Artist in Residence / National Trust Penrhyn Castle & Arts Council Wales
2015 - 2016
Penrhyn Castle was the first National Trust property to benefit from a three-year collaboration between National Trust Wales and Arts Council Wales to bring ‘live’ art and artists into contact with an historic setting and its visitors.
Following the success of the initial phase of the Artists in Residence project, the team at Penrhyn received over eighty applications from across the globe to be part in the second phase - from which three artists were chosen.
Robyn Woolston, Lisa Heledd Jones and Joanne Wardrop
The Brief:
To reveal some of the previously untold histories of the site through arts practice, to delve into Penrhyn’s past (the difficult history that surrounds the Castle) and reframe it for a 21st century audience.
Outcomes:
- ‘Strike Penrhyn’ (2016) is a mixed media installation containing 1 ton of slate from the local quarry
- 2 trade union banners displaying ‘first person’ narratives collected from over 100 members of the local community and painted in collaboration
- A documentary film
- Project blog
“There are challenging feelings that still reside within the hearts and minds of the people of Bethesda when considering Penrhyn Castle. Rifts that began during the Great Strike that have continued to the present day. It’s time these narratives were given greater space to ‘breathe’ so as to deepen our understanding of the legacy and history of the people that helped build the castle’s wealth, from a cultural, historical and financial perspective.”
— Robyn Woolston
