International Printmaking Residency

Who am I

I am a full time painter, printmaker and art educator living in Tāmaki Makaurau and 1 of 50 artists from around the world selected for a month long printmaking residency at the prestigious Frans Masereel Centrum (FMC) in Belgium for 2023. This residency opportunity comes at an important time in my career as I recently moved back to New Zealand from South Africa and am establishing myself as an artist in Aotearoa.

I graduated from Ilam in 1998 and have been exhibiting in group and solo exhibitions since 1999. My work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, art fairs and selected as a finalist in art prizes both locally and internationally. Most notably I was a Merit award winner in The Parkin Drawing Award 2022 and a finalist in The Waikato Museum National Contemporary Art Award 2019. My most recent solo exhibition - 'God’s Away on Business' - was exhibited with FORMS Gallery, Cape Town in 2022. I was awarded the Ampersand Fellowship to New York in 2012 and the Bickerton - Widdowson Trust Memorial Scholarship, NZ in 1998. My work is represented in private, corporate and academic collections, notably in The V&A, London, UK and The Smithsonian, Washington, DC, USA. 

You can see examples of my work here: http://robynpennart.com/

Innovation as a New Zealand artist: My proposed residency project will allow me to make lithographic prints on a scale that is rare in the art world and not possible to make without the assistance of the FMC technicians and their state-of-the-arts print workshop.

As an artist, art educator and mother to two children I have struggled to devote time to my artistic practice and this residency will provide that opportunity.

What is the opportunity

The Frans Masereel Centrum is a collaborative print studio of international high regard. This residency is supportive of an artist's individual artistic development in a way that sets it apart from other residencies and makes it highly sought after.

A residency at the FMC will bring honour to myself and Aotearoa’s arts. I will have the opportunity to learn skills from some of the best practitioners in Europe and to make important connections to other artists-in-residence and visiting curators, art critics and gallerists.

As a practitioner working with our rangitahi in schools I will share the skills and knowledge I gain with the next generation of artists.

What am I seeking funding for

Without funding I will not be able to take up this incredible opportunity.

The residency is partially funded by the Flemish Government - all studio costs including specialised equipment, materials and practitioners are freely available to the artists in residence.

There is a deficit for which I am seeking your assistance:

1. Weekly accommodation stipend of €350 (+/-NZ$565)
2. Travel costs to and in Belgium (+/- $3000)

My total funding targets take into account the 10% Boosted Fee.