About Residences ::::::
Artlab Contemporary Print Studio has since 2022 facilitated a successful Artist in Residency Programme. The aim of the residency is to deepen the established relationships we have with practitioners while encouraging the development of emerging artists.
The participating artists are invited through an experimental and innovative approach to broaden their printmaking knowledge while working alongside the master printmakers of our studio.
The invited artists are offered two weeks access with support to the printmaking studio and accommodation in Preston. During their stay we seek to enable them, via informal group crit sessions, to communicate about the experience and knowledge gained with those keen to learn more about print editions and the creative process. We connect our artists in residence with critical writers to produce texts about their practice and the creative time spent in our studio. In exchange, we expand our specialist collection of experimental, innovative prints made by contemporary women artists working in print.
Gaining a new archive of contemporary print contextualised by the Gwenyth Alban Davis archive and the Making Histories Visible library at the Birley Studios opens broad debates around collecting and preservation thus drawing attention to these existing projects. Our position as a printmaking studio is strengthened by this and helps to publicise our outstanding work in the Northwest.