Presence & Process: Artist Residency
A week of embodied, reflective making at Malvern House, Nottingham (3-9 June 2026), offering artists and creatives time, space, and community to explore presence, awareness, and creative process within a supportive, dialogic environment.
The Presence & Process: Artist Residency, invites participants to slow down, pay attention, and connect deeply with their creative process. Rooted in both contemporary art and Gestalt practice, the residency explores how presence, awareness, and experimentation can open new ways of seeing, being, and making. It offers a supportive environment to notice habits, respond to the moment, and rediscover vitality through play, curiosity, and authentic dialogue. Centring on embodied awareness, emotions, and materials, the residency fosters connection, integration, and creative growth within a nurturing community.
About the Residency
Set in the historic surroundings of Malvern House, Nottingham, Presence & Process is a week-long residency offering artists and creative practitioners time, space, and community to focus on their development. The programme combines guided group activities, one-to-one sessions, and individual open studio time with shared meals, reflective check-ins, and evening sharings. Working across diverse creative forms—drawing, writing, performance, sound, movement, and natural interventions—participants are encouraged to explore, experiment, and exchange ideas within a supportive, dialogic setting.
Guest speakers and visiting artists from Nottingham’s vibrant art scene will join for talks and dinners, enriching the week with new perspectives. Designed for artists, creatives, and those interested in embodied approaches to practice, the residency offers a rare opportunity to pause, reconnect, and make. The residency is intended as a holding environment for exploration and focuses on process rather than outcome. We embrace not knowing, stuckness, and difficulties as normal experiences of creative practice.
Each day balances shared activity with time for individual focus. Mornings begin with a group check-in, followed by collective activities. Afternoons offer space for self-directed practice and optional one-to-one sessions. Evenings often include sharings, group discussions, and reflective conversations.
Breakfast, lunch, and evening meals are provided and shared communally.
Morning check-ins
Group activities and exploration
Afternoon self-directed time
Optional one-to-one sessions (sign-up)
Evening sharings, group discussions, and further self-directed time
Typical day includes
Practical information
The residency runs from Wednesday 3 – Tuesday 9 June 2026 and takes place at Malvern House near the centre of Nottingham. Accommodation is provided either onsite at Malvern House or in a nearby B&B. Participants will have access to a range of studio and work spaces within the house, including quiet areas for drawing and reflection, large, light-filled shared studios for making and experimentation, a workshop with basic tools, and a roof-top writing room with views across the city. Outdoor spaces in the surrounding gardens offer opportunities for reflection, drawing, or site-responsive work. All meals are vegetarian or vegan and shared communally as part of the residency’s ethos of care and collaboration. Each day includes group check-ins, led workshops, and dedicated time for individual practice, alongside one-to-one mentoring and opportunities for sharing work in progress. Visiting artists and curators from Nottingham’s lively art scene will join for talks and dinners. The residency offers a balance of structure and freedom—providing time, critical reflection, and space to explore your creative process(es) within a small supportive community.
Who is it For
This residency is designed for artists, creative practitioners, and others interested in embodied, process-based exploration. It welcomes those working across visual, performative, written, or interdisciplinary forms, as well as educators and therapists who engage in creative processes to support their work. Applicants should have an openness to experimentation, dialogue, and shared enquiry rather than a focus on finished outcomes.
Costs & inclusions
Residency fee (non-residential):
£996 per person
Residency with accommodation:
£1,321 per person
Fees cover the full six-night, seven-day programme and are subsidised to reflect our commitment to creating accessible opportunities for artists and creative practitioners to focus, reflect, and grow within a supportive community. The residency is grounded in an ethos of care, presence, and shared practice, cultivating conditions for creative exploration, attentive dialogue, and embodied discovery.
The Residency fee includes: £996
Studio and workspace access, with dedicated time for self-directed practice
All meals are provided. Food is vegetarian or vegan, with a focus on nourishing, communal dining. Expect continental breakfasts, lunchtime soups and bakes, delicious snacks, and wholesome evening meals.
Workshops and daily group activities
One-to-one sessions with Danica Maier and Christine Stevens
Guest speaker and visits from invited local artists/curators
Accommodation fee includes: £325 (plus residency fee)
Single and twin rooms
Made up beds with towels
Shared bathrooms
Additional information
Residents are responsible for their travel, insurance, and any visa requirements relevant to their country of origin. Detailed travel information will be provided (closest airports: East Midlands, a bit further but accessible via train Manchester and Stansted). Free, but limited, onsite parking is available.
As this residency receives no external funding, we’re unable to offer financial assistance for fees, travel, or materials. All fees go directly towards running the residency. We are happy to provide letters of acceptance to assist with funding applications, and encourage participants to seek support through arts councils, universities, or personal fundraising.
The residency welcomes a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 10 participants to ensure an intimate and supportive environment. We welcome applications from artists, writers, and creative practitioners of all backgrounds and disciplines, and are committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful environment that values diversity of experience and perspective.
Payment plans may be available; please get in touch to discuss options.
Cancellation Policy
We understand that sometimes unexpected things happen. As a small, self-funded residency, we’re unable to offer refunds for any payments made. However, if you need to cancel, we’ll do our best to find someone to take your place. If a replacement participant is confirmed, we’ll be able to refund your payment (minus any administrative costs).
