engage is delighted to be running the Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award Artist Residency programme from 2013.

The Award, which is worth £12,000, will be hosted by mima, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art. Artist Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva, who was selected as recipient of the 2013 award in December, met with community members and local business leaders at the end of January to discuss how they could work together. Over the course of her ten week residency Hadzi-Vasileva will work closely with mima's Creative Apprentices to carry out an education programme which will feed into a commissioned artwork: a sculptural piece for mima's garden, incorporating sound, to be launched in Autumn 2013. The commission will become part of mima's collection.

Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva has been chosen to undertake the 2013 Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award Artist Residency. 

Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva is now leading a series of workshops during the residency, with mima staff. These will involve researching mima's collection and archive; visiting industries, investigating and documenting the local area; and using the recordings and resources collected to begin to plan the final artwork. The artist will collaborate with young people and adults from the area throughout the residency, and with local businesses, to create a work that responds to historical manufacturing industries and current service industries in the area and to the stories of the local people. 

Elpida says: "I've met some fascinating people from Middlesbrough and we've started to discuss what we could do together. I'm really looking forward to exploring the area and getting to know the community groups I'll be working with."

The artist is blogging here throughout the residency. 

Following an open call for applications mima, Middlesbrough was selected to host the 2013 artist residency. 

The Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award was established in memory of the artist Alexandra Reinhardt and is supported by the Max Reinhardt Charitable Trust. The Award comprises an annual artist residency culminating in an artwork in the public realm. Artists have undertaken residencies in NHS hospitals since 2005 through a programme coordinated by Paintings in Hospitals. From 2010, the artist residency programme has been coordinated by The Art Room, an organisation that works with art and artists to support vulnerable young people. engage is delighted to be running the programme from 2013.

Members of the press should direct enquiries to Rose Heelas at engage: rose.heelas@engage.org / 020 7729 5858

or Nina Byrne at mima: nina_byrne@middlesbrough.gov.uk / 01642 726 688.

 

The Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award is supported by the Max Reinhardt Charitable Trust and managed by engage, the National Association for Gallery Education.

Read the artist's blog here.

Visit the Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award Facebook page here.