Paid Opportunity: Artist-in-Residence in Medical Science

Application Deadline: Monday 11th November 2019.

This is an exciting opportunity, open to all students from HaSS (BA, MFA/MA, MLitt/MPhil, PhD) to undertake an artist residency in a key area of medical research working with researchers at Newcastle University – and to develop an exhibition.

This opportunity will fund students to produce creative work encompassing themes influenced by the research conducted at the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research (WCMR), which will be exhibited as part of Euromit, the largest international conference on mitochondrial research at The Sage, Gateshead in June 2020. The exhibition will be open to patients, medical practitioners, academics, researchers and the public.

Background

This project stems from a longstanding interdisciplinary collaboration between Newcastle University’s Fine Art Department and WCMR. This project has exhibited as part of the National Trust’s nationwide programme ‘Women and Power’, in addition to Mitochondrial Disease Patient Information Days, The Lily Foundation, Palace of Science, Vane Gallery, The NewBridge Project, Ampersand Inventions, and Cheeseburn Sculpture Gardens.

The WCMR conducts research centred on transforming the lives of patients with mitochondrial disease. Mitochondria are found in almost every cell in the body and are responsible for providing the energy our bodies need in order to function normally. Mitochondria contain their own DNA. Mutations in mitochondrial DNA can cause an energy deficit, which causes mitochondrial disease. Mitochondrial disease predominantly affects the brain, liver, muscle and heart causing symptoms such as epilepsy, stroke, and muscle weakness. Some forms of the disease can also be passed on from an affected mother to her children and can affect an individual at any age from new-born babies to the elderly.

The centre works on several levels to understand, diagnose and prevent mitochondrial disease. This means that in addition to laboratory based research the centre has extensive links to a large patient cohort and clinical services, conducting research into IVF based techniques to prevent mitochondrial disease being passed from mother to child.

This project would grant artists access to the research and the scientists at the centre, allowing them to gain insight into the research in order to draw inspiration for their creative work. This work will then be used for further outreach work by the centre. The artist will have full creative input which will be discussed with researchers from the centre, who will be working closely with them throughout the project.

Supervision

The project will be supervised by Dr Julie Murphy, David Butler and Olivia Turner.

Dr Julie Murphy, Engagement Officer at the WCMR, will be managing the delivery of the project to the wider public and links between artists and scientists.

David Butler, Coordinator of LifeWorkArt in Fine Art Dept, will support the Fine Art students throughout their development and the delivery of any outcomes.

Olivia Turner, Project Manager, Fine Art PGR and is Lead for the Arts and Medical Research Cluster.

Supporting lab members will be responsible for providing scientific material and an experience of the centre that the artists can use as material for the project.

Timeline

November 2019: project start; creative practitioners will be working ‘in residence’ at the WCMR for 2 months.

January – April 2020: artists will consolidate research collected from the residency to produce new creative work.

June 2020: Exhibition at Sage, Gateshead.

Assessing Impact

Engagement with science and art will be evaluated both for its impact as a form of public engagement and its overall effect on the student experience. Impact will be assessed in the form of focus groups held during the creative process and following events. This is in order to determine whether the project was beneficial to both the artists and patients.

Funding

There is funding available for associated material costs and a fee. The project is funded by HaSS Research Institute Award, The Bartlett, and Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research.

Additional information

We encourage any form of creative practice, including but not limited to fine art, creative writing, music, performance. The form and the medium of work will be developed in response to the research. However, the works should be easily portable for transport and take into consideration the exhibition space.

The work produced will be owned by the artist who produced it with the requirement that the art be available for display at the events stated in the brief.

Application and Selection

To apply send:

• A bio (100 words max)
• A proposal of why you are interested in the project (500 words max)
• CV
• Examples of work (6 images max) and any web links etc.

Email this to Olivia Turner a.o.m.turner@newcastle.ac.uk and David Butler david.butler@ncl.ac.uk by Monday 11 November 2019.

Successful applicants will be asked for interview.

More than one residency is available.

On 6th November, the first seminar in the new 'Museum/Galleries/Heritage (Studies) From the Edges' series takes place, with contributions from Miranda Lowe (Museum Detox) and Divya Tolia-Kelly (University of Sussex)