Connected Horizons: Studio Fellowship Showcase (9 Oct)

Connected Horizons: Studio Fellowship Showcase

Join us for a special edition of Connected Horizons spotlighting the Freelands Studio Fellowships. The fellowships are open to all past graduates of Ulster University and other participating university partners.

The session will open with Rosie Hermon (Artist Development Curator, Freelands Foundation), who will introduce Freelands and outline the aims of the fellowship programme. We’ll then hear from Matthew Wilson, current fellow at Falmouth University, who will share insights from his ongoing experience, and Dominic McKeown, former fellow at Bath Spa University, who will reflect on the impact of the programme on his practice and career.

Following their presentations, Rosie, Matthew, and Dominic will come together for a three-way conversation, exploring the value of fellowships in supporting artistic development and exchange between artists and students. The session will close with an open Q&A, offering attendees the chance to join the discussion.

Freelands Foundation champions the symbiotic relationship between teaching, making and learning art in all contexts. We believe art is central to a broad and balanced education, and a right for everyone. We are driven by a conviction in the vital role of learning and making to foster creativity, resilience, criticality, and problem-solving that empowers and equips us for the future. Our approach combines our ongoing funding, in the form of grants, awards, fellowships, and residencies, with action research. We offer and support academic commissions, workshops, discussions, exhibitions, publications, films, and partnerships, alongside a dedicated resource Library and a growing repository of informative, instructional, and inspiring online resources.

Freelands Studio Fellowships build on the legacy of art school fellowships. A fellowship provides a rare yet vital environment in which an artist and art student can build a co-learning relationship. For students, the presence of a Fellow offers immediate insight into the practice of an early career artist. For an artist, working alongside art students gives them the opportunity to examine their own practice within an educational context and to build their own approach to teaching. The Freelands Studio Fellowships is an annual programme in partnership between Freelands Foundation and eight UK universities who co-develop the programme. Fellows are selected by the partners in annual callouts to alumni of the participating universities.

Dominic McKeown

Dominic McKeown graduated from Ulster University (2017) with a BA Hons in Textile, Design, Art and Fashion, subsequently graduating with an MFA from Ulster University (2020). In 2023, Dominic was awarded the prestigious DCA x Jerwood residency in Dundee and was selected for PS2 residency programme concluding in a solo exhibition Fresh Clay, Belfast. He is the former Freelands Studio Fellow at Bath Spa University (2024-25), also is also a former Co-Director at Catalyst Arts (2021-23). Currently he is Technical Demonstrator for Sculpture at Bath Spa University.

Matthew Wilson

Matthew Wilson is a visual artist living and working between NI and Cornwall. He is the current recipient of the Freelands Foundation Studio Fellowship based at Falmouth University (2025-26). A graduate of Belfast School of Art, Ulster University, he has exhibited nationally and internationally and has worked on commissioned projects, both within institutions and across the community. Matthew primarily works within the parameters of sculpture, installation, performance and drawing. He centres upon intimate material processes, responding to site specificity and using slow and sustainable approaches to gently render a mapping of place, landscape and people. Intertwining personal and cultural narratives, and often anchored within domestic or rural imagery, the works become anachronistic; their materiality acting as a physical manifestation of a history in transition.

Rosie Hermon

Rosie Hermon is Artist Development Curator at Freelands Foundation where she works on the Studio Fellowships programme, artist residencies and connected research. She previously supported the delivery of the Freelands Artist Programme, working with arts partners in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Sheffield to support 20 artists through mentoring, professional development workshops, and showcasing opportunities. Beyond her role with the Foundation, Rosie is a curator working across artist projects, residencies and research practices, with a focus on developing creative partnerships that span multiple localities. She recently submitted her PhD thesis, which has the title, ‘’Like a ghost’: Producing the Triangle international residency network online through curatorial practice’.

Poster Image Credit: Dominic McKeown’s Studio at Bath Spa University, 2024, image courtesy of Freelands Foundation

__________________________________________________________________________

WEBINARS and ONLINE EVENTS: We use Zoom to host our online events. The following text should be followed and tested before registering for a Cafe or Help Desk Event. Zoom has an excellent Help Desk service if you are experiencing problems.

You will be emailed a link to the event in the confirmation email you receive after you have registered.

VAI DISCLAIMER: the information provided in this webinar/ clinic / helpdesk is general information only and does not constitute legal or commercial advice. No liability whatsoever is accepted by Visual Artists Ireland for any action taken in reliance on the information. Legal advice should always be sought from professionals on your personal situation or matters of a legal or financial nature.

Connectivity: Do you experience connectivity issues when engaging with online VAI events? If so why not search for the nearest BCP (Broadband Connection Point) in your area? To explore your options please visit: https://nbi.ie/bcp-map/

________________________________________________________________________

Register Now!