CALL FOR ARTISTS. Trafford Council: Public Artwork Commissioning Opportunities. Aims and Objectives

Transcription

1 CALL FOR ARTISTS Trafford Council: Public Artwork Commissioning Opportunities Aims and Objectives We are seeking expressions of interest for new permanent site-specific public artworks to be suited in Sale, Greater Manchester, commemorating 200 years since the birth of physicist James Prescott Joule. To celebrate his legacy we are offering an artwork commission for a prominent gateway location alongside an opportunity for a smaller commissioned artwork. These significant commemorative artworks will be accessible, inclusive and will facilitate a sense of pride and ownership amongst the local community. Context James Prescott Joule was an English physicist, born in Salford 24 December He lived the most part of his life in Sale, and died on 11 October 1889 aged 70. As a weak child with a spinal disorder he was tutored at home by the chemist John Dalton and went on to become a great experimenter. As an amateur Joule s papers were met with hesitancy, Joule persisted with his patience and ingenious experiments and was eventually acknowledged for his work. He is best known for his studies in the nature of heat, establishing its relationship to mechanical work. These experiments, although first met with silence, eventually disproved the Caloric Theory of heat from After many years of researching he designed an experiment which led to the discovery of the first law of thermodynamics. This Law of Conversation of Energy states that Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed; it can only be transferred from one form to another. In recognition of Joules contribution in relating heat and mechanical motion the derived unit of energy, the Joule is named after him. His lifetime work was extensive from formulating the absolute scale of temperature [with William Thomson] to researching magnetostriction. As H.J. Steffens says in his biography on Joule: He was certainly more than just an excellent experimenter. His experiments led and shaped his speculations, but his speculations stood boldly against accepted scientific theory and postulated a new, exact order in the universe. His gravestone is in Brooklands Cemetery, Sale and a memorial unveiled in 1905 can be found in Worthington Park, Sale. A statue of Joule resides in the Manchester Town Hall and there is a white marble memorial to him in the north choir aisle of Westminster Abbey near the graves of Newton, Herschel and Darwin. A Joule Museum was established in Acton Square, Sale in 1950, displaying artefacts and documents from collections including that of the Tappenden family, relatives of Joule. This unfortunately closed though the artefacts passed to UMIST Museum of Science and Technology and its successor the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Liverpool Road, Manchester. The manuscripts and documents passed to UMIST Library and are now held by the John Rylands Library, Deansgate. 1

2 James Prescott Joule s grave in Brooklands Cemetery and his memorial in Worthington Park Commission Brief We are all familiar with the Joule as a unit of energy, yet perhaps we would struggle to describe it or concern ourselves with its relevance to our everyday lives. These commissions need to celebrate Joule s legacy and acknowledge his services rendered to science. We are looking for your inspiring ideas, approaches and solutions to capture the imagination of the audience, especially year olds. This age group will also form the core influence for direct engagement in the artists design development. Prior to this call out research was undertaken to demonstrate the need for direct community consultation and how important it is for our younger generation to be inspired, especially in the sciences. We are therefore looking for a strong programme of meaningful engagement in the development of these commissions, allowing the time to explore and develop the best celebratory and commemorative outcomes to the brief. The commissions can be realised in any medium and due to the wide interpretation of the brief we are open to your forward thinking ideas to create engaging artworks. However, overall they must be realistic within a practical public environment for quality, durability and maintenance. We are looking for an artist with proven track record for the main gateway artwork, with the smaller commission being open to an early career artist. We anticipate support for the early career artist from the lead artist in conjunction with the project team. Together the artworks would become a feature of the town to attract visitors from the locality, as well as regionally and nationally. 2

3 Location for artworks Commission 1 On exiting the metro at Sale you can look across to the Town Hall as shown below, the paved area is the proposed location for the Gateway Artwork. We are not looking for figurative sculptures, though it could be as a stand-alone piece or have more of a presence within the area. 1) view to location for main commission, outside of Town Hall, next to Waterside Arts Centre 3

4 2) view to location for main commission, from pedestrian crossing outside of Metro entrance 3) view from location for main commission, with back to Town Hall, looking across to Metro 4

