Based in Berkeley, The Peleh Residency is one of the few fully-supported, specifically family-friendly residencies in the country, and it emerged from the vision of the Peleh Fund to support both the creative process, and a new kind of cultural infrastructure that honors a commitment to family and work. The program reflects two core beliefs of its founders. First, that the universal experience of caregiving and working must be acknowledged and supported by our institutions if we are to thrive as a community. And second, that art and culture have the power to cross boundaries between people and ideas, bringing historical identity into modern life in new ways.

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'This period of intense studio time in northern California drew me back to painting, and a concentration on colour. I was thoroughly enchanted: process blue birds darted in front of pink houses with symmetrical orange trees out front. Huge cacti doubled up as washing line posts. It was a life changing few months in which I was able to take a break from commissioned projects and my domestic scene, and immerse myself in observation and experiment. The entire second half of the residency took place in lockdown, which added a twist of extremity to the freedom/loneliness dichotomy of working so far from home and the usual networks. I have blogged extensively about the whole experience.'