⁠Richard Malone reports on their residency experience in the British School at Rome.⁠
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Image: Richard Malone, studio view, British School at Rome, April 2026; photograph by Luana Rigolli, courtesy of the artist and British School at Rome.⁠

Elaine Grainger reflects on her residency at Casa Wabi in Puerto Escondido, Mexico.⁠
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Image: Elaine Grainger, How to Tread Lightly: Leaving Our Mark, 2026, community project at Foundation Casa Wabi, Mexico, April 2026; photograph by Elaine Grainger, courtesy of Foundation Casa Wabi.⁠

Eoghan Ryan reports on his participation in the Dwell Here residency at IMMA.⁠
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Image: Eoghan Ryan, Circle A, 2024, performance, IMMA Courtyard, 26 July 2025; photograph by Pati Guimarães, courtesy of the artist and IMMA. ⁠
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Anna Macleod discusses her previous residencies at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.⁠

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Image: Anna Macleod, Uisce Lite / Flora Edinensis event, Physics Garden, Saughton Park, Edinburgh, 14 June 2025; photograph by Sarah Clarkson, courtesy of the artist.⁠

Lynda Laird reports from the former home of artist, writer, and activist, Derek Jarman in Dungeness on the Kent coast.

Read here!

Residency programmes, broadly speaking, can provide artists with the opportunity to live and work outside of their normal environments. Artist residencies typically offer dedicated time and space in which to create and experiment, with an emphasis on research and reflection, solitude and inspiration.

VAN July – August 2026 issue aims to demystify the process of selecting an artist residency. This themed issue contains a range of Residency Reports from artists at different career stages, who have undertaken all kinds of residencies in different parts of the world.

In the Irish context, artists report on recent residencies at Burren College of Art, Cow House Studios, Heinrich Böll Cottage, IMMA, the Tyrone Guthrie Residency, and the UCD College Of Science Artist Residency with Mayo Dark Sky Park. In the UK, there are reports from Hospitalfield, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, and Prospect Cottage – the former home of artist, writer, and activist, Derek Jarman, in Dungeness on the Kent coastline.

For the European section, artists reflect on their residencies in the British School at Rome, Magnetic Residency in Dunkirk, Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris, the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, and the WaterLANDS Artist Residency Programme, an EU-funded initiative that embeds artists at six wetland sites across Europe. Residencies profiled beyond Europe include the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York, Casa Wabi in Mexico, and Hyde Park Arts Center in Chicago.

In addition, this special issue contains several Residency Roundups, providing a non-exhaustive overview of reputable residencies (funded, wherever possible) across Ireland, the UK, Europe, and worldwide. There are also roundups of virtual residencies, profiling noteworthy remote residency programmes that visual artists can undertake from home; prominent residencies for parenting artists around the world that allow resident artists to be accompanied by dependent children and partners; and residencies worldwide with a thematic focus on landscape, ecology, and sustainability.

On The Cover: Elaine Grainger, How To Tread Lightly: Leaving Our Mark, 2026, community project at Foundation Casa Wabi, Mexico, April 2026; photograph by Elaine Grainger, courtesy of Foundation Casa Wabi.

COLUMNS

6          Editorial. Joanne Laws introduces the residency themed issue.

Culture Moves Europe. Lucy Tevlin provides an overview of Culture Moves Europe grants for artists undertaking European residencies.

IRELAND RESIDENCIES

8          Residency Roundup: Ireland. Francesca Saracuta outlines funded artist residencies across Ireland.

10        Shared Conditions. Eoghan Ryan reports on his participation in the Dwell Here residency at IMMA.

11        Elemental Sanctuary. Shane Hynan reflects on his recent residency at the Burren College of Art.

12        A Week in Annaghmakerrig. Paul Bokslag reflects on being awarded an Age & Opportunity Tyrone Guthrie Residency.

13        The Bridge to Achill. Thomas Brezing reports on his experience of the Heinrich Böll Residency.

14        A Cosmic Spectacle. Louise Beer reflects on her experience as UCD College Of Science Artist-in-Residence with Mayo Dark Sky Park.

15        Dedicated Time. Clare Henderson reflects on the unique importance of residencies within her printmaking practice.

UNITED KINGDOM RESIDENCIES

16        Residency Roundup: UK. Laura Harvey Graham provides an overview of funded visual artist residencies across the UK.

