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    Tadpole and Recent Residency Experience at MERZ

    Just across Sanquhar High Street from the Bothy, and beside the Museum of Model Art and ZipStudio, Tadpole is our second purpose ‘re-built’ self-contained residency. While Bothy is a rural stone building from the 1830s Tadpole is an industrial brick building from the 1890s. Both Tadpole and Bothy are quiet, self-contained and close to town and countryside. Tadpole comes with shower, loft-bed and a wood-burner with options to work in the Museum of Model Art, ZipStudio or at MERZ Gallery itself.

    Some artists, writers and architects like to work in the Bothy, so we built Tadpole a little bigger.

    With one king-sized loft bed it is similarly equipped including WiFi and TV.

    Recent Residency Recommendations

    Linda Kosciewicz stayed in the MERZ Bothy in June

    I’d like to thank you so much for the residency and your interest in my project, I got a great deal of benefit and satisfaction from it. I so enjoyed immersing myself in re-imagining the events at Holm Walk and Sanquhar. It was fascinating and I do hope that there will be some local interest as a result. I particularly enjoyed having the studio space and felt very much at home – which is a tribute to you and your kindness and attention. 

    Michele Marcoux stayed in the MERZ Bothy in April

    I would (and have!) recommended MERZ! The facilities at MERZ really worked well for me. That the accommodation and studio were so close meant that I could seamlessly and easily go from work to home and back again. It felt like a wonderful art pod! The countryside is right on the doorstep which meant that I could go out and explore and make art or go for a run whenever I wanted with minimal fuss. The High Street is a stone’s throw so getting food etc was super simple – there was no need for a car. The whole thing ticked over very nicely so I could just think about work.

    The creative and tech support were great. Dave is always willing to chat about how your work is going and support you with various video equipment so keeping a video diary and documenting progress was super simple. He created films and interviews so that the entire residency was captured. This is a huge thing as often you are just focused on working on a residency and fail to document what actually happened. Dave is very well connected to the creative and local community and takes an interest in connecting artists. This was really wonderful and helped me to consolidate contacts I already had and also helped me create new ones.

    Olivia Irvine stayed in the MERZ Bothy in March

    Quirky and unusual bothy. Repurposed studios and gallery full of history, yet contemporary features.

    Yes I would definitely recommend MERZ as a residency programme. It’s unique! It’s a quiet place to sleep, read and work, yet the town is friendly – everyone says ‘hello’! There is a lot of interesting history in Sanquhar and surrounding area. There are also some fantastic walks.

    I felt very welcome and supported during my short stay and will definitely consider coming back. The connection to Schwitters and Höch is also a big plus.

    Thanks Dave!