Visual artists Cheryl Bailey and Oksana Waterfall came together for a month to find inspiration from our amazing island. At the end of their stay they put up an exhibition which of course turned into a little party. A good time was had by all. 

Tina from Germany came to paint her first outdoor mural in Lakkos. It's so fun we love it. 

The 2025 season started so well with everybody in the residency exploring the island, enjoying the city and making art happily together. To end their stay Fang Yu Chou, Yen-Cheng Wu from Taiwan and Tina Mamczur from Germany put on a small group show. 

In early April we had two couples and one single artist staying which is more than normal as generally guests come alone. We decided to have an evening where all of the guests spoke a bit about their work. It was lovely and we must do it more often. ​

Amy was the first residency guest in 2025. Her simple project blew out into something far more in depth so have a look yourself. 
www.amymanderson.com/responsive-work-residencies#/heraklion-crete-greece

Daniel came following in his mother Katherine's footsteps. Some guests are extra special and it's hard to pick a favourite between Katherine and Daniel. Daniel also came as a digital nomad so worked as well as mixed with the other artists and made a 'dream' project. The project where people add their dream to a website is here. linktr.ee/elsewheredreams?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaasngMoz6fORMn3bqohM-pGg8cmPg0OhXOQdntwdelTjCa6zR7YLPNJJxQ_aem_cXMkHKD36hEJ71R7IRyiWA

Muralist Caitlin from China/Canada was our last visual artist for the year. After finding inspiration from the Greek myth, The Three Graces she produced this wonder image. As with the previous murals our focus area was Lakkos again. 

It's not often an artist comes and askes for the biggest wall possible. Lena Ugren, from Bosnia had just completed a couple of mural festivals and wanted another challenge here in Greece. Next to the Lakkos Kafeneon is an outdoor theater that was covered in tags and was screaming out for a big mural. Lena was up for the challenge! www.instagram.com/lenaugrenart/

Eva came to stay at the residency for five weeks in early summer. She's a professional illustrator and wanted to come to Crete to break away from paid jobs and do her own creative work. This is an illustration she made from inside of the downstairs apartment looking to the outside courtyard. 
www.evakellyillustration.com/

The residency is not ceramics focused but we are lucky to be in touch with a local lady who has a wonderful workshop she is happy to have our artists come to work in for a reasonable fee. Here are some of the works Phoebe created. 

Claire is normally a ceramics artist but she focused on pasteups while at the residency. The images were cut out of old books and magazines. Here are just a few of the many interactions she pasted on the walls. Thanks for the amusing contributions to the city Claire! 

New Zealand ceramics artists Phoebe and Georgia didn't know each other before coming to the residency but hit it off and have been going to spend time with Rena a local ceramics artist who has a wonderful studio. 

Hanna a Multidisciplinary Artist came for just two weeks but managed to fit in time at the local ceramics workshop, writing and this mural. Pediados St and the residency thanks you Hanna, 

Lavish Alice Carman came to stay in early summer. Here are some of her wonderful dip pen drawings she did while at the residency of the city. 

Australian Visual Artist Catherine Kennedy spent her first two weeks at the the residency absorbing the local culture. Then a week before her departure she came up with this impression of Heraklion city. She was a super person dodging the cars up and down a ladder as she painted a wall on a narrow street which really needed some love. Thank you Catherine! 

Luna is a multidisciplinary artist from Australia. While at the residency she painted the previous mural and made three amazing costumes. Here are her words on the costumes. 

​Rhea - Mother of Zeus. First in a series of three ritual robes inspired by Crete and the mythology of Ancient Greece.
All my ritual robes are made from second hand and recycled fabrics.
It’s my way of signalling respect to the earth and using my gift to identify objects of high resonance to create spiritually charged ritual items.

"Untitled (Loom)" is a small mural on Pediados inspired by the carvings on Cretan looms. Created using foam roller stamps and stencils, the process mimics that of wood carving with a chisel to create a geometric repeat design. The colours are inspired by traditional Cretan textiles. 

Emerging photography/print artist Milica Ticeric came to stay in July. She just sent some of her work. It's always interesting to see through foreigner's eyes how they perceive Heraklion City/Crete.  

Mathew who runs the residency was saddened by the early death of a local known as either Georgina or Gorgo. Georgina had a fatal stroke in October 2023. She was the last of her family who all died prematurely. Everybody in Heraklion city knew her as she was often seen walking the streets alone sometimes with her little dogs. Some locals made fun of her sadly. Georgina was no saint but she was truly authentic in a country that has not grown to fully accept it's people that don't fit into a standard model.

Two-tailed Mermaid Mural in Heraklion, Greece.
This October I spent three weeks in Heraklion, Crete, at the art residency of Mathew Halpin. I had the best time exploring the local culture and art scene, and got to be in this wonderful artistic space that Mathew has created. I could learn and reflect my studies into this mural, which, as Mathew put it, is like a "gift to the local community", and that was exactly what I was aiming for. The opportunity to work with Mathew has been one of a kind. His expertise and artistic insight taught me a lot and I greatly appreciate it!
The mural itself is a composition of symbols and colours inspired by Cretan folk art throughout history to the last detail, especially textile art - embroidery, knitting and carpet designs. The more I found out about Cretan culture, the more I felt their strong sense of identity and individuality. In spite of the fact that there were so many outside influences, the Cretans courage to fight for preserving it has remained strong. I am definitely coming back to this beautiful island to take more time to explore it and it's history.
The double-headed eagle is a symbol from Byzantine times and the duality of the church - stretching East and West, as well as a symbol of freedom from Ottoman occupation, now a symbol of the Orthodox church. The two-tailed mermaid is from Venetian influence, and it's often also explained as being a passage between the physical and spiritual. Carnations are traditionally a symbol commonly found in Ottoman art, and in Greek Mythology they're known as the flowers of Gods. The colours I picked are inspired by Minoan frescoes, the Deep Red, Brilliant Blue, and Red Earth all form a link to the most ancient history of the island.

We were very happy to host Josephine Mead who is at the moment head administrator for Res Artis. At her request we put on an evening of local writers who came to read their short stories or poems. We forgot to take photos of the event but hopefully there is a video of a reading coming soon.