18        Sacred Time. Aideen Barryreports from her interdisciplinary residency in Hospitalfield in Arbroath.

19        Uisce / Flora. Anna Macleod discusses her previous residencies at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.

20        Prospect Cottage. Lynda Laird reports from the former home of Derek Jarman in Kent. 

EUROPEAN RESIDENCIES

22        Residency Roundup: Europe. Tom Lordan provides an overview of funded artist residencies in Europe.

24        Cultural Hub. Shiro Masuyama reflects on his residency at Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris.

25        Ideas of Truth. Richard Malone reports on their residency experience in the British School at Rome.

26        To Only Not Know. Dorothy Hunter reports on the Magnetic Residency Exchange in Dunkirk.

27        Keys to the Castle. Avril Corroon reports on her ongoing residency at the Rijksakademie.

WORLDWIDE RESIDENCIES

28        Residency Roundup: Worldwide. Thomas Pool profiles funded artist residencies around the world.

30        Tropes of Melodrama. Eva Richardson McCrea reflects on her residency at ISCP in New York.

31        How to Tread Lightly. Elaine Grainger reflects on her residency at Casa Wabi in Puerto Escondido, Mexico.

32        Hyde Park Art Center. LéannHerlihy discusses their participation in a transatlantic residency exchange with Hyde Park Arts Center in Chicago.

33        Residency Roundup: Virtual. Joanne Laws profiles some remote residency programmes that visual artists can undertake from home.

PARENTING ARTIST RESIDENCIES

34        Residency Roundup: Parenting Artists. Ella de Búrca outlines some reputable residencies for parenting artists worldwide, both funded and non-funded.

35        Care in Practice. Emma Smith reports on Cow House Studio’s Parenting Artist Residency.

ECOLOGY & SUSTAINABILITY RESIDENCIES

36        Residency Roundup: Ecology. Joanne Laws outlines a selection of funded residencies with a focus on landscape, ecology, and sustainability.

37        WaterLANDS. Christine Mackey reports on her durational residency as part of an EU-funded project.

LAST PAGES

38        Opportunities. Current and forthcoming residencies.

In the latest edition of the miniVAN, festival performers Betty Beour, Polina Shapkina, and Nicole Martin, discuss their work as cabaret artists, fire spinners, and light sculptors in a series of interviews exclusively for Visual Artists Ireland! 

Check it out now by clicking here!

The miniVAN is the online magazine published by Visual Artists Ireland. With uniquely commissioned content, The miniVAN explores the visual arts with an accessible view of all aspects of careers and practice that make up our visual community.

[Image] [Top left]: Image courtesy of Betty Beour; [Top right]: Image courtesy of Nicole Martin; [Bottom]: Image courtesy of Polina Shapkina.

We invite you to have your voice heard in this update to our surveys into Artists Workspace needs.

Over the past two years we have been conducting research into the supply and demand for workspaces cross the country. Last year, over 700 artists participated in the survey where we asked about their current and future needs. We wish to update this information and see what the current demand is country wide. The purpose of this, in combination with other surveys and research, is to provide a report, which has been commissioned by the Arts Council, with an overview of the current supply versus demand and the status of studios and artists’ needs.

We understand that you may not need a studio, may currently be satisfied with your current set up, or are actively looking, and so we ask that you fill out the survey to best represent your own current and future need.

The survey will take around 10 – 20 mins max. I want to encourage everyone to participate so that we can offer a comprehensive overview.

To complete the survey please follow this link: https://forms.gle/6gmvH77vvoJn8V239

The deadline for submissions is 17th June 2026 at 5pm

If you have any questions along the way, then don’t hesitate to call or email us. (01) 6729488 or helpdesk@visualartists.ie with the subject line: Survey 2026

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and we hope that you will have time to complete the survey.

Joanna Hopkins discusses her art practice and a recent community ecology project at Nephin National Park.

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Image: Joanna Hopkins, Palimpsest, 2025; film still © and courtesy of the artist.

Sinéad McCormick discusses the evolution of the BAVA programme on Sherkin Island.⁠
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Image: BA in Visual Arts student, Mary Sullivan, At Home At War, 2018, installation on Sherkin Island for the BAVA graduate exhibition, ‘A Dialogue with the World’; photograph by Jed Niezgoda, courtesy of the artist and TU Dublin.⁠