Attention performers. I know you’ve worked hard this year. Slavishly pushing your body ever harder as the medium, sampling different art forms like they were killer horn riffs from a ‘20s jazz vinyl, not to mention begging, borrowing and stealing work space, juggling jobs, and explaining to your mum that no you won’t be in Baz Luhrman’s next blockbuster but you do have your artistic integrity. You probably just want to put your feet up and eat some plum pudding, or put your dancing shoes on and go to some arty Christmas party. But, next week while you’re waiting for Mum and Dad to wake up so you can open your stash from Santa, or wiling away the hours at Grandma’s house in Queanbeyan, you might want to give a thought to applying for a Queen Street Studios Performing Arts Residencies for 2012. These people are here to help.

Ten residencies are up for grabs that offer one to three weeks free studio time at studios in Chippendale and Darlinghurst and a stipend of $600 per week so you can still pay your rent.

I asked former recipient of Queen Street residencies Eddie Sharp about his experience with the program:

What did the residency allow you to do that you wouldn't have been able to otherwise?

I have had three residencies at Frasers now and they have really consolidated my practice and made me a stronger artist. The clarity, distance and focus that the space provides is invaluable.
As an artist who works on a large scale, involving many people, lack of space has a very real material effect on my ability to create work. The skills myself Kenzie Larsen and William Mansfield have learnt and the results of experimentation with materials and structures that were a part of our previous Frasers studio residencies have fed into newer work and consolidated us as a team.

What's the best thing about Queen Street Studios?

Working with other people. The way our work all feeds into each other. Chatting to people who make totally different work to you.

Any advice to potential applicants?

Be honest and try to fulfill the criteria outlined in the application. Good luck!!