We recommend that all participants take out appropriate travel insurance to cover unforeseen circumstances that might prevent attendance.
About us
Danica Maier is an artist, educator, and coach who is passionate about creating spaces that nurture creativity, reflection, and connection. An Associate Professor in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University and an advisor with Transart Institute for Creative Research, she has over twenty-five years of experience supporting artists and creative practitioners across the UK and internationally. Her work moves between drawing, textiles, installation, and writing, exploring pattern, repetition, and the subtle shifts that occur when materials, words, and ideas are translated across forms.
Alongside her individual practice, Danica has a deep commitment to collaborative and residency projects. She has founded and co-led a number of residencies, including The Summer Lodge, No Telos, and supported drawing residences with the Museum of Loss and Renewal. She now co-leads Presence & Process: Artist Residency, which brings together artists and practitioners to explore creative practice through attention, presence, and embodied awareness.
Her approach to residencies and teaching combines care, deep listening, playfulness, and critical curiosity - offering time and space for people to experiment, think deeply, and reconnect with their creative process. Alongside her academic work, Danica is a qualified mentor and coach, working with artists and creative professionals who want to sustain or re-energise their practice. She also has a PhD in practice-based artistic research.
Danica Maier
Christine Stevens
Christine Stevens is an artist and has been a Gestalt psychotherapist for 26 years. She works as a supervisor, international trainer and writer, is Editor of The British Gestalt Journal, and runs the Clay Studio Nottingham.
As an artist, Christine works with clay, enjoying its responsive, resistant qualities. She is Director of Clay Studio Nottingham, based within Primary Studios, an Arts Council England Portfolio Organisation with about 50 resident artists with diverse practices. Since completing her degree in Fine Arts in 2014, Christine has been involved in exhibitions and collaborative arts research projects and presentations. She sees her practice as trans-disciplinary, engaged in artistic enquiry and psychotherapy practitioner research.
Christine Stevens PhD is Editor of The British Gestalt Journal. She is Chair of the EAGT Research Committee. Has worked for 16 years on the faculty of the Doctorate in Psychotherapy programmes at Metanoia Institute, London. She is Co-ordinator for the International Gestalt Practitioner Case Study Project, sponsored by the EAGT and the IAAGT. As Director of Clay Studio, Nottingham, she is involved in arts-based social engagement work. She regards her practice as trans-disciplinary, informed by the social sciences, and engaged in artistic enquiry and psychotherapy practitioner research.
Location & setting
Malvern House, located in the heart of Nottingham, is a historic building surrounded by vibrant urban culture and green woodland spaces. Despite being so close to the city centre, it has a calm and peaceful ambience, set in a leafy environment with a long view from the back of the house towards the Peak District. Built in 1874 by a lace manufacturer, it sits on the border of St Ann’s, a densely and diversely populated community and Mapperley Park, a conservation area of Edwardian family homes. Built in Gothic Revival style, probably by Henry Sully, a student of Watson Fothergill, it is a local landmark. In over 150 years it has been home to private families, war time billeting, company headquarters, a firm of architects and a GP surgery. It is currently in private ownership again and has been adapted to offer a series of inspiring spaces for workshops and residencies.
The studio spaces include the ground floor rooms with high ceilings, marquetry floors and large Victorian sash windows which bathe the rooms with light. The wood workshop is located in the lower ground undercroft which opens at garden level at the back. The chateauesque tower above the house is a distinctive feature, housing a small wood-panelled room which is available as a contemplative space with spectacular views. The bedrooms are in the main body of the house, a mix of single and shared twin rooms with interesting architectural features. Additionally, two people may be accommodated offsite in a nearby B&B.
Nottingham offers a vibrant and thriving artist community with venues located within a 1.5 mile radius of Malvern House. (Walking distances: Nottingham Contemporary, 28 mins; New Art Exchange, 22 mins; Primary studios and gallery space, 30 mins; Old Market Square, 25 mins.) The train station is 34 mins walk away and is easily accessed by tram, bus, and Uber/taxi. Nottingham is a compact city with parks and open spaces, two universities, an independent cinema, concert halls, theatres and lively nightlife.
Workshop/space
Garden
Bedrooms
Tower room
How to apply
Please send:
A short statement (up to 500 words) about your practice or area of interest and why you wish to take part.
Up to five images, links to audio/visual work, writing or other relevant forms of practice.
A brief bio or CV (1 page max).
Please state whether you are applying for a residential or non-residential place.
Ensure each file/document has your name as part of the file title: (e.g. D.Maier_statement.docx, etc).
Applications should be emailed to danica.maier@ntu.ac.uk by 31 January 2026.
Applications open: 1 November 2025
Deadline for applications: 31 January 2026
Notification of acceptance: Mid-February 2026
First deposit due: 28 February 2026 (to confirm your place)
Final payment due: 1 May 2026
Residency dates: 3 – 9 June 2026
Timeline
Contact & Accessibility information
For any questions regarding the application process, please contact - danica.maier@ntu.ac.uk.
We aim to create an inclusive and supportive environment where all participants can fully engage. The building is partially accessible - the ground floor is easily accessed without steps, where the main studios are located with an accessible toilet. The stairs up to the first floor are broad and shallow.
For any questions regarding access, please contact - christine@mappmed.co.uk.
Tea room
