Artist in Residence
Each year we run an Artist in Residence program through an Expression of Interest process. Since 2024 we have run the program in collaboration with Seventh Gallery, providing an opportunity for research within our collections, studio space and a platform for presenting outcomes or work in progress.
Annual call-outs typically occur around January. Our 2026 program is currently being planned. Subscribe to our newsletter or keep an eye on our Instagram for updates.
2025 RESIDENCY
Women's Art Register x Seventh GalleryARTIST
Kate JustOur 2025 Artist-in-Residence Kate Just undertook many visits to the W.A.R. archives and examined examples of political text across books, files, magazines and artworks. During her research, Kate came upon an advertisement for a curated performance exhibition at George Paton Gallery in 1980 called Women at Work, which inspired her exhibition CONSTRUCTION/WORK (Seventh Gallery, 9 July to 16 August 2025). The advertisement featured a hand drawn yellow and black sign with the bold text WOMEN AT WORK riffing off ‘MEN AT WORK’ construction signs.
Two hand-knitted panels bearing the words ‘Women at Work’ and ‘Women’s Work’ play on stereotypical conceptions of gendered labour. A green and white sweater bearing the text KEEP YOUR LAWS OFF MY BODY spins in the space. Produced by Just in 2022 in response to the overturning of Roe V. Wade, the garment makes its debut in an exhibition space and flags the continuing human rights infringements by the US government.
Reflecting on the residency and exhibition works, Just reflects, ‘These are stifling and inhumane times. The show springboards from a text in the archive, but hopes to highlights the ongoing active and constructive work artists and activists can do to reshape our social and political landscape.’
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Kate Just is a queer, feminist artist of Polish, Irish, German and Scottish descent (born USA, migrated to Australia 1996) best known for her inventive and political use of knitting. In addition to her solo practice, Just often works socially and collaboratively within communities to create large scale, public or textile-based art projects that tackle significant social issues including gender-based violence, reproductive freedom, LGBTQIA rights and political protest. Kate Just holds a PhD in Sculpture (Monash University), an MA (RMIT), and a BFA from VCA. She has exhibited extensively across Australia including at the NGA, ACCA, Heide, Gertrude Contemporary and CCP.
Internationally she has exhibited at AIR Gallery (New York, USA), ICA (Richmond, Virginia, USA), the Rijswijk Museum (the Netherlands), Auckland Art Fair (NZ), Kunsthalle Krems (Austria), Sanskriti Gallery (India), Youkobo Artspace (Japan), Contextile Biennale (Portugal) and SUWON Museum of Art (South Korea).
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You can view more images from the residency on Kate Just’s website, and read about the exhibition on Seventh’s website.
Images: CONSTRUCTION/WORK (2025) installed at Seventh Gallery. Photos: Meg de Young.
2024 RESIDENCY
Women's Art Register x Seventh GalleryARTIST
Gail HarradineOur 2024 Artist-in-Residence Gail Harradine was the inaugural recipient of the Women’s Art Register x Seventh Gallery program that ran through a competitive EOI process. During her research at W.A.R, Gail identified a dearth in the archives relating to information on Victorian First Peoples’ women. The importance and meaning of collecting material about communities is investigated through Gail’s research and culminated in the exhibition Maiya Burnan Nyauwi (Winter Sunrise) (Seventh Gallery, 7 August to 7 September 2024).
In the early stages of the residency, Gail shared her interest in layering stories, life experience and passed-on knowledge.
From March to August 2024, Gail worked between a studio space at Seventh Gallery and the W.A.R. archives which led to the exhibition at Seventh in August. She was also linked to RMIT’s Printmaking department for this research project as a guest artist.
The exhibition consisted of various new works across the media of printmaking, photography, craft and archival material. It astutely depicted the way one’s life journey ebbs, flows and connects to others. Not only has Gail’s research project initiated conversation regarding archiving methodologies of Victorian First Peoples’ women’s artworks, it explored other means to integrate one’s established art practice with the existing valuable archives.
