SSW x Counterflows Caregivers Residency

Deadline for applications: Friday 12 June 2026, 12 midday
Apply using this online application form

2026 is the 6th year of the SSW and Counterflows collaboration, offering vital residency opportunities to Scotland based artists who are also caregivers. They are delighted to offer 4 Fully Funded Residencies in 2026, thanks to generous support of the William Grant Foundation and Creative Scotland.

The SSW x Counterflows Caregivers Residency offers:

• A 4 week fully-funded residency at SSW bespoke to the artists’ caregiving needs and schedule
• £3000 artist fee
• £300 travel budget
• £300 materials budget
• £1000 to support access and care costs to enable the artist to take part in the residency.
• Weekend pass and travel to Counterflows Festival in April 2026

This residency recognises that the care of others is central to the collective survival of our world yet is deeply undervalued within our society. This is often mirrored in the structures of support created for artists. 

The SSW x Counterflows Caregivers Residency is shaped to support artists who undertake this essential care work. It is set up to provide a nourishing, open and flexible residency structure to serve their diverse needs.

Caring for family (bio or chosen), community and/or kin, either professionally or informally can form and create artistic practices as well as disrupt them. SSW recognise how difficult it is for artists with caring responsibilities to grasp time, energy, resources and focus for their practices. This is particularly the case when support networks have been disrupted, home and work have become tangled up and funding systemically diverted away from caregivers infrastructures of support.

The SSW x Counterflows Caregivers Residency offers artists funding, flexibility, respite and space for self-care, to focus on their own needs and support their continued learning and development.