Maison Salvan

A short presentation

Maison Salvan is an initiative of the city of Labège. A town very close to Toulouse, in the South West of France.

Maison Salvan strives to be a resourceful place for artists by promoting their research through residencies. It is a place of creation in which processes can mature and works can be produced.

Maison Salvan opened in 2006 but it was only in 2010 that it acquired its current form, with
the project of hosting artists in residence. Since then, Maison Salvan provide a space for artists (75 m2, accommodation and work), as well as an exhibition place (Maison Salvan itself). The organization encourages moments and projects during which the artist and the public encounter each other. This can take place during the research process as well as when the work crystallizes through exhibition time.

Maison Salvan team is composed of two people: Paul de Sorbier, the person in charge of Maison Salvan project, and Élodie Vidotto in charge of mediation projects and public.

Selection procedures

The organization does not launch any call for applications and proceeds by invitation. You can contact the person in charge of Maison Salvan and / or send your portfolio to this address: psorbier@ville-labege.fr.

Maison Salvan’s artistic project does not reduce the possibilities by focusing on particular practices, mediums or even issues. It is the artist’s uniqueness, the richness of his background work that is essential. Maison Salvan is a sensitive place, imbued with the idea of time and memory; no doubt that it influences the programming and the work of the artists.

Furthermore, Maison Salvan does not ask the artists to include territorial aspects nor to involve certain audiences during the creation. However, the artists who wish and ask to do so, are guided to this end.

Contribution

— A large accommodation with awork space and some tools are available. Maison Salvan, the exhibition place (150 m2), can also sometimes become a work space;

— the person in charge of Maison Salvan brings his viewpoint and supports the residents in the progress of their work. Also, the person in charge of the mediation and public contributes to the development of the project and plans specific actions with the public. Both of them give advice to identify some resources, potential partnerships…;

— a grant is defined. It is suggested to split the amount dedicated to the fees and the amount dedicated to the production equally, but this allocation can be adapted upon request;

— a compensation for transport and food costs for the artist may be considered, it is established according to the context.

Most of the time an exhibition takes place at the end of the residency. The approach of the exhibition is very open, it can show only part of the research, add already existing pieces… It must above all allow the artist to move forward…

Finally, sometimes, residents have the opportunity to build an editorial project with the person in charge of Maison Salvan and a graphic designer.

Period

No residency format is imposed, its progress is conceived according to the requirements and expectations of the artists, of the projects. Residencies are thought in one or several sequences.

Residents obligations

The artists must comply to the residency timeline established with them originally, taking into account, obviously, others obligations that may have arisen to them.

It is also asked the artists to be open to meeting moments with the public.

Interactions with the public

Are organized encounters with different audiences (schoolchildren, adults, art lovers) for the artists to share their work and their residency project, workshop session (one-day) with students, other specific actions according to the artist’s request.

These actions represent a short time in comparison to that of the whole residency to preserve artist research.

Maison Salvan is supported by the DRAC Occitanie, the Région Occitanie Pyrénées-Méditerranée and by the Conseil Départemental de la Haute-Garonne

She is a member of Arts en résidence, air de MidiPinkPong and LMAC professional’s networks.

Visuels : Ange Leccia, « Girls, Ghosts and War », en partenariat avec le Printemps de Septembre, 2018, photographie : Yohann Gozard ; vue d’un moment de médiation, 2019 ; montage de l’exposition d’Eva Nielsen, « Evergreen Plaza », 2019 ; David Coste, « Une montagne(s). Humanités heureuses et autres paysages charmants », 2019, photographies : Maison Salvan ; Pascal Navarro, « Le stock et le flux », 2019, photographie : Yohann Gozard.