On May 2nd the Artist in Residence Programme for the North West Cambridge Development was officially launched. The inaugural year of the programme was opened with the ceremonial unlocking of the residency cottages on the North West Cambridge site, which have been refurbished specifically for the programme. An evening event which brought together the artists and members of the Cambridge University academic and cultural community enabled some lively discussion and a beginning for the working relationships that will be developed over the next year. It was truly an exciting day for art advisors Contemporary Art Society and InSite Arts as the first major event to mark progress on the wider public art strategy that they have written for the North West Cambridge development.
The Artists in Residence in attendance included Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie (residents in the Archaeology department) Tania Kovats (in the Astronomy department) and Hannah Rickards (in the Earth Sciences department) and several spent their first night on site, in freshly decorated bedrooms. At the evening event artists, members of the North West Cambridge development team and Public Art Advisory Panel and representatives from Cambridge University faculties and wider Cambridge community heard the artists give introductory statements to set out their research interests and plans for their residency programme throughout 2013. Public events associated with the residency programme will occur over the next twelve months in Cambridge to provide insight into what the artists are developing through their research and activate the North West Cambridge site through a range of creative events.
