Residency 2026 Winter Group Show

The Muse Gallery & Studio is proud to present the Residency 2026 Winter Group Show. The exhibition will take place on the 29th of January until the 22nd of February, featuring our 4 resident artists and marking the final stage of recruitment for the 2026 residency program. This year we are proud to host: Celia Mora, Jun Shya, Melissa Magg, and Elizabeth O’Farrelly.

This multi-disciplinary show will feature 2D and 3D work, filling our space with current work from some of the best BA and MA graduates from London universities. The artists will be present during opening hours to represent their ideas and practices and begin integrating with the area before their term in January.

About

Since 2004, The Muse has supported a residency program offering subsidised studio practice and professional development. Recent graduates are invited to take ownership of a portion of the space and begin work with an artist led team, curate shows, develop practices and culminate in group and solo show experiences – facilitating the transition from academia to the professional arena.nts, and discover the critical role we can play in reversing the damage.

In this live seminar, we pull back the curtain on the research, processes, and radical business logic that informed the development of this platform. We’ll move beyond the surface to discuss how XYZ bridges the gap between creative practice and professional autonomy, offering you a first look at the purpose and potential impact this collective library will have on our global community.

What we will cover:

• The Vision: The reasoning behind the XYZ Enterprise Foundation.

• The Research: The real-world artist needs that shaped our 4 Core Learning Modules.

• The Toolbox: A walkthrough of how to use our articles and templates to scale your practice.

• The Future: How nodes in London, Surat, and Changhua connect through this digital ecosystem.

Who should attend? Artists, architects of community, and creative practitioners looking to build resilient, sustainable careers.What is XYZ and why did we create it?

Meet the visionary minds driving XYZ Digital. This is your chance to go behind the scenes of the Enterprise Foundation and ask the questions that matter to your practice.

Meet the Minds Behind XYZ

Damian Rayne | Co-founder & Director

Damian is the Director of The Muse at 269 and a veteran of the London creative landscape. With decades of experience navigating the complexities of property, charity, and artist-run spaces, he provides the operational backbone for XYZ’s physical and digital hubs. His vision for "hybrid spaces" and sustainable property models has transformed how artists interact with the city, moving beyond the "pop-up" to create permanent, resilient infrastructures for creative autonomy.

Anna Fernsten Nilén | Co-founder

Anna is a curator, researcher, and cultural strategist working at the intersection of art, society, and professional practice. With a background in global innovation for brands like IKEA and COS, she bridges the gap between high-level concept development and the urgent needs of the creative sector. Her extensive research into "phygital" curation and artist-run initiatives formed the foundational blueprint for the XYZ Digital Toolbox, driven by a mission to demystify business logic for the many.

Instead, he delivered two empty frames titled "Take the Money and Run."

While some see this as a legal dispute or a simple heist, it raises a massive, uncomfortable question that is central to the XYZ mission: How are artists actually paid for their labor?

Why we are sharing this:

• The Payment Gap: Haaning claims the "work" was a protest against the unfair pay and the expectation that artists should self-fund their own exhibition costs.

• Redefining Value: If a museum displays an empty frame, is the value in the physical object or the strategic logic behind the act?

• Professional Autonomy: This story highlights the "Context" factor of the Sahlman framework—how economic pressures and institutional contracts shape the creative output.

Watch the report by Aljazeera below: Take the Money and Run

Let's Discuss: Is this a brilliant piece of conceptual art regarding the "precarious" life of the artist, or is it a breach of professional ethics? How do we ensure that artists in our community don't feel they have to "take the money and run" just to survive?

Drop your thoughts in the comments.

In a world where creative output is often separated from economic reality, Bart Van der Roost delivers a sharp, necessary wake-up call. He argues that the traditional image of the starving artist - waiting for discovery or relying solely on grants - is an outdated model that limits true freedom.

To survive and thrive in the modern landscape, the artist must evolve. They must become the CEO of their own practice. To gain true independence, artists must embrace the role of the entrepreneur, treating their practice as a self-sustaining engine rather than a hobby waiting for a patron.

Why we are sharing this:

Breaking the "Starving Artist" Myth: Van der Roost explores how shifting your mindset from "maker" to "entrepreneur" doesn't compromise your art—it protects it.

Sustainable Independence: At XYZ, we believe autonomy comes from ownership. This video highlights how business literacy is the ultimate tool for artists to secure their own futures without waiting for permission.

The Power of Systems: Just as our Digital Toolbox provides operational frameworks, this talk emphasizes that the "system" behind the art is what allows the creativity to scale and reach global networks.

Watch the TEDx talk below: The Artist is Dead. Long Live the Creative Entrepreneur.

Let’s Talk: Are you an Artist or an Entrepreneur?

Bart Van der Roost challenges us to stop waiting for permission and start building our own systems. But shifting from "maker" to "manager" isn't always easy.

Start a Conversation

• What is the biggest "business" hurdle you face in your creative practice right now?

• Is there a digital tool in our Toolbox that has helped you gain more autonomy?

• Do you agree with Bart—is the traditional "artist" model truly dead?

Drop a comment below. Let’s share the strategies that are helping us build a more independent XYZ community.

One of the key findings is that young people engage with the arts more in school than outside of school, and that access outside school is strongly shaped by socio-economic background. In short: if you grow up with fewer resources, you’re less likely to have access to arts activities beyond the classroom.

The research also shows a strong link between arts provision in schools and wider cultural participation. Where schools invest in arts education, students are more likely to stay engaged creatively outside of school too. This suggests schools can play a real role in reducing cultural inequality, not just reflecting it.

What I find interesting is how clearly this points to infrastructure and access, not talent or interest, as the deciding factors.

• What responsibility do cultural spaces (galleries, studios, artist-run spaces) have in widening access beyond formal education?

• Can artist-led or community-led initiatives realistically fill the gaps left by education systems?

• How do we design spaces and programmes that don’t only serve people who already “know how to enter” the art world?

Have a read HERE:

Global Arts Engagement Inequalities in and Outside School

Curious to hear how others here think about this — especially if you’ve worked with young people, education, or community-based practice.