5 Commission 2 This paved area is adjacent to the canal and one can walk along the canal to Brooklands Cemetery, or take the metro one stop from Sale to Brooklands. The half mile route is a casual 15mins stroll to the cemetery gates; the path is adjacent to residential areas, popular with walkers and cyclists and forms part of the Bridgewater Way. We are suggesting a connection between the two locations for the second commission, which for example, can be as a trail or as highlights for each end destination, we are however open to your proposals. 1) entrance onto Bridgewater Way near Sale Town Hall and exit at Brooklands by cemetery 2) Bridgewater way between Sale and Brookands: lhs Sale to Brooklands, rhs Brooklands to Sale 5

6 Expected Outcomes A permanent physical artwork and a smaller permanent artwork[s] which have a strong visual impact and encourages people of all ages to engage with celebrating the life and achievements of James Prescott Joule The artists will creatively engage and consult with local people. A group of young people [aged between 11-25yrs] will form a core influence throughout the process and development of the artworks The artworks will be easily implemented, meet H&S requirements and require minimal maintenance The artworks should have impact and be physically approachable so that they can be experienced close up without for example being easy to climb or otherwise damage The artwork will be robust and flexible enough to be successful at different times of day and in all weathers The project steering group will support the selected artist to make local contacts and connections and to source relevant information as required. The commission would be documented and likely to be showcased as an informative exhibition alongside the unveiling of the completed artworks The artists role Independently research, develop and execute the commission in close consultation with the project team Create a programme to deliver creative community engagement involving local stakeholders to inform the development of the proposals. This delivery would be supported by the project team as an active community engagement programme to embrace stimulating discussion and learning to aid a sense of ownership. Consult with, attend meetings and maintain relationships with project team Draw up draft proposals and share with project team and community for comments Develop final detailed and costed designs to approval for fabricating accessible inspiring high quality public artworks Undertake or closely oversee the fabrication process Undertake or oversee the installation process Budget Reasonable travel expenses will be paid to the short-listed artists selected for interview. The budgets below for the commissions are subject to artists proposals and successful funding. Confirmed budgets would then be offered to draw up detailed proposals. Indicative budgets are anticipated in the region of 30k- 40k for the main prominent artwork and up to 10-12k for the smaller commission. This fee is to include all expenses incurred by the artist in the creation of the work design, travel, preparation, materials, fabrication, installation. A payment schedule for the commission will be specified in the artist contract. 6

7 Copyright Copyright remains with the artist. The shortlisted artists will give permission to Trafford Council and Creative Industries Trafford to use their submissions for funding bids. The artist shall be credited as the author of the work in any material including preliminary designs or sketches. Process and Timeframe We are looking for expressions of interests so that we can enhance our funding bids for realistic budgets to enable the success of the commissions. The period between the selection of the preferred submissions and issuing of the contracts will be used to raise funds and build awareness and enthusiasm for the project. Our funding strategy will respond directly to our preferred artist submissions and costings. The timings outlined below are therefore indicative. Action Phase 1: Artist selection to fundraising bid Artist brief advertised Monday 10 July 2017 Deadline for expressions of interest Monday 31 July 2017 Interview for short-listed artists Tuesday 15 August 2017 Date Fundraising applications submitted September 2017 Fundraising decisions due November 2017 Phase 2: Final artists selected and implementation of engagement programme Shortlist artists informed to work on their ideas to present at interview November 2017 Appointment of artists and contracts given December 2017 Implementation of community engagement programme to development of detailed designs for phase 3 January 2018 May 2018 Phase 3: Proposals approved for fabrication and installation Commission approvals June 2018 Commission fabrication July - September 2018 Installation of commissions October 2018 Official opening event of commission December

8 Expressions of interest To apply please send the following documentation as one pdf document. If you wish to send film or audio, we can accept up to 3 min reel. Internet links are acceptable to demonstrate where the content of a submission has an online interface. Written proposal detailing your initial response, approach and ideas to the brief context, max 2 sides A4, please include your thoughts to public engagement programme with 11-25yr olds and what resources you might need to make it happen, you may also add a page for any sketched ideas Outline of indicative budget and schedule artist time [engagement and design fee], resources, fabrication, installation Up to 10 images of previous relevant projects, if you are applying as an early career artist please submit relevant examples of your practice and work explaining your vision for creating the public artwork CV with two contactable references, public liability insurance level and DBS status Any queries can be ed to visualarts.waterside@gmail.com or you can contact Stella Corrall on Please send your application by to visualarts.waterside@gmail.com Deadline is 5pm Monday 31 July