Call | Printermedia Residency: Metal Arts (Vancouver)
Printermedia resident Stevie Gwynne finishes a ring.
Calling all metal artists and art jewellers!
The metal arts component of Malaspina Printmakers Society's (Malaspina/MPS) existing Printermedia Residency Program provides a rare opportunity for artists to explore the intersection of metal and jewellery art and print media within a self-directed and shared studio environment.
Please note this program is still young, and participants will play a role in collectively envisioning and learning from a supportive community on how to build and equip a metal arts studio. Malaspina is accepting submissions from metal and jewellery artists who in need of equipment and facilities to support the evolution of their art practice in this direction. The Vancouver Metal Arts Association plays a leading role in the selection of artists and support of the program.
This Printermedia Residency is located at Howe Street Studios, in the central business district of the city of Vancouver, on the traditional lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
Program at a glance
Printermedia Residency Program – Metal Arts
Presented by Malaspina Printmakers Society with the support of the Vancouver Metal Arts Association
The objective of the Metal Arts stream of the Printermedia Residency Program is to provide a place where eligible artists can explore the development of their professional artistic practice at every step, from application to interview to setting up/getting to know their space.
This could include demonstrating capability within the space, building their community and networks, and creating new work, including a leave-behind of some kind. Although they will have the support of the residency coordinators, artists are expected to be autonomous and self-sufficient within the space.
As with most self-guided residencies, seeking out skill sharing, cohort-based mentorship, exhibiting, bringing or acquiring specialty tools, sales and demonstration opportunities should be initiated by the residents individually or as a cohort. However, residency coordinators are a resource that could provide additional resources or guidance.
Deadline: February 1, 2025 cohort. We accept applications on a rolling basis throughout the year and will review them periodically.
Residency length: Residencies are six months, with a prospective extension of up to 18 months, subject to the interest of participating artists and discretion of residency coordinators.
Features: 24/7 access to shared studios with fully equipped printmaking, dark room, design suite and woodshop for those with the skills to use them; access to VMAA-activated non-ferrous metalworking equipment shop on location in downtown Vancouver art studio.
Residency fees: $300/month (with the opportunity for 10% subsidy for applicants who apply)
Location: 1265 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Application process
Answer the questions in the application form. Applicants may complete the application form in bullet or point form, in paragraph form, or a combination of both.
Applicants will be prompted to submit a CV and up to 10 samples of artwork in the form (accepted formats are jpg/gif/mov files).
Following the submission process, the jury will review applications and shortlist the applicants to progress to the interview / Q&A stage.
The Q&A stage may be combined with a brief in-person tour of the facility by a residency coordinator.
Successful applicants will be notified and invited to join the residency.
The jury will also accommodate applicants who prefer to complete their application through the following alternate methods:
Fill out their answers with the assistance of a volunteer transcriber from VMAA
Sit for either a 30-minute phone or Zoom interview
Submit an MP3 or voice memo with their answers
To enquire about these accommodations, applicants may email ivalou@vancouvermetalarts.com and residency@vancouvermetalarts.com with the subject line [Query] Printermedia Application Form (Firstname Surname).
Residency selection guidelines
The selection committee reviews applications with attention to several factors:
Submitted portfolio: Past body of work and CV. Does the artist have an existing body of work? Does the work demonstrate or suggest proficiency with studio tools? What is the quality of the presentation? Does the work show curiosity?
Professional development: how the residency aligns with or could help facilitate the applicant's stated goals. Will the residency play a role in the short-, mid- or long-term goals of the artist?
Residency participation: A blend of factors that identify the applicant's interest and engagement in the residency beyond its provision of space, such as their interest in cohort participation. Is the artist likely to take advantage of and benefit from the inbuilt community and network? Does their goal include creating or researching something they could also leave behind? (E.g. protocols, setting up a new session, leaving behind a log or teaching sample, a catalogue?) How willing do they seem to exchange knowledge?
Viability / feasibility (of tenure and ambitions): How likely and aligned is the resident to meet their stated goals? Does the studio have everything they require in their practice? Do their goals seem realistic?
Interview: a meet and greet with the coordinators, in which applicants may learn more, and the residency coordinator may request additional insight from them.
Inaugural residency cohort (2022-2024) at their group exhibition "Our Language" in September 2023. Pictured, left to right: Dr. Cicy Ching, Celeste Lucero, Rob Van Yperen, Stella Lee, and Maura Tamez. Photo by Ingrid Valou.
