Residential Creative Caretakers :: Volunteer Position With Accommodation

Deadline: 02/04/2021

Venue: The Forge, Ashbank Farm, Lunts Moss ST7 3QL  |  City: Scholar Green  |  Country: United Kingdom  |  Rowan Cannon

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Are you an artist, maker or creator who wants the time and space to develop your creative practice in a new tranquil environment? Would you like to live and work for three months at our creation centre, the Forge? We are seeking a creative person/people to come and lodge at Wild Rumpus’s HQ – Ashbank Farm: a 16th Century farmhouse situated in beautiful Cheshire countryside. In this reciprocal arrangement, we will provide free accommodation at the farmhouse, and the space and time for you to develop your own artistic practice. In exchange, we would like a responsible and trustworthy resident/s to take on some basic duties around The Forge (Ashbank Farm, Whirligig Woods & Design Barn).

The offer:

  • 3 months free board (private bedroom, shared communal areas) at Ashbank Farm. NB, the farm is the base for Wild Rumpus, with a small kitchen garden, artist workshops etc. It is not a working farm but a creative centre – see further details below. 
  • Access to workshop or studio space, outdoor rehearsal space and Whirligig Woods (when not booked by other parties)
  • The opportunity to pursue and work on your own creative projects in a beautiful environment without any fixed expected creative outcomes.
  • Mentoring and networking opportunities from the Wild Rumpus team and become part of our wider creative community.
  • If it suits your work, opportunities to exhibit or present, through our digital channels or in real life!

Responsibilities:

  • Ad hoc assistance around site; e.g. taking in deliveries, being an on site presence/ point of contact for visitors to site
  • Greeting guests to our Whirligig Woods and inducting them on to site
  • Helping to support preparation of accommodation at the Woods, changing beds etc.
  • Light gardening (including kitchen garden), cleaning and maintenance around the site.
  • Care of chickens

Responsibilities will be spread across the week but will not take up more than 16 hours work per resident creative. We recognise there are additional living costs than just rent, and that residents may have part-time work elsewhere. We will agree working hours with the residents individually, but they will be an agreed block of 2.5 hours per day, 6 days a week. 

The role is in support of an existing team who are very capable and practical. We have a part-time woodland caretaker and full-time makers who specialise in woodwork, metalwork amongst other things. So the residents creative won’t be expected to wield power tools etc. One of our makers, Tom, also lives in the farmhouse, and there will be one or two freelance makers staying at the farm and/or woods throughout. 

 Life at Ashbank Farm is pretty idyllic, but also relatively basic. The farmhouse does not have central heating throughout. Some rooms of the house have radiators heated from a Rayburn Stove in the kitchen, which also heats the hot water. If the stove goes out it can get cold!

As lockdown lifts, the Wild Rumpus team will return to using Ashbank Farms as their main office space, so the communal areas of the house can get quite busy, and the downstairs offices will be used as workspaces and meeting rooms.

Who we are looking for: 

  • We very much wish this to be an opportunity to grow our creative community. We are looking for someone who is communally minded- who is interested in alternative, creative modes of living and willing to get stuck into lots of different opportunities to connect
  • We are receptive to a wide range of creatives, but the setting / context may be particularly relevant to people working in and around the Outdoor Arts creative network
  • Given that this is a reciprocal arrangement it is imperative that while the duties are loose, that the selected person(s) are responsible, happy to pitch in, trustworthy and that they are good communicators.
  • We are open to applications from individuals or couples. We can’t currently accommodate children or anyone under 18.

This is the first time we have appointed such a role, and as such the details of the arrangement (including the delegation of duties, and contribution to other household bills) is still not entirely fixed at this point. We would be receptive to discussing all details with suitable candidates.

Location

We’re located just outside Kidsgrove in the centre of the country, with rail connections to London, Stoke, Manchester & Birmingham.

Our full address is Ashbank Farm, Lunts Moss, Scholar Green, Cheshire, ST7 3QL.

The nearest train station is Kidsgrove which is a 15-minute drive or a 50-minute walk.

The farmhouse is relatively remote, along a farm track (unlit), 15 minutes walk from the nearest road. It is certainly possible to live here happily without access to a vehicle, but public transport in the immediate vicinity is scarce, so please bear in mind the 50 minute walk from the station if you will be planning to return to civilisation on a regular basis during your stay!

Application Process

Closing date for applications: Friday 2 April.

In order for us to reduce travel and visits during lockdown, we’ll only be inviting shortlisted applicants to visit the farm. This will be during the week beginning 12 April, when we will give you a tour of the farm and woods and get to know each other as we walk and talk.

We’re flexible as to when you will move in, but expect it will be in the first half of May.

We expect this to become a rolling opportunity approx every 3 months, so if it isn’t the right time for you just now, there will be chances to apply again in the future.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

We promote diversity and equal opportunities. If you experience or anticipate any barriers within the application process, or require help to make an application or access information, please contact Rowan we can make any necessary adjustments.

About the Forge

Creation Space

The Forge invites artists, musicians, writers and other creative to spend time in the woods. Residencies can take a range of forms, from the takeover of the space for a season, a day or two per week, to a two week intensive facilitated residency. The annual cohort of participants is curated by the Wild Rumpus team to encourage collaboration, the sharing of ideas, and the creation of incredible new work. Audiences can be invited to participate in scratch performances, installations and exhibitions.

Gatherings

Around the campfire, amongst the trees, under canvas and in wide green spaces, people come together at the Forge to share and create big ideas. Existing and new networks can meet in facilitated spaces, shifting their conversations in new creative directions. From bold, flagship gatherings to share new ideas about culture and nature intersect, to residential writing courses, to monthly meetings of cultural leaders, the gatherings at the Forge are thoughtful and challenging, using the benefits of being outdoors to shift our ways of thinking.

Talent Development

The Forge is a gathering place for emerging artists, producers, makers, programmers and event managers. Building on Wild Rumpus’ existing ecology of talent development aross a range of events and projects the Forge enables a deepening of this work. Outdoor residential training, workshops, internships and mentoring are embedded in a holistic approach to the volunteering community, creating meaningful change and inspiring a new generation of outdoor arts creators and curators to get out there and change the world.

Workspace

The Forge has expanded and begun to develop the workspace for the Wild Rumpus team. With fifteen permanent members of staff, and a wide pool of freelancers, expanded and improved facilities are beginning to create the conditions for more ambitious, creative ways of working. More and better office and maker space, embedded in the natural landscape, will enable the organisation to grow and develop sustainably. The relationship between the Forge and Wild Rumpus’ other work is holistic, with ideas, talent, art and communities flowing from each to the other.

Spaces at the Forge

Ashbank Farm

A beautiful late 16th century farmhouse, Ashbank Farm is the main workspace for the Wild Rumpus team, with office, workshop and maker space, some accommodation, a command kitchen and kitchen garden.

Whirligig Woods

The Whirligig Woods is 4 acres of woodland plus a connected meadow, with vintage caravans, a treehouse, and a horsebox office/kitchen space. There is a large roundhouse campfire space, outdoor powerpoints and options for temporary covered spaces. Carpeted with bluebells in spring and home to the Wild Rumpus chickens, the Whirligig is our main artist residency space.

Design Barn

The design barn is home to all of the scenery, decor, props, signage and stages that create the immersive worlds at Wild Rumpus events. Making takes place here and in the Ashbank workshops, alongside training and development for volunteers and emerging makers. The design barn also offers a large dry indoor space as overflow/wet weather contingency.

 

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