Orange House by the Sea Artist Residency

Photo credit: Lisa Businovski

The Orange House by the Sea Artist residency program is for mid-career* artists who are working at the intersections of performance, sound and music. The residency is open to artists who identify as cis or trans women, trans men, non-binary or gender-non-conforming.**

The residency originated at the beautiful home of the late artist Margaret Cameron, the Orange House by the Sea (also known as ‘Crickneck’). Continuing the tradition and the spirit of developing inventive, new work by the coast, the residency remains on the bay or coastline but may be in a different house due to the availability of the original Orange House.

Margaret worked closely with Chamber Made during her life. She was a singular and extraordinary artist who made works for performance. It was her wish that after her death her home be used as an artist-in-residence program. We are so pleased to be able to carry the torch of Margaret’s generosity – and that of her family – in curating and managing this residency.

The residency offers three weeks accommodation, a $3,000 artist fee (with an additional contribution towards child care available if required), and access to an industry mentor.

This residency is generously supported by the Playking Foundation and Chamber Made donors.

Residents

2023 Resident: Gail Priest

“The residency prioritises mid-career artist and this is vitally important. The fact that there is no set outcome required and no “curatorial” intervention is also wonderful. It shows trust and faith that assumes a respect for an individual artist’s process and needs that can so often be lacking in residency situations. Lastly the location is also vital – being in solitude and with the open inspiration of the seascape makes this residency truly unique.”

Read Gail’s Residency blog here.

2022 Resident: Zoë Barry

“I look forward to using the time at Orange House to begin creating a new live work, in collaboration with dramaturg/director Sarah Giles and composer/sound designer Jed Palmer. This work will draw together live looped text, slow through-composed music, verbatim recordings, singers, cinematic sound design and performative states that include lip synching the words of another, with live string ensemble. We will be exploring ways for a voice to leave a body, and return to a body – and pass through other bodies – and all that that might mean.”

 

Zoë Barry

 

2021 Resident: Biddy Connor

“[The residency] reminded me that play and action on a regular basis is always important. Sometimes I am filled with ideas that I will do when I finished something else for someone else and that time gets further away each time there is another project to work on. A little bit each day is important.”

 

“It was great exploring this sound world again and realising the emotional weight of it for me and how this might be something that resonates with other people who have been going through a similar experience.”

 

Biddy Connor

2020 Resident: Rebecca Jensen

“So much consideration has gone into this residency in terms of its location, duration and proximity to Melbourne. It provided time away from usual commitments and distractions, financial support to cover an artist fee and any materials I might want to work with and the feeling that there is trust in me as an artist and investment in my practice. This feeling is magnified by the residency not needing to have any particular outcome.”

 

Rebecca Jensen

2019 Resident: Thembi Soddell and Onyx B Carmine

“The residency met my expectations and exceeded it. Onyx and I spent our time together discussing our repertoire of works and research, sharing writing and sound compositions, and seeding ideas for how we might merge our practices. Living together gave us time to go deep. This was of extreme value to both my own development as a solo artist and in discovering how we might work together. I feel grateful and lucky to have gotten such deep insight into the rigour and detail behind Onyx’s practice.”

 

Thembi Soddell

2018 Resident: Carolyn Connors

“The residency was a rare time to reach into my musical and performance future, to discover ideas, works and processes that don’t yet exist, some of which will come into fruition over the next 2 years.”

 

Carolyn Connors

Assessors

2023:

2022:

2021:

  • Tamara Saulwick: Chamber Made Artistic Director
  • Emma Valente: Director, designer and dramaturg
  • Nat Grant: Sound artist and researcher

2020:

2019:

2018:

  • Tamara Saulwick: Chamber Made Artistic Director
  • Genevieve Lacey: Recorder virtuoso, cross artform collaborator and artistic director
  • Rosemary Joy: Producer, artist and long-term associate of Margaret Cameron

The Orange House by the Sea

The Orange House by the Sea (also known as ‘Crickneck’) is a beautiful house in Indented Head on the Belleraine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. This house was the location where most of Margaret Cameron’s works and many of her collaborations were developed. Like Margaret herself, the house is truly individual. It has bright orange and hot pink weatherboards with crisp-white interiors and a view of the ever-changing sea. The 20 years of creative energy that pulses through the house is palpable and exciting.

Margaret Cameron

Margaret Cameron was a Melbourne based performance artist, director and writer with experience in a wide variety of performance contexts, both nationally and internationally.

Margaret was Resident Director at Chamber Made Opera (2010-12). Projects created in association with the company include: Chamber Made Opera’s very first Living Room Opera The Itch, The Minotaur Trilogy and Opera for a small mammal.

Margaret received numerous awards throughout her life including the prestigious Australia Council for the Arts Theatre Fellowship in 2004, and The Louis Esson Prize for Drama for Knowledge and Melancholy, Victorian Premiers Literary Awards 1998.

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

The call-out will be announced at the top of this page when it is open. This is typically April/May each year.

Who

The residency is open to mid-career* artists who identify as cis or trans women, trans men, non-binary or gender-non-conforming** and who are making, researching or developing work located at the intersection of performance, sound and music.

Applications are invited from individuals who will enter into an agreement with Chamber Made for the residency. Artists may take up the residency solo or with a small team of collaborators (up to three people in total and collaborators can be any gender as long as the lead artist(s) are women or gender-non-conforming). If you are working with collaborators it will be your responsibility to manage the division and allocation of the artist fee.

This opportunity is open to artists who are residents of Australia only. There is no additional travel stipend available so you will need to cover your own travel expenses to and from the residency.

There is no public outcome associated with the residency. You will be required to submit a report of progress / findings with Chamber Made.

How

  • Applications are submitted via an online form on the Chamber Made website
  • Applications will be assessed by a panel including: Tamara Saulwick, Chamber Made Artistic Director, and two external artists

Selection Criteria

  • Demonstrated experience of over 10 years in performing arts practice
  • Established engagement with cross-artform practice – particularly working across the areas of performance/theatre, sound art and art music.
  • Clear articulation of the focus of the residency period (whether project focused or otherwise)
  • Potential impact of the residency on the applicant’s artistic practice

Please note

*Mid-career is 10+ years practice in an artform

**This project is a ‘Special Measure’ under Section 12 of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 – meaning it can direct its focus towards a specific group. This event welcomes all people who identify as cis or trans women, trans men, non-binary or gender-non-conforming.

Current staff and board members of Chamber Made are not eligible to apply.

Applicants are required to be Australian residents. There is no funding available to cover travel costs.