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Gail Harradine is a Wotjobaluk / Jadawadjali / Djubagalk arts practitioner, curator and teacher. She holds several tertiary qualifications: two from Melbourne University, and two from Ballarat University, and Deakin University, alongside a Master of Arts from RMIT in 2022. Gail is currently studying her PhD at RMIT and has a long-standing practice referencing the mountain and sandstone country of Gariwerd and Mali sandhills with highlights including sculptural work with Brambuk/Parks Victoria, and the Mali maarng Mallee Sky exhibition at HRAG. She works mainly in painting, printmaking and photography, with conceptual work based on family history, and making and creating with family for experimental work in performance and photography.
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You can view more images from Gail’s residency and read about the exhibition on Seventh’s website.
Images: Maiya Burnan Nyauwi (Winter Sunrise) (2024) installed at Seventh Gallery. Photos: Teagan Ramsay.
2020–2022 RESIDENCY
Women's Art Register x And Also PresentsARTIST
Claudia PharèsFrom 2020–2022, our Artist in Residence program was impacted by COVID-19, with multiple lockdowns and ongoing social distancing measures extending activities across two years. Throughout the pandemic, whilst parenting and working as frontline healthcare worker, Artist-in-Residence Claudia Pharès continued to make art. Her residency saw her research motherhood and art in the W.A.R. archive and present an exhibition, guest edit the Bulletin and launch a zine.
The studio provided by And Also Presents at Siteworks in Brunswick gave Claudia the space to create new work. This culminated in the exhibition Invisible Labour (Bargoonga Nganjin North Fitzroy Library, 26 February to 25 April 2021).
In July 2021 Claudia guest edited Issue #68 of the Bulletin magazine, which explored how the pandemic affected mothering, art, care, economics and labour.
The final outcome was a zine launched on 27 March 2022 at Seventh Gallery, MOTHERFESTO: on motherhood, feminism and practical tips.
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Claudia Pharès is French-Canadian of Vietnamese-Egyptian descent born in Montreal and based in Naarm (Melbourne). Her art practice uses photography, sculpture, installation, performance and video. It is framed around autobiographical events that have challenged her sense of control. Becoming a mother is such an event. While using matricentric feminism, she seeks to expand her roles and responsibilities as an artist/mother and to contribute to the current narrative surrounding motherhood.
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You can read more about the work on Claudia Pharès’ website.
Images: How was your feminism during self-isolation? (2020) still from performance in Edinburgh Gardens. Photo: Lucy Foster; Invisible Labour (2021) installed at Bargoonga Nganjin North Fitzroy Library. Photo: Claudia Pharès.
2019 RESIDENCY
Women's Art Register ARTIST
Julia BorosDuring her residency, inaugural Artist-in-Residence Julia Boros explored the 1978 Women’s Art Register project Profile of Australian Women Sculptors: 1860–1960 by Bonita Ely and Anna Sande. This collection of photographs, slide kit and publication was shown at the Seventh Mildura Sculpture Triennial, in response to the lack of representation of women artists. Julia’s research and creative experimentation resulted in the exhibition Re-Register: Australian Women Sculptors from the Women’s Art Register (Richmond Town Hall, 1 November 2019 to 31 January 2020).
Julia reinterpreted the material from the 1978 project through screen printing, creating works with textiles and on paper. Alongside the exhibitions at Richmond Town Hall, there were related archival displays shown at Richmond Library, as well as an artist’s book.
A publication accompanied the exhibition with essays by Julia Boros, Anna Sande, Bonita Ely and Katve-Kaisa Kontturi.
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Julia Boros is a visual artist who lives in South Australia. Her practice incorporates the creation of site responsive installation and soft sculpture. Implementing her experience of traditional and experimental printing and production methods, Julia explores textile manipulation. A background in theatre and film influences the performative aspects of her process.
Julia has a Master of Contemporary Art from the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne (2016) where she obtained the National Gallery of Australia Women’s Association Award.
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You can view more images of the work on Julia Boros’ website.
Images: Re-Register: Australian Women Sculptors from the Women's Art Register (2019) installed at Richmond Town Hall; Untitled (2019) screenprinted fabric and paper. Photos: Tim Gresham.
The Artist in Residence program is supported by the City of Yarra.
