The next desk spaces available are from October 2024
The Launch Pad will create four new desk spaces for recent graduates from creative industries courses, who studied at Southampton Solent University, Arts University Bournemouth and Winchester School of Art (University of Southampton). Desks will be available for 12 months and will include support and mentoring, access to the creative hub, artist collective, workshop and gallery and super fast broadband.
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Students will be offered a collective exhibition in the highly acclaimed spudWORKS Gallery towards the end of their 12 months.
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spudWORKS is located in the beautiful New Forest and only two minutes walk from Sway Train Station with regular trains to Southampton, Winchester, London and Bournemouth and the West.
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Places will be in high demand and we are asking all applicants to submit 'a pitch' to be considered for a place. Successful applicants will have access to desks for 12 months for FREE* (*There is a one time administration fee of £200 and then after that there is nothing to pay at all for the full 12 months) with access 7 days per week from 8am until 10pm.
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Please download and complete the application form and return to tomh@spud.org.uk.
This is an incredible opportunity to develop your own business, launch a new idea or test something out and invaluable support. Only apply for a place if you are committed to working regularly at spudWORKS for the full 12 months.
An exciting new addition to the spudWORKS Creative Hub is the Graduate Launch Pad sponsored by AUB.
Current and Past LaunchPad Graduates
Jenny
Tarr
jennytarr.co.uk
Jenny Tarr creates expressive illustrations through intuitive mark making and honest responses, preserving the beauty of process.
As a contemporary artist-illustrator living on the South Coast, she uses drawing to deep-dive into different perspectives on the natural world and the human experience.
Recent projects include a body of work focusing on the breath which now forms a permanent exhibition at Dorset County Hospital, a hand-painted mural for The University Retreat serving both Arts University Bournemouth and Bournemouth University, and a joint exhibition here at Spud, BEING HERE, with her work focusing on portraiture as a tool to enquire into the self.
On her residency at The Graduate Launch Pad, Jenny says, ‘It is such a fantastic opportunity to have a designated studio space here in such a creative community. It’s allowed my practice to flourish and grow. I can’t recommend it enough.’
You can see her portfolio here: https://www.jennytarr.co.uk/portfolio
Or follow her journey on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferjennyjen.illustration/
Jinny
Jehu
Jinny is a multi-disciplinary artist. Her practice is concerned with the relationship of systems within the natural world and spans sculpture, drawing, print, film and living mycelial structures. Recent research has involved employing fungi as an agent for the transformation of sculptural form. Through these collaborations she explores the interconnectedness of systems in nature, the entanglement of species, the human body and the natural cycles of life and death.
An image of a fungal sculpture was selected as a finalist for the Royal Photographic Society’s Women Science Photographer of the Year 2023 and was subsequently published in New Scientist.
Since completing an MA in Fine Art at AUB, Jinny has enjoyed the opportunity that working in Spudwork’s creative environment has provided. She has begun to establish connections and to create new work that continues to investigate scale and interconnectivity. Jinny exhibited some of the results in twenty3 art collective’s show Convergence at The Fine Foundation Gallery, Durlston Country Park, Swanage in April 2023.
@jindraejehu_
Zara
Linsley
Zara Linsley creates intricate, tactile, embellished textile pieces using beading and embroidery. She is inspired by art movements and her surroundings.
During her time at Arts University Bournemouth, Zara undertook Live Briefs with Fashion/Interior brands, to create a collection which enabled her to realise her skills for embellishment in fashion. This inspired her final year projects to involve beading embellishment onto fabric and sole beading together with CAD embroidery.
Alongside university Zara dedicated her time to a pottery internship, which resulted in a MENCAP project to design a tile mural for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, which involved pottery workshops for adults with learning disabilities. This is now displayed in New Milton town centre.
Whilst at SPUD Zara is keen to make use of the unique space to collaborate and immerse herself in the creativity of Spud and to develop her own portfolio, to strengthen her talents to approach the industry.
Hannah Buckingham
Hannah
Hannah Mae Buckingham is an amorphous artist & maker from Portsmouth.
Combining elements of poetry, sculpture, drawing, film, photography, millinery and textiles to explore feelings and narratives with a playfulness, curiosity and connection. Creating from their experiences of queerness and neurodivergence, they are currently exploring how identity and belonging are embodied in our environment and the senses, playing with the elements, signs and symbols, and queer archetypes. This involves documenting things they see, reimagining childhood curiosities, the making of playful and interactive objects and costume, traversing space/time and an interrelation of all things.
Hannah is project coordinator/facilitator for Together - Make Art! a regular free creative group for lgbtqia+ young people at Spud.
www.instagram.com/anxiousdawn/
www.instagram.com/hmaebuckingham/
spudWORKS Graduate – My Experience
Gabriella Cohen
"My year at spudWORKS has unexpectedly been the fondest of my life so far, I’ve come away with a treasured community of likeminded creatives, and a place I will cherish forever.
Without the pressures of academia, the desk space gave me the freedom and space to develop my artistic skills, gain confidence in my creative voice and gain so much invaluable advice from the other artists.
The beautiful serenity of spudWORKS, the range of workshops, opportunities for discussion, constant events and exhibitions, resident artists passing through its doors… There are so many opportunities to connect and create, I couldn’t recommend the Graduate Launchpad more.
Although my year there has ended I know I’ll always be welcome at spud, what a special feeling!"
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spudWORKS Graduate - Alison Summers-Bell
"The potential to join SpudWorks following my MA has been an essential step in my creative career development. It is enabling me to access collaborative and expanding opportunities, develop a and refine a way of working to sustain future practice. Without this my chances to consolidate my studies would be substantially reduced."
