The Art Residency is supported by the Danish Research Foundation. The foundation’s establishment of this grant/travel-stipend has its basis in the bourgeoning interest in sculpture as a medium of artistic expression that can be brought into being with the aid of techniques that have been used for centuries by artisans. Contemporary artists have been taking these kinds of techniques to heart and are expressing themselves in their own language while pushing boundaries and widening our perception of classical sculpture. Accordingly, The Art Residency attracts and supports a generation of Danish and international contemporary artists who are currently eager to be working at our Pietrasanta workshops. We can spot a clear tendency toward reviving traditional crafts that appear to be finding their way back onto the contemporary art scene. It is our fervent hope that the Art Residency program may serve to help artists move from idea to production, thus becoming a starting point for the artworks and thus fashioning the necessary frame around combining artistic creativity with craftsmanship-related know-how. Science always begins as an idea! Without a laboratory/workshop, it’s difficult to transform the idea into reality.
Artisans at work in Fonderia Mariani in Pietrasanta.
The Art Residency studios are located adjacent to the foundry, and the residents will live and work in the middle of the foundry's daily operations.
SCOPE OF RESIDENCY
The Art Residency in Pietrasanta, Italy, offers a three-month opportunity to work closely with the bronze foundry Fonderia Mariani, with potential connections to the marble workshop Massimo Galleni and the copper print workshop Aldo Galleni.
The Residency provides the artist with a spacious studio, which also includes housing. There are two studios and two residency periods running concurrently. Each artist is allocated three months in the studio, allowing them to work in close proximity to the bronze foundry and just a 5-minute walk from Piazza Duomo, Pietrasanta's "Centro Storico."
The resident artist benefits from technical assistance for production and can rely on the daily support of the artisans at Fonderia Mariani and Massimo Galleni .
The scope and extent of this assistance are agreed upon with the director of The Art Residency - Pietrasanta, Andreas Zinck Henningsen (AZH).
In addition to the studio and housing, grants are provided for travel and living expenses (€ 4700), which the artists can independently manage. A production budget totaling
€ 29.500 is allocated to finance one or multiple sculptures in bronze or marble. This budget is directly managed by The Art Residency and disbursed to the artisan workshops.
Upon completion of the residency, a book is published documenting the artist's stay, with a focus on both concise textual content and visual material showcasing the finished sculptures. The artist is encouraged to take their own photos for potential inclusion in the publication.
A comprehensive breakdown of the budget, accommodation details, and a contract will be provided once the artist is granted a stay.
Note: The artworks created during the residency are given to the artist, who has full discretion over their disposition. Models and the silicone molds become the property of the artist but can only be utilized at Fonderia Mariani og Massimo Galleni in Italy.
The Art Residency will facilitate transport of all the created works.
Alexander Tovborg in Studio Danese
2021