Meet the the emerging artists-in-residence taking part in Carclew's new 12-month artist residency program Sharehouse.

Becoming accustomed to fighting for a spot in a sharehouse is a worthwhile pursuit for young people, and this is just one of the ways SA’s only youth-focussed arts centre, Carclew, is helping its first cohort of artists-in-residence for the newly rebranded residency program, Sharehouse.

Applications for the program opened last October, with the aim for Sharehouse to give young artists the time, space and support to pursue their practice.

The number of artists accepted into the program doubled compared to its previous iteration, and Carclew has constructed additional purpose-built working spaces at Carclew House.

There are plans for “future expansion”, Carclew’s website says, and they hope for Sharehouse to be a workspace that represents the working style of modern-day artists.

Mali Allen-Place

“Artists need time for ideas to brew, and space to make and remake work,” Carclew’s chief executive Tricia Walton says in a statement.

“We have been rethinking the use of the available space here at Carclew, and are now pleased to announce this exciting cohort of resident creatives for 2021.”

Today the eight lucky tenants have been revealed: illustrator George Gilles, writer Fi Fraser, actor and playwright Jamila Main, animator Harrison Vial, Zoe Gay and Felicity Bond of dance group Motus Collective, artist Mali Allen-Place, and filmmaker Maddie Grammatopoulos.

Due to disruptions caused by COVID-19 last year, Carclew’s 2020 curator-in-residence Christina Massolini will continue her residency this year.

The cohort will use a range of Carclew’s facilities, spanning studios in the old stables called “Messy Spaces”, a ground-floor shared area called the “Quiet Space”, and another common area called the “Big Space” located in the Dame Ruby Litchfield Ballroom.

They will also have access to Carclew’s experienced arts workers for support.

Arabana and Kokatha visual artist Mali Allen-Place tells CityMag she plans to push herself artistically over the next 12 months.

Maddie Grammatopoulos

“I do ceramics, photography, videography but am best known for my Indigenous dot paintings,” Mali says, “[and] this year I plan to experiment with new art forms in my studio!”

She hopes at the end of the residency program she will have a large enough catalogue of work to host her first solo exhibition.

Maddie Grammatopoulos is a NIDA graduate, filmmaker and director, and plans on using the year-long opportunity to work on a 12-minute short film.

Maddie says the untitled work, which is still in the development stage, explores fears of “getting older, navigating loneliness, grieving lost memories, and struggling with self-identity.”

“I think in any creative work, it can be easy to second guess yourself and procrastinate,” Maddie says, “so I’m really grateful to be surrounded by people to hold me accountable to my goals.

“I feel very fortunate to live in a state where this kind of support for young artists is accessible, too.”

For more information on Sharehouse and Carclew, visit the website.

L—R: Sharehouse 2021 residents Harrison Vial, Zoe Gay, Christina Massolino, Felicity Bond, George Gilles, Jamila Main, Mali Allen-Place and Maddie Grammotopoulos.