Residencies

Creative Research Residency

Umbrella and James Cook University (JCU) are planning an exciting residency focused on JCU Library's Special Collection at the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library and at The Studio, on Bindal and Wulgurukaba Country in Townsville.

The collections include rare books, books with hand-coloured prints and bookplates, newspapers, photographs, and art objects. While the collection has a focus on North Queensland and the tropics, it ultimately tells stories about Australia and its connection to places and people elsewhere.

The residency will support one contemporary Australian visual artist with accommodation, an artist fee and a travel fee for a one-month program, divided into one week at JCU Library's Special Collection at the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library and three weeks at The Studio at Umbrella.

Applicants may indicate their preferred timeframe of the residency within the months of August, September, October, and November of the year 2023.

Applications closed on Tuesday 28 February 2023. 

The assessment committee is currently scheduled to review the applications at the end of March, and applicants will be contacted shortly thereafter. 

Learn more about the Creative Research Residency here. 

Pioneer Sugar Mill, Register of Pacific Islanders Employed at Pioneer in the District of Townsville: Schedule L (1895-1906), Manuscript (handwritten), 94 pages, 37 x 27cm, JCU Library Pioneer Sugar Mill Archive, Ⓒ James Cook University. Photography by Michael Marzik. nqheritage.jcu.edu.au/41

Veronica Calarco, 13 Ilongau, 2020, Mixed printmaking (drypoint, linocut), 35.5 x 69.5cm. 

PressNorth Studio Residency

In partnership with PressNorth Printmakers, Umbrella regularly invites artists, who specialise in printmaking, into The Studio for a three-month residency opportunity. Over the course of their residency, the artists will gain 24-hour access to the Studio’s facilities and will be welcomed into a vibrant artist community and encouraged to experiment and create.

PressNorth Printmakers is a not-for-profit artist-run-initiative composed of emerging, mid-career and professional printmakers from Townsville and the surrounding regions.

For the PressNorth Studio Residency in 2023, Umbrella and PressNorth Printmakers are pleased to announce that Dr. Veronica Calarco will be joining The Studio from mid-March to mid-June. Veronica is an Australian printmaker, living and practicing in Wales, who specialises in lithography mixed technique printmaking and has a strong interest in endangered and minority languages.

Riverbank Studio Residency

Umbrella and renowned Townsville-based artist Dr. Anneke Silver are offering a space for artists in regional North Queensland to create new work during a Riverbank Studio Residency.

The residencies are situated on a private property in the suburb of Kelso, which backs on to the Ross River, offering a unique working environment and a large studio space surrounded by nature. The residencies can be hosted throughout the year and usually have a duration of one to three months.

A call for applications will be released in April 2023.

View from the Riverbank Studio. Photograph: Anneke Silver.

Alison McDonald, Waiting for go (detail), 2020, Reused anodised aluminium etched, copper, sterling silver, titanium, stainless steel, brass and wood, 20 x 47 x 46cm. 

Past residencies

Umbrella's residency programs began in 2015 with the Grand Hotel Townsville Artist in Residence (AIR) program. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we pivoted to an At Home Artist in Residence (AHAIR) program, inviting three North Queensland artists to create new work from their home studios.

Learn more about our past residency programs, including previous PressNorth Studio Residencies, here.