Open House is a long-term collaboration between Kettle’s Yard and our neighbouring communities in North Cambridge.

Open House welcomes an Artist in Residence each year, selected by the community, to explore the local area, collaborate with local residents and create new artwork together.

The resources on the sidebar allow you to find out about our experiences and learning since the programme began.

Open House is made possible by the generous support from Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Cambridge City Council, Artisa Foundation and Arts Council England.

Find out about Open House activity through our fascinating library of newsletters and films. Click here to experience the celebratory outcomes of Open House residencies as well as watch films created by participants inspired by artist residencies.

Art and creativity is central to Open House activity. Click here to find things to do and make which have been shared and created by the North Cambridge community through Open House projects and workshops.

Open House Artists in Residence 2019/2020

Artist collective Wright & Vandame are the 2019/2020 Open House Artists in Residence for North Cambridge. Wright & Vandame will be working with communities in North Cambridge to creatively respond to the local area from now until March 2020.

Wright & Vandame’s work is often about creating social situations, through which participants have an active role in the outcome of the work – whether in an exercise class or sharing a meal.

Open House will be running free drop-in workshops with Wright & Vandame and our team of artists at community events in North Cambridge this summer, so come along and say hi!

Click here to find out more about Wright & Vandame in our interview with them on our blog.

HYPERLOCAL RADIO

The Hyperlocal Radio display at Kettle’s Yard, 8 March – 22 April 2019, brought together both the sound and visual work created by community collaborators with our 2018 Open House Artist in Residence Hannah Kemp-Welch and Kettle’s Yard Artist Facilitators. Each customised a portable Pye Radio which also contained a sound work created with participants. Hyperlocal Radio continued off-site with additional cases found at the Meadows Community Centre and Arbury Community Centre in North Cambridge.

Click here to listen to sound of the sound works that were included in the display.

We are very grateful to Cambridge Community Arts Photography Club who documented Hyperlocal Radio display at Kettle’s Yard. Click here to find out more and view their photographs.

Hannah Kemp-Welch Artist in Residence 2018

Hannah Kemp-Welch is a sound artist, who was selected by public vote to be Open House Artist in Residence for 2018/2019. Over the past year, Hannah has been working with groups in North Cambridge to create a new series of sound works which is shared with you in Hyperlocal Radio. 

The artist was inspired by Cambridge pioneering company Pye Electronics, their history and remaining impact on the local community as well as Kettle’s Yard’s founder, Jim Ede’s own experiences of public broadcasting in the UK and USA. Collaborating with residents of North Cambridge, together they captured stories, songs and sounds, which celebrate the diversity of voices within our community. These were shared in a special broadcast as part of Open House Radio on 13 February 2019 with Cambridge 105 Radio, a community radio station based in the city.

Open House Gathering and Feast – Harold Offeh Artist in Residence 2017

At a public meeting at North Cambridge Academy on the 24th February, members of the public and students at the school voted to select Harold Offeh as the next Open House Artist in Residence for North Cambridge. Harold worked with communities in North Cambridge to explore the local area from February – September 2017.

On September 16, Harold invited members of the public to join him in a celebration of local food and domestic design at a Gathering in North Cambridge Academy. The event featured displays from North Cambridge community groups, tastings from local bakers, tips on growing your own food from gardeners and activities for all ages. Following the Gathering, Harold hosted a Feast for members of the community who had contributed in some way to the Gathering. See photos of the day on the Open House Facebook page.

You are Here – Isabella Martin Artist in Residence 2016

Variations on a Weekend Theme – Emma Smith Artist in Residence 2015

Emma Smith, our first Open House Artist in Residence, collaborated with local communities to develop a new performative artwork exploring people’s restorative pastimes entitled Variations on a Weekend Theme. From April to December 2015, Emma worked across Arbury, King’s Hedges, East Chesterton and Orchard Park, collecting and sharing activities and past times local residents undertake to feel relaxed and restored.

Emma collected advice and activities from residents across North Cambridge and invited people to share their activities with others. She was inspired by an unpublished manuscript written by Jim Ede, entitled Variations on a Weekend Theme. The manuscript details how Jim and his wife Helen welcomed servicemen from Gibraltar for weekends at their home in Tangiers where they could stay, try something new and recuperate.

In November 2015, Emma transformed the disused Maskell’s Bakery on Akeman Street, and for three days the shop became an ‘art apothecary’ where visitors received remedies for a variety of malaises and situations. While reusing the original bread shelves and glass counter, the shop was completely redecorated and a few selected artworks and glass objects from the Kettle’s Yard collection were on display. Visitors were invited to book a consultation with an Assistant Apothecarist in the shop. To see photos from Variations on a Weekend Theme click here.