More about the residency
Access to space. Residents will have 24/7 access to over 2,000 square feet of fully equipped shared studio space, which includes printing presses, a dark room, a large-format archival inkjet pigment printer (44in wide), an iMac with Adobe Photoshop CC, a wood shop, and individual secured flat-file and cupboard storage. An additional 400 square feet of studio space has been developed into a space dedicated to metal and jewellery arts production.
This class B art studio also features a barrier-free washroom with a shower, street-level automated door entry, freight elevator, alley-level loading bay with short-term parking, oversized rollup studio doors, subfloor heating, air conditioning, 16ft ceilings, and a shared oversized 40ft x 4ft workbench in the atrium.
Participants will have the opportunity to bring their own metalworking equipment or to make use of equipment supplied by Malaspina Printmakers and VMAA. Any specific requests, interests or equipment needs should be discussed during the selection process.
Access to showcase and sales opportunities. Each resident and cohort will also have the opportunity to submit their work for exhibiting consideration in the street-level display of 1265 Howe Street, consign their work within an omnichannel retail/e-commerce sales platform, and participate in intermedia skills-sharing opportunities, ranging from private intra-studio one-on-ones, or hosting and teaching public-facing workshops, classes, and/or demonstrations out of the space.
Close involvement in developing metal arts space in Vancouver. Over the course of the six-month residency, participants will be asked to join the VMAA and Malaspina community in activities that assist in developing the new metal arts space at Howe Street Studios. This could be in the form of installing, transporting, assembling, or otherwise aiding in the buildout of the space.
This program may be extended. There may be additional opportunities to participate in other programs throughout and/or after the duration of this residency.
Other eligibility and/or conditions
This program is open to all applicants with a metal or jewellery arts dimension to their art practice, such as beading, metal sculpture, stone setting, engraving, casting, fabrication, chasing and repoussage, patina or enamelling. Please note that due to the limitations of the equipment, not all of these processes may be able to be conducted in this space.
Artists are encouraged to contribute to envisioning how the space could evolve in subsequent years, and highlight any needs they would require. VMAA intends to approach resident artists for interviews about their experiences, both with the residency and, more broadly, with their needs as metal artists in Vancouver. Artists may defer or refuse interviews.
We encourage applications from groups underrepresented or historically marginalized groups, such as locally based First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples, Black, Indigenous and other persons of colour, those who identify as LGBTQ2SIA+, disabled artists, youth, and elders.
Persons with disabilities who anticipate needing any accommodations for any part of the application process may contact president@vancouvermetalarts.com in confidence.
About Malaspina Printmakers Society
Malaspina supports and promotes contemporary visual arts through the critical and technical exploration of print media. Through the excellence of our facilities and programs, MPS creates a vibrant, productive and sustainable community of artists and enthusiasts. In the past 45 years, Malaspina has developed into a support organization for print culture by building strong relationships with artists, organizations, and cultural practitioners throughout the world. Its programs have been expanded beyond exhibitions to include studio rentals, workshops, mentorships, archives, residencies, and sales. Malaspina has been situated in a 2,500-square-foot facility on Granville Island since 1981.
About the Vancouver Metal Arts Association
The Vancouver Metal Arts Association (VMAA) is an artist-run nonprofit society founded in 2013 to advocate for and promote the art jewellery discipline in the Greater Vancouver region. Today, the organization promotes workshops, social events, artist lectures, and exhibitions for the art jewellery and metalsmith communities in Vancouver, BC. VMAA is committed to connecting our membership with opportunities and benefits that support their personal jewellery and metalwork practices.
Territory Acknowledgment
Malaspina Printmakers Society and the Vancouver Metal Arts Association operate on unceded and ancestral Coast Salish territories in what is today known as the Metro Vancouver region. These include the traditional lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, the Semiahmoo and the Stó:lō peoples, including the Katzie, Kwantlen, Kwikwetlem and Qayqayt Nations, and the treaty lands of the Tsawwassen Nation.
These peoples have sustained artistic, economic and cultural practices on these lands since time immemorial while stewarding the lands, water and life of this region. Our organizations strive to honour their territorial relationships throughout our operations as we continue our journey to decolonize the spaces and practices in which we engage daily.
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