Bank Street Arts

Bank Street Arts invites applications for its rolling Residency Programme.

You can find details of current and previous residencies by clicking on the links below:

current-residencies – previous-residencies

The Residency Programme is open to anyone living or working in the South Yorkshire area or its near vicinity (please feel free to interpret that as you wish). In essence, we do not provide travel expenses and would expect you to be close enough to fulfill your commitment to use or be based at the Centre as prescribed in your application.

We invite applications from anyone involved in ‘creative work’ (and we define that loosely – well, in fact, not at all). So we invite applications from anyone. The only criterion being that the purpose of your residency should fit with our overall aims as an Arts Centre.

The residencies are not limited to one applicant each year. In 2009 we supported five residencies and in 2010 double that number. In 2011 we will have supported over 15 Residencies with up to 12 running simultaneously. Applicants may be individuals or a group/organisation.

Each applicant should determine both the duration of their residency as well as its purpose and nature. Your residency may involve you using the Centre once a month for an extended period or every day for a month or two. We will accommodate applicants as best we can, subject to approval of proposals.

This is a rolling programme so there is no deadline for applications although in the first instance we request that your residency be limited to a maximum of twelve months. We will consider any longer term proposal on its merits and obviously would discuss this with you both at the outset and as the Residency progresses.

The Residency Programme is not funded by any outside body. We will assist any applicant who wishes to apply for outside funding with any ‘in-kind-costings’ or administrative support but we will not undertake any such application.

There is no funding from BSA available for any of the residencies but we can offer assistance in other ways – free or subsidised use of exhibition space, gallery space, education and meeting rooms, studio space, use of facilities, administrative help, publicity for events or your project, advertising, curatorial support, contacts, advocacy, facilitating contacts etc.

The residencies are not a response to a prescribed programme or a requirement to meet predetermined aims. We are looking for something that is more of a dialogue. What do you want from the residency for yourself, what do you want from us and what are you offering us in return.

It may be you want a space to work in for a fixed period of time for a specific project, you are looking at exploring the use of a space, you wish to create an installation or permanent work in the Centre, you want to run classes or meetings in the Centre connected with your work or a new project, you want to open a shop, you want a place to hang around and write, you need rehearsal space, you want to organise events, set up a publishing list, work with other practitioners, or you want to get involved in our work or want us involved in yours in some undefined way. Above all, we do not want to prescribe what the residencies should be – that is up to you.

We welcome individual or joint applications and are happy to receive more than one application from the same person or group for different proposals.

Please take the time to find out about what we do and our aims. Look at the website, feel free to telephone or e-mail any enquiries and discuss any proposal in advance. We are committed to working alongside and as part of the established festivals in Sheffield and whilst any proposal to participate in any such event will be favourably received, be realistic about time scale if it involves any third party event.

Most importantly, we are trying to take a sideways look at what a residency is and can be and dialogue is an essential part of that process. We particularly welcome applications from anyone working in other studio complexes or those belonging to other organisations as we feel this is likely to contribute to the process of extending dialogue. Please decide for yourself what is or should be on offer here and don’t be swayed by prior expectations.

All applicants must fill in the Residency Programme Application Form and provide additional information as required by their proposal. We request that you e-mail us for an application form or to discuss ideas before you submit anything in writing. To obtain a copy of the Application Form please e-mail john@bankstreetarts.com

Residency photo credits from top to bottom: Darren Chouings, James Dodd, Susannah Gent, Noel Williams, Paul Matosic, Art in the Park, Kenneth Horne