Artist in Residence: Woodlands Park Garage Studio EOIs now open
Moonee Valley City Council is providing artists the time and space to focus on their craft, with the Woodlands Park Garage Studio now open for Artist-in-Residence applications.
Nestled within a peaceful pocket of Woodlands Park, the space was fully renovated in 2019 and now functions as a wet-studio. Artists are invited to apply for residency periods between eight to twelve weeks, during which time they will have private access to the studio to work on their next project.
The space would be suited to a range of artists, including painters, illustrators, designers, writers, sculptors, photographers, musicians and more.
The Artist in Residence program first ran in 2025, and was award to three artists:
- Theresa O’Connor, puppeteer and puppet maker
- Parminder Kaur Chandal, multidisciplinary visual artist
- Vanessa Maver, painter and designer
Theresa O’Connor praised the residency for providing a dedicated creative space for her next work and providing the opportunity to develop new works for exhibition.
‘The Woodlands Park House Garage Studio was a great opportunity for quiet, focussed time on my artistic practice,’ she said. ‘Time, space and financial support is invaluable to artists and Woodlands Park is a fantastic local setting to be surrounded by, while creating and celebrating all things puppetry arts.’
Theresa’s giant deep-sea puppets later became part of the Moonee Valley Festival, with her interactive roving act delighting attendees. Her Deep Sea Divers and Devil Fish can be caught next at Melbourne Festival of Puppetry, and her shadow puppet film Nanna, A Ghost Story is now showing at ACMI.
Applications are open from Monday 13 July, and will close at 11:59pm on Sunday 9 August. More details about the Studio and a link to the application portal can be found at the dedicated Woodlands Park Garage Studio webpage.
One of Theresa’s deep sea puppets at the Moonee Valley Festival