Debra Brehmer, gallerist, writer and visual artist came to stay in February for a month. During her time she did pottery classes at our wonderful friend Rena's workshop, wrote and created a wall of Minoan style art. On her last day we put on a pop-up show at the Lakkos Square. It's fun to have winter guests when the city is slower and the city has a calm feeling. 

With the residency empty for a couple of week in the off season we had local musicians Odysseas Grammatikakis and Kostas Vlahos bless us with an intimate music night. Their music is very contemporary which can be something hard to find on our island. 

Paul Gulati is a multimedia artists from the UK. His normal practice is metal work and music but while at the residency he decided to paint and draw the city landscape. Heraklion is an interesting city to capture with its layers of architecture from many different periods. 

Julie came to stay at the residency so that she could spend time in our friend Rena's wonderful ceramics studio. 

In 2015 Mathew, who runs the residency painted the first mural in the area. It's from a photo of musicians who played there 100 years ago. As the condition of the mural was bad Mathew restored it as it has become a landmark on the Lakkos Square. 

Lilith came to the residency hoping to paint a couple of murals. Mathew who runs the residency suggested that she just paint one really big one. The outdoor theatre needed a refresh and Lilith was up for the challenge. Just behind the mural lives a young family from Palestine. They had no garden of their own so Lilith created an abstract one for them. 

UK Illustration artist Shaina came to the residency to take a break from her regular paid creative work to explore other creative interests. While at the residency she focused on writing but also could not resists adding a mural to a wall in Lakkos. Next to her wall lives a beautiful family who had recently moved here from Palestine. The children of the family befriended Shania and a lovely friendship was formed. 

Description and finished photos of the mural to follow shortly. 

Ukrainian performance artist Maria Shurkhal put on a one night only event. On a warm early summer evening a few lucky locals got a taste of some touching contemporary dance. Maria's visit to Heraklion was supported by the Austrian Embassy Athens. 

Here is a thrown together video from the night. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV7Jiwx-hz8

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,