Solent Seascape Artist Residency: A Celebration of Nature Restoration with Local Communities

29th October 2024

Calling All Nature-Loving Creatives!

Are you a creative soul with a deep connection to the Solent? The Solent Seascape Project (SSP) invites artists to apply for an exciting residency celebrating the ways communities connect to the Solent’s seascape. This residency offers a grant of £4,000 and the opportunity to exhibit your work locally.

About the Solent Seascape Project

SSP is a partnership between 10 organisations dedicated to restoring the Solent’s coastal habitats, including seagrass meadows, saltmarshes, seabird nesting sites, and native oyster reefs. Together, they are working to create a thriving seascape that supports both people and wildlife.

What They’re Looking For

SSP seeks artists who are:

  • Passionate about building connections with local communities.
  • Skilled at communicating SSP’s restoration efforts to new audiences.
  • Creative in finding ways to engage people with the Solent’s unique seascape.

Artists from various disciplines including, but not limited to, painting, writing, ceramics, photography, sculpture, poetry, performance, or site-specific installations, are encouraged to apply. A critical aspect of the residency is community engagement and creating new artworks inspired by the Solent’s people and places.

Funding Background

This scheme is supported by the Endangered Landscapes and Seascapes Programme (ELSP), managed by CCI and funded by Arcadia. The ELSP is excited to explore collaborative, transdisciplinary arts practice to celebrate the distinctiveness of land- and seascape restoration projects that are supported by ELSP (including SSP). This includes fostering a better understanding of the hopes, ambitions, and opportunities that come with large-scale nature restoration.

The ELSP supports major restoration efforts across Europe, including wetlands, marine habitats, woodlands, and mountains, to create resilient ecosystems that benefit both native species and people.

Application Details

The call is open until 11 December 2024, 11:59 PM. The artist residency can be for a term of up to eight months, starting in February/March 2025 until early 2026.

If this sounds like you, check your eligibility and apply here.