Exhibition Finissage: JPE Artist in Residence - Will Cheesman

Finissage – JPE Artist in Residence: Will Cheesman

• Friday 26 September 2025

• 6:00 – 8:00pm, speeches at 6:30pm 

• JPE Design Studio, 4/19 Gilles St, Adelaide SA 5000

You’re invited to a special finissage event celebrating Will Cheesman, the latest JPE Artist in Residence, presented in collaboration with Guildhouse.

Will's extensive solo practice and collaborative work as one half of Wills Projects interweaves inclusivity, care and collaboration. He has extensive experience in community engagement projects, often working with scientists, designers and makers to develop artworks for public spaces. Using recycled and reclaimed materials, his process is informed by sustainability and the environment.

As part of his residency, Will participated in the inaugural Adelaide Design Week with JPE, partnering with Nudie Jeans to transform leftover denim into a layered, pinned, and stitched reflection of Adelaide's waterways.

Since 2013, JPE Design Studio has provided a platform for artists to exhibit their work, immerse themselves in studio culture, and influence design thinking. The JPE Artist in Residence program marks an exciting new chapter of creative exchange in partnership with Guildhouse. 

Biography:

Will is an artist based in Tarntanya Adelaide on unceded Kaurna Yerta. His practice interweaves inclusivity, care and collaboration. His shifting and responsive methodology of practice emerges from a background in collective actions.

Living in squats in Europe and working in remote Indigenous communities he interweaves art practice with studies of Queer Permaculture, seasonal rituals and outdoor living. 

Recent projects include Tree Dreaming 2023, Create4Adelaide WCHospital, Wing Story 2023, Scotch College, Understory 2022, Post Office Projects, Port Adelaide, Weeds Weeding 2023, Heysen Sculpture Biennial, Until the Cows Come Home 2024, public art for Rural City of Murray Bridge, and Sea Stars 2022, sculptures embed into the Port Noarlunga Jetty, City of Onkaparinga. Current projects include fabrication of permanent public art for Beach Road, City of Onkaparinga and a residency at JPE Design Studio.

Images: Will Cheesman, photographs Adrienne Nicholls.