-jA/viewform Provide 4 supporting images in a separate pdf, clearly indicating your name and identification for the images Return the pdf with images, heading ‘Residency Application’ to – mail@groundworkgallery.com Only use the form and keep within word limits, no other attachments will be considered Complete this google form application and send images by Sunday 6th April 2025 On-line interviews for shortlisted candidates will be carried out on 14th, 15th, 16th April All applicants must fill in this form and submit on-line. Four Images clearly identified on PDF to mail@groundworkgallery.com Website link: https://www.groundworkgallery.com/