Our food residency will offer creatives (individual or collective) the time and space to explore and experiment with their cooking or hospitality practice, sharing new food concepts with the community of Southend in Chalkwell Park.
Opening date: Thursday 25 May
Closing date: Friday 16 June at 5pm
Notification: All artists will be notified of outcome by Friday 23 June
Residency dates: Up to 2 months between July 2023 and August 2023 (residency days can be taken sporadically throughout this period, if you prefer)
Offer: £400 start up bursary, use of Metal buildings and facilities, and staff time
Key links:
About Metal:
Metal works with artists and communities to transform places through creative experimentation and collaboration. We have three sites – in Liverpool, Peterborough and Southend-on-Sea – and we respond to the needs of artists and communities in each place. Food, conversation and hosting are important to our work and to our artists in residence programme. As well as our artist residencies, you might know Metal New Artists Network; the epic Estuary Festival that took place over 107 miles of coastline; Turner Prize winning Assemble’s Granby Workshop; or Harvest, a large-scale art event by Lucy + Jorge Orta that transformed Peterborough’s Cathedral Square. Much of our work is behind-the-scenes and without a predetermined outcome and we are involved in hundreds of conversations and projects every year, supporting artists with funding applications, helping to establish community events, convening environmental sustainability networks, and so much more.
Metal supports all art disciplines, and we use the term ‘artist’ very broadly. In this text, the term ‘artist’ could be: a food experimenter, patisserie chef, food alchemist, supper club host, creative cook, and can encompass much more.
What is Metal’s food residency?
Our food residency will offer the space and time to explore and experiment with your cooking/hospitality practice.
For example, your residency proposal could explore:
- Starting up a new food venture and the need for the space to test it out
- Creating an experimental menu
- Researching foraging and cooking sustainably
- Sharing treasured recipes with the public
- Writing a community cookbook or food zine
- Holding spaces for culinary conversations
- Exploring food rituals
- Food panel talks
- Invited Potluck dinners
- Demos & workshops
As part of the residency with us, we will invite you to provide a public café offer and 1 x community dinner. Throughout this residency, you will also have access to the Metal team to support you, through brokering relationships, practical support or research advice.
Food, hospitality, communal cooking, shared meals and community dinners have always been central to Metal’s processes. Since the organisation was formed, we have celebrated food and encouraged the use of shared meals to support connection and conversation. This is our key focus for this residency: to share ideas, provoke creative conversations and encourage experimentation and curiosity through the medium of food and hospitality.
Who is the food residency for?
This opportunity is open to a creative or a group/collective, with an existing idea you would like to test with the community of Southend in Chalkwell Park. You might be a chef, an artist, a baker, or a community group looking to research and explore new concepts.
We welcome applications from South Essex and from the rest of the UK.
We are looking for projects where food or hospitality are central to your work, someone with culinary experience with the potential to explore a cross-section of ideas through cooking and sharing food. We are particularly interested in ideas where the kitchen and menu are the space for conversations, and where food can be explored in a broader context including:
- Cultural
- Environmental
- Social
- Historical
- Political
Though it isn’t compulsory, we have a particular interest in socially engaged practice. We value different perspectives and experiences, and welcome diversity in all its forms. We particularly encourage applications from global majority, LGBTQIA+, disabled and/or working-class people who are underrepresented at Metal – though each of these groups is represented in Metal’s leadership – and in our sector.
Where will the residency be? What is the space like?
This food-based residency can span two months, within the window of July – August 2023. The residency will be based in Chalkwell Hall’s kitchen, with a pop-up café acting as the studio space to experiment, connect and cook up delicious meals and creative ideas.
Built in 1830, Chalkwell Hall is a grade II listed building set in the beautiful surroundings of Chalkwell Park overlooking the Thames Estuary. The building was renovated by Metal in 2007 and a small domestic kitchen was added to the extension of the building which connects to a suntrap veranda overlooking the lower slopes of the park. When the park first opened to the public in the early 1900s, the Hall had a small café and tuck shop serving the community in the centre of the park. Reinventing the kitchen and café for a short period of time will ignite new creative activity and conversations with Southend’s communities. If required the residency pop-up café can include seating, occupying the ground floor of the building and the veranda area. The rest of the building is used by artists and members of the Metal staff team.
What does the residency include?
This residency will include:
- £400 start up bursary – paid in one installment at the beginning of the residency
- Basic kitchen (induction hob & oven, fridge, chest freezer, microwave, coffee machine, sink and dishwasher – there is no extraction)
- The overheads of the building
- The kitchen and bar space, ground floor and veranda areas
- Promotion through our social media platforms and external signage
- Overnight accommodation at Chalkwell Hall with views over the park and the Thames Estuary, if needed
- Bespoke support from the lovely Metal team. We are often surprised by the opportunities and lines of enquiry that pop up during residencies and we are as responsive as possible to each individual artist and residency. Support might include:
- Mentoring and feedback sessions;
- Introductions and brokering relationships with communities, individuals and other organisations;
- Support with social media and marketing tasks;
- Advice on future funding;
You will bring:
- An idea/concept that you want to test
- Enthusiasm for engaging with others about your ideas
- A plan for the residency time
- A professional and hospitable approach to the cafe
- All the equipment and utensils that you will need (including card readers etc.,)
- All ingredients and produce
- A clear understanding of environmental considerations
- Value on quality produce and sustainability – vegetarian where possible
- Relevant food and hygiene certificates
- Clear protocols around food allergies
- Public Liability Insurance
- Prolific sharing of social media content
- Responsibility for cleaning and maintenance of the kitchen
Will this be a paid opportunity? Can I sell my own product?
As part of the food residency, we will be offering a £400 start up bursary to support you in generating your public-facing ideas.
Throughout this residency, you are invited to run a public offering from the Hall to sit alongside your research. This might be a take-away service of your products or a shop for both produce and artworks. When you put a commercial offer in place, we will need to ensure you have the necessary proposal, insurance, and food health and hygiene certification for the café to be open to the public.
Any income that you make from this is yours to keep. Metal will not take a cut and will cover the overheads, charging you zero rent or utilities. This residency will run alongside Metal Southend’s public summer programme, giving you a customer and participant base.
Access
The Metal team will work with you on an access document before the residency begins to try to remove any barriers to fully participating in the residency. Please get in touch if you have any questions.
How to apply:
To apply, please complete this short application form. In the application form, we ask you to share with us:
- A brief description of your food-related project or research idea (300 – 500 words)
- How you will use this opportunity, how it will develop your practice, and a proposed plan for the residency time (300-500 words)
- Your biography with examples of your previous work (images, videos, audio files, written texts)
- Your CV
Audio and video files are welcome as an alternative to written applications (maximum 8 minutes long).
Contact us:
If you have any queries or would like a chat with us before applying, please contact us at chalkwell@metalculture.com / 01702 470700
