OPEN CALL
Virtual Residency and Exhibition: The Sea Washes Away All the Ills of Men
St Catherine’s Island & Fort, Tenby
St. Catherine’s Island and Fort, Tenby is an important Site of Special Scientific Interest, which is only accessible during low tide. The military fort was constructed between 1868-1871 upon the ruins of St. Catherine’s chapel, later becoming a summer residence with an extensive art collection, before compulsory purchase during WWII. Subsequently, for a short time during the 70s the island opened as a zoo before its abandonment for almost 40 years.
Following an on-site artist residency attended by artists Natasha Toms and Georgia Watkins, Patience Gallery is inviting artists to take part in its first virtual artist residency culminating into a physical exhibition. Titled, The Sea Washes Away All the Ills of Men, after Euripides and as the town’s motto, the project is accepting submissions using the fort as a base for an online artists residency and as a subsequent venue to host an exhibition that will explore the inherent beauty of St Catherine’s Island and Fort.
Initial points of interest, to which we will invite participation:
The project title: ‘The sea washes away all the ills of men’
Artists who talk to nature, landscape, decay, and ruin.
Artists who work with historic art collections, ephemera, and extravagance.
The selected digital artists in residence will be provided with a curated ‘residency pack’, which will include photographic documentation of all areas of the fort, as well as a timeline and short introduction to its history. This is intended to inspire artists and provide a starting point for new works, or a reference from which to make connections with their existing work.
The residency will result in an exhibition of the artists’ work which will be showcased physically at the fort as well as online through Patience Gallery. Please note: due to the location and restrictions of the island, work showcased in the physical exhibition will be selected separately based on size, medium and shipping circumstances. However, all selected artists will be featured in the gallery’s online exhibition. Artists will also be included in, and each receive a book which documents the exhibition.
The specifics:
The virtual residency will run from January 2024 - March 2024.
Artists chosen will be subject to a selection process based on their works’ relevance to the brief.
Artists can create new works or submit existing ones.
There is no charge to apply, nor is there a fee for artists.
The exhibition is currently planned for April 2024 at St Catherine’s Island, Tenby. Selected artists do not need to be present for this - artwork can be shipped following the agreement of a liability form.
The online residency is open to all artists working with any medium - as previously mentioned, not all selected resident artists can be featured in the physical exhibition but will be included on the online show.
With regards to the physical exhibition, artworks displayed can be no larger than 85 x 120cm
Deadline for submissions: 15th December 2023
Country Life advert & auction catalogue from 1939 (postponed to 1940)
Poster from the period the fort was used as a zoo (1968-78). Original source unkown.
Images sourced from St Catherine’s Island Website.
