Artist in Residence
Supporting local, emerging artists to develop their practice
Our artist in residence scheme was launched in the spring of 2019 to help local artists find the space and time to develop their practice.
Each artist is with us for 3-6 months and are encouraged to create work that engages with our community. Some artists have held performances or hosted workshops, whilst others have worked with specific community groups or used the time to develop professionally.
We want to find artists who are working to engage our community through radical and inspiring work. We are particularly interested in local artists who are underrepresented in the sector, and artists who have a socially engaged practice.
In the autumn, we will be seeking applications for artists to join us in 2026. Check back for info then.
Shahena Begum
Our 12th Artist in Residence is Shahena Begum, an illustrative artist based in Bethnal Green who draws inspiration from the architecture of Tower Hamlets.
Watch this space as Shahena develops her practice!
January-March 2025
Georgia Sea
Our tenth Artist in Residence was Georgia Sea. Georgia used her 6 month Residency to develop a creative practice that is responsive to embodied experience, chronic health conditions and life transitions. Her end of Residency exhibition 'Landscapes of Matrescence' shared work exploring the metamorphosis of new motherhood.
January-June 2024
Sophie Lincoln
Our 9th Artist In Residence was Sophie Lincoln - a local costume designer and maker. Sophie using our first extended 6 month-residency to celebrate wearable art creations using found materials, and immersed herself within the SMH community to bring about community creativity.
July-December 2023
Marianne Habeshaw
Our 8th Artist In Residence was Marianne Habeshaw - a community based poet who wanted to expand her practice through the residency period
April-June 2023
Nina Scott & Dan De la Motte
Our 7th Residency, for the first time, was host to TWO artists - Dan and Nina! Funded by Arts Council England, the pair brought their 6 month Research & Development project ‘Be More Mushroom’ to St Margaret’s House.
October 2022 - March 2023
Ben Murphie
Ben Murphie was our sixth artist in residence. He took St Margaret’s House by storm in a wave of pink and yellow ‘fabulousity’. This residency culminated in the release of a new single, debuted at the cabaret event: ‘The Haus Of Battenberg’.
June-Aug 2022
Milou Stella
Milou Stella was our fifth artist in residence who used her time to embark on a large body of work: ‘The Elusive Good Egg’ which examined the cross section of Queerness and (In)Fertility.
Jan-March 2022
Frankie Roberts
Frankie Roberts was our fourth resident artist, rediscovering live performance in the post-pandemic world.
Sep - Dec 2021
Arianne Churchman
Our 3rd resident artist, Arianne Churchman, welcomed our community into her Dream Horse Cult.
May-Jul 2021
Fox Irving
Fox Irving was our second artist in residence. They worked with Woodwork for Wellbeing to renovate the Create Place garden space.
Nov 2019 - Feb 2020
Ayesha Tan-Jones
We started our Artist in Residence scheme by welcoming Ayesha Tan-Jones to the new studio in the Create Place.
Jun - Sep 2019