Donna Lynas Residency

This residency not only celebrates Donna Lynas’s legacy, but also comes at a critical moment in terms of ongoing conversations concerning artist pay and the sustainability of artists’ careers, long-term.

The recipient will receive £16,000 a year for three years and the support of each partner – including mentoring, use of facilities and potential inclusion in public programmes – if the artist should wish.

Each institution involved had a relationship with Lynas (1967-2021). Donna was Director of Wysing Arts Centre (2005-2021), and previously Curator at Modern Art Oxford (1995-1999) and Curator at South London Gallery (1999-2005). She was instrumental to the development of Somerset House Studios as a critical friend, and Wysing and the Studios worked in collaboration on many occasion, both formally and informally, with artists moving between our organisations. In 2019, Donna invited the Studios to guest curate the influential annual music festival she founded, Wysing Polyphonic. Donna was widely known in the arts industry for supporting artists over long periods of time, and giving them opportunities when they needed it most.