Waterloo’s new Placeholder Residency Program is a free, funded creative space. Field Rooms is a new creative community space recently launched within the working construction site of Danks Street south precinct at 903 Bourke Street, Waterloo.
Artist Heidi Axelsen and architect Hugo Moline of MAPA Art and Architecture designed these structures following nearly a decade of open research and community participation. Their work shaped the Open Field Agency Public Art and Public Domain Strategy (2019), positioning community, artists, writers, researchers, musicians and film-makers as vital agents for connection in a rapidly changing suburb.
The Placeholder Residency Program emerged from this in-depth research and is designed to hold a public place for wonderful things to happen. This is a free, funded residency that welcomes local people looking for space to prototype an idea, gather people together or deepen existing community and creative practices in Waterloo.
Led by Heidi Axelsen and Hugo Moline – whose critical spatial practice has evolved over 15 years – this initiative reimagines public art not as static, standalone objects but as regenerative, socially engaged work grounded in repair, nature-based solutions and care.
“We’ve created two interconnected spaces. The studio is an insulated, enclosed room for focused creative work, with a daybed, bench, sink, power and lights – ideal for individuals or small groups,” said Architect Hugo Moline.
“The adjacent workshop is semi-open, designed for gathering, workshops, small events, or public engagement. Together they support both intimate and outward facing modes of practice, bringing the public and the private together,” said Moline.
This new approach offering artist residencies within the Danks Street South Precinct establishes a framework for inhabiting an urban development site from its construction phase, shaping its identity from within and resisting the typical model in which public art is treated as an add-on or afterthought.
“As an artist who used to live in Sydney, I’ve experienced first hand the irony that once creatives have made a place great, they can no longer afford to live there,” said Artist and curator Heidi Axelsen. “Through this project we designed a model that directs developer contributions towards public art to offer a space and program for regenerative creative practice, not just public art objects.”
“It’s a framework that values the process of art-making and collaboration as much as the outcomes. We are researching mechanisms such as the Creative Lands Trust to protect small but vital spaces such as this for artists to make and gather in Waterloo for years to come,” said Axelsen.
Field Rooms is looking for three residents for the Placeholder program in 2026 whose practices engage with regenerative practice, care and public space. Residencies span four months, and the selection panel is looking for research-based projects that test new ideas and ways of working within the community around repair, reuse and circularity.
Each project will be shared onsite with the public as Placeholder Residency artists and creatives invite people to engage with workshops, talks, performances or other events. Successful applicants will have access to two new custom-built structures – a studio space and workshop/performance space – and receive a $4000 artist fee.
They will also contribute to the Open Field Agency digital archive in the form of film, audio, photography, scientific analysis, interviews, field recordings, flags, maps, diagrams, songs, recipes or other creative outputs.
The selection panel includes Dr Shannon Foster from Bangawarra; Isabelle Hore-Thorburn from Inner Sydney Voice; Heidi Axelsen from MAPA Art + Architecture; Lisa Corsi from the City of Sydney; Shu Wu, lecturer in Architecture, University of Western Sydney; and Nicole Gurran, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Sydney and Director of the Henry Halloran Research Trust.
Applications for the Placeholder Residency Program at Field Rooms are now open and close 19 January 2026. For more information, visit: www.openfieldagency.org for details.
Image: Field Rooms studio and workshop spaces by MAPA Art and Architecture, Danks Street south precinct – photo by Katrina Lee Ford