Glenfiddich Distillery Artist In Residence Program

Three of the best months of my life were spent in Northern Scotland in 2008, when I was artist-in-residence at the Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown. The program gathers together seven or eight artists from around the world (print-makers, painters, poets, photographers, filmmakers, sculptors, a chef once, I think) to spend the summer together. Other artists from Canada who have attended include Damian Moppett, Jillian McDonald, Helen Cho, and Sobey Art Award winners Daniel Barrow and Annie Pootoogook.

In the last three years or so the program moved to an open call application. The deadline is the end of this month, Friday the 31st, at midnight. 

Glenfiddich provides airfare, accommodation (in private cottages - one next to a six-hundred-year-old castle), a salary, and a not inconsiderable production budget. Three bottles of scotch awaited me on the kitchen table when I arrived, and the fridge was stocked with 'Canadian cheese'.

I can't speak highly enough about this program and the director Andy Fairgrieve (who also plays drums in a 'scrap metal'/punk band). Scottish hospitality and free flowing whisky is a winning combination. My gratitude for the time I spent there means that I will forever say yes to anything they ask of me, so I am currently serving as a juror for this summer's applicants. 

If you're thinking of applying (and a Canadian resident), information is available here. A blog/diary of my time spent there is here. A mini-site for the project I made there - a 100-year-old whisky titled A Drink To Us [When We're Both Dead] - can be viewed here:

http://davedyment.com/100.html