The West Dean College residency programme provides professional artists, writers, and makers the opportunity to work onsite for a period of one to three weeks. The resident artists engage with students studying at West Dean College, providing tutorial support, leading workshops, and giving presentations on their practice.

Partnership residencies include collaborative projects with Cass Sculpture Foundation and the De La Warr Pavilion. These provide West Dean students with outstanding professional practice opportunities, including group tutorials with curators, involvement with the fabrication of work, and invitations to exhibition previews.

Artists

Co-ordinated alongside the full-time Visual Arts programmes, the residency is designed to support contemporary practitioners in developing research projects and studio-based practices. Recent resident artists have included Gabriele Beveridge, Caroline Achaintre, Katie Schwab, Ross Taylor, and Tamara Henderson. The College runs an annual joint residency in partnership with Cass Sculpture Foundation and has recently collaborated with the De La Warr Pavilion to provide one artist with a residency and exhibition mark the centenary of the Bauhaus in 2019.

The resident artists engage with students studying Visual Arts at West Dean College, from Graduate Diploma to MFA. This includes an artist's talk, tutorials and/or a seminar, workshop or group critique. The amount of time expected to be allocated to these activities is equivalent to two full days.

Writers

The resident writers engage with students studying on the MA in Creative Writing and Publishing at West Dean College. This includes an artist's talk, tutorials and/or a seminar, workshop or group critique. The amount of time expected to be allocated to these activities during a three-week residency is equivalent to two full days.

West Dean College runs an annual week-long residency in partnership with Myriad Publishing as part of the First Drafts Competition.

Makers

Resident makers engage with students studying Historic Craft Practices (Musical Instruments, Metalwork, Furniture, and Clocks) and the Diploma in Art and Contemporary Crafts at West Dean College. This includes an artist's talk, tutorials and/or a seminar, workshop or group critique. The amount of time expected to be allocated to these activities is equivalent to two full days.

Summer School

Residents from all creative disciplines engage with students on the Summer School short courses, delivering an artist's talk and running workshops. The amount of time expected to be allocated to these activities is equivalent to two full days.

In 2018, Racheal Potter was awarded the inaugural Summer Show residency (see Gallery).

Self-funded Residencies

In addition to supported residencies, West Dean College of Arts and Conservation offers self-funded residencies for writers, curators, artists, and creative industry professionals.

The self-funded residency is designed to enable creative individuals to spend time at West Dean in order to develop research projects or support their completion. Self-funded residents are accommodated in our dedicated residency accommodation that includes a private work space.

To find out more, please contact Sarah Hughes (Curatorial Assistant): sarah.hughes@westdean.org.uk

"Spending time at West Dean was fantastic; in relaxing surroundings, it provided me with the space and resources to think through ideas in a supported environment, specifically to develop the conceptual underpinning for a new exhibition Still I Rise: feminisms, gender, resistance."
Rosie Cooper, Head of Exhibitions, De La Warr Pavilion (Self-funded residency)