A rare opportunity to partake in a residency that encourages a cross-discipline fusion of creative thinking.

Applications for 2024/25 have now closed. We expect to open applications again in the next academic year, subject to continued funding being available.

The Porthleven Prize is a creative residency located in the harbour town of Porthleven, Cornwall.

It encourages multidisciplinary collaboration, exploring ideas from various fields of enquiry, media and art forms. This immersive experience challenges perceptions of origins, landscape, and community, inspiring innovative and creative responses.

The Porthleven Prize, sponsored by The Trevor Osborne Charitable Trust, is now in its twelfth year.

How it works

15 successful applicants will be selected to participate in a five-day residency at the Porthleven Lifeboat Studio. Residency activities are structured around discussions, collaborative and individual research sessions, guest-led presentations and workshops.

The activities aim to take the participants beyond their normal fields of expression through explorations of the local environment.

Seven of the successful applicants will then be selected for a further fully-funded 14-day residency at the Porthleven Lifeboat Studio. Participants are encouraged to engage with the local environment and community during their time in the residency.

Working collaboratively to produce a single piece of work or create individual works, prize winners will demonstrate their engagement in site responsive practice.

The Prize will be integrated into the academic programme, enabling student involvement, where relevant, to be accredited toward their degree.

Twi Porthleven Prize 2019 winners recording audio at the beach.
2019 Prize Winners

Theme: Provenance

Prize winners will be asked to respond to the theme "Provenance" – the place or source of origin. It offers a rich ground for creative exploration across various disciplines.

By responding to the theme, participants can explore the connection between past, present and the future, while investigating material, form and ideas and the way origins shape identity and experience.

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Criteria

Students from all courses and year groups are welcome to apply.

Key dates

  • First residency: 12–17 January 2025
  • Panel presentations: 3–7 February 2025
  • Second residency: 1–14 March 2025

Deadline for applications

The deadline to apply for the Porthleven Prize has now passed. If you have been successful, you will have been notified by Monday 2 December 2024.

How applications are judged

From the applications received, Bath Spa University will select 15 students (from a range of year groups and disciplines) to participate in the initial five-day residency.

First residency

The aim of the first residency is for students to get to know both the place and each other, and to develop ideas about how they would use the full residency to advance their practice and develop work for the exhibition in collaboration with other Prize winners.

Presentation

Two weeks after the first residency, all students will present their proposals to a panel of judges.

The judges will include Mr Trevor Osborne, Residency Academic Lead, Residency Co-ordinator and the Head of Art, Film and Media, who will be looking for dynamic, confident students who are able to adapt their practices to accommodate other perspectives.

Students will give an in-person five-minute presentation, followed by ten minutes to respond to questions. The panel will select seven prize-winners who will undertake the second fully-funded residency and subsequent touring exhibition.

Second residency

Successful students will then participate in a 14-day fully-funded residency based in Porthleven.

Students will be encouraged to produce a body of collaborative work in any discipline, which may include performance, text, film and visual art. They will also have the change to participate in community engagement opportunities in Porthleven.

A group of students stand on the beach in Porthleven A group of people in winter clothing stand in front of Porthleven harbour Three people crouch on the sand to examine various materials A dance lunges low to the ground on the sand A group of people stand in front of a countryside backdrop Artists mill around their designated studio A group of people stand in front of a wooden gate in the countryside A person leans over a picnic bench to take a photo of their notes

The team

  • Academic Lead: Kellie Hindmarch
  • Coordinator: Simone Hesselberg

Get in touch

If you’d like to find out more, please email Simone Hesselberg via s.hesselberg@bathspa.ac.uk.