[Museum Residency: New Media]

The V&A is inviting applications from experienced and established practitioners for a New Media residency in the Sackler Centre for Arts Education, the first in an exciting new programme of residencies.We are particularly interested in UK based practitioners, who wish to work with the Museum’s spaces and use the facilities in our new Digital Studio with visitors, and who have a track record of development and regular exposure of new work.Purpose of the Residency

The new Sackler Centre at the V&A, opening in Spring 2008, will have two studios for museum residencies which will be occupied by artists/ craftspeople/ designers/ writers/ performers/ architects/ film and video makers etc. There will be 4 residencies of 6 months ( 26 weeks ) each year. This programme is integral to the philosophy of the Sackler Centre, helping to make it a dynamic, creative space. The residency offers practitioners the opportunity to develop new work, re-assess their practice or see work in different contexts by responding to and working with the Museum’s collections and to promote greater understanding of art and design processes for the public.

The aims of the residency are to:

· Enable the selected practitioner to carry out research, develop new skills and explore new ideas towards the creation of new work in the future

· Promote greater understanding of new media production processes for the V&A’s audiences.

· Create links between the V&A’s collections and contemporary art practice.

· Develop practitioners as ‘artist educators’.

· Raise the profile of contemporary art practice with the V&A’s diverse audiences.

The residencies will include a research and developmentphase, enabling practitioners to consider new directions for their own work, work with the collections and plan a project with the public. This could include holding open studios, running workshops or master classes, giving talks and presentations or working with specific groups to produce work for display. This programme of work will be negotiated with the successful candidate and confirmed by the V&A. Any additional activities, such as involvement in the Museum’s public programme will be separately negotiated and an appropriate additional fee agreed.

The resident artist will be supported in their public projects by the V&A’s experienced Education, Access and Diversity staff. This will make a significant contribution to the artist’s own CPD and help to develop a pool of ‘artist educators’ for future museum projects.

Expectations

The focus of the residencies will be on process and on engagement with audiences. We would like to achieve a balance of benefits for the artist, the public and the V&A. Evaluation is a very important component of the residency programme since we will be piloting new approaches and the resident will be asked to contribute to this.

Residents will be expected to:

· be based in the museum for a minimum of 3 days per week

· open their studio to the public for a minimum of one weekday, two late night Fridays per month and one weekend per month (to be arranged in advance)

· display work in progress in their studio (there may also be other opportunities for display elsewhere)

· contribute to the process of dissemination on the V&A website· provide feedback for the purposes of evaluation

Note : work produced during the residency remains the property of the maker, but the residency programme must be acknowledged in any subsequent public or press showing. Any work produced with the public as part of this residency is owned by the V&A.

Selection Criteria

The residency should be dynamic, ambitious and inspiring – pushing forward boundaries of perception about contemporary art and design We are looking for residents who can adopt a range of different roles and who are keen to develop those aspects of their career which include using collections, engaging in public programmes and communicating about their work.

Candidates must demonstrate:

· originality, and evidence of a strong personal style in their work

· dynamic and inspiring ideas about how they would use this opportunity and how they intend to meet the aims of the Museum Residency

· ideas for innovative ways to respond to the V&A’s collections

· an established practice, through a track record of development and regular exposure of new work through exhibitions at a regional, national and international level· an interest in or experience of working in educational / community settings

·an ability to work and communicate with a diverse range of people

Payment

This appointment will be on an Occasional Professional Assistant (OPA) basis and, for the avoidance of doubt, there is no intention to render the Resident an employee of the V&A. The artist will be paid approximately £7000 during their 6 month residency. This will be paid on completion of agreed work stages at the equivalent of £1083 a month (plus 8.3% rolled up holiday pay).

For more information e-mail: hr AT vam.ac.uk