Art History Residency 2026-2027

We’re delighted to welcome Christine Bates as this year’s Art History Residency recipient, delivered in partnership with The Ampersand Foundation. Due to unforeseen circumstances the previously announced resident was unable to take part this year.

The residency offers an art historian the opportunity for dedicated time to develop their research at Wigwell Lodge in the Derbyshire countryside, running from October 2026 to January 2027. Made possible through the generous support of The Ampersand Foundation, the residency provides space for sustained research and scholarly development.

During the residency, Christine Bates will explore early articulations of eco-feminist thought through the work of Anna Blunden, a nineteenth-century painter and writer who critically engaged with themes of labour, pollution and environmental concerns. Though she corresponded extensively with John Ruskin, Blunden remains only marginally present in existing accounts of eco-criticism and Pre-Raphaelitism, leaving her ecological and feminist sensibilities largely unexplored.

Through close analysis of her paintings, pamphlets, and landscapes—including God’s Gothic—the project reads Blunden’s oeuvre as an early expression of eco-feminist consciousness, drawing on the nineteenth-century concept of the Anthropozoic, a precursor to today’s Anthropocene discourse. Situating her within wider debates on industrial modernity and environmental change, the research focuses on how women artists visualised humanity’s transformative impact on the planet long before the term was coined.

We look forward to working with Christine over the coming months and to sharing more about her research in due course. At the conclusion of the residency, Christine will also present her work as part of the Association’s Art History Festival.