Deadline: Friday 15th May 2020, 17.00.
The Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic is fundamentally changing the way we live our lives and having a profound impact on the way we understand the world, our perception of time, space, distance, environment and landscape. This rapid structural change has meant we have all had to adjust the way we live and work.
Like many other galleries and cultural institutions, we have been forced to postpone or cancel forthcoming exhibitions and events programming. We are working on contingencies to safeguard our programme from the ongoing disruption and ensure that when we are able to open again, we are able to continue to provide for our audiences.
We understand that many artists are entering a period of open-ended uncertainty, but we know that artists are essential, not only to our programming but also to our collective ability to make sense of the world around us, even in this new uncertainty.
We want to support artists where we can during this challenging time and are launching REMOTE WORK, a new project to support artists living and working in the North West of England (Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside).
We are offering 5 artists living and working in the North West region the opportunity to develop work for an exhibition to be held at Grundy Art Gallery in the future.
The selected artist(s) will work with Grundy’s curatorial staff to develop work for a group exhibition which will be presented in the gallery at a date to be confirmed, once the gallery is able to open again and plan ahead. Artists will – for the time being – liaise with Grundy’s curatorial staff remotely as they develop their work and move their proposals forward.
We do not want artists to feel that they, or their practice should be defined by Coronavirus/COVID-19, so we are not seeking to limit artist’s responses – you can respond both directly and indirectly to this ‘new normal’. The open-endedness of this current situation can be debilitating, so we want to enable, where possible, artists to focus their time and thinking on making.
Proposals will be assessed not only on the quality of the works and ideas presented but also on their resonance within the culture and context offered by Grundy Art Gallery and the unique context and heritage of Blackpool at an intersection of art, entertainment and popular culture.
The selected artists will receive a fee and production/presentation budget of £1500 and will have the opportunity to work with Grundy staff – remotely – to support their work. A schedule will be agreed with the successful artist(s) and a timeline for delivery established. At this stage we are anticipating presenting the resultant group exhibition within our 2021 opening programme (Jan – Mar) as part of the gallery’s 110 year anniversary celebrations.
This opportunity is available to artists currently based in the North West of England. The North West region is defined as Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside.
Artists are invited to submit proposals before 15/05/20, 17:00 via email to: grundyartgallery@blackpool.gov.uk with the subject heading REMOTE WORK.
APPLICATION
Applications are limited to a maximum of 2000 words and must include:
> A recent artistic statement / description of your practice.
> A description of the proposed work supported by including visual material – up to 10 images of previous/existing work (with titles and dimensions); details/images in support of the proposed work; and/or a maximum of 10 mins of moving image ( .mov / .mp4 / .avi ) and/or a maximum of 10 mins of Audio (.mp3 / .wav).*
*In order to conserve mailbox capacity, we encourage, where possible the use of hyperlinks to direct to audio visual works.
> An up to date CV (this will not be taken into the 2000-word count)
Deadline for proposals: 15/05/20, 17.00 via e-mail only to grundyartgallery@blackpool.gov.uk with the subject heading REMOTE WORK.
Proposals will be reviewed and selected by Grundy’s curatorial team* with advice and guidance form our Education and Engagement team and Blackpool Council’s wider Arts Service.
Questions can be sent to tom.ireland@blackpool.gov.uk and will be answered as soon as possible.
Please do not e-mail questions to grundyartgallery@blackpool.gov.uk as this address is currently monitored less frequently.
Grundy Art Gallery is part of Blackpool Council’s Art Service. In order to comply with the Council’s corporate procurement guidelines, all applications must be register as self-employed and be responsible for their own tax affairs.
A downloadable/printable PDF version of this document can be found here:
https://mcusercontent.com/95e1b8c6bb7590e8c404d6be1/files/5afc5181-a8fc-45fb-a40c-08fca4d385b2/GRUNDY_REMOTE_WORK_APPLICATION_INFORMATION_APRIL_2020.pdf
*CURATORIAL TEAM:
Paulette Brien (Curator)
Paulette Terry Brien is curator at The Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool and former co-director of The International 3 gallery, Salford. Paulette has, over the last 25 years, worked part-time and freelance for a number of organisations including Arts Council England and Creative Industries Development Service. She is regularly invited to deliver presentations within academic and professional development settings, has written articles, critical texts and catalogue contributions for a range of organisations including AXIS web, A-N, Manchester Art Gallery and Drawing Room and works as an artists’ mentor.
Tom Ireland (Curator / Operations Officer)
Thomas Ireland has worked at Grundy Art Gallery since 2007, initially as Gallery Assistant before becoming Operations Officer in 2014. In 2020 Ireland was added to Grundy’s curatorial team. Aside from his roles at Grundy, Ireland maintains an independent artistic and curatorial practice. He lives and works in Blackpool, UK.
Ireland is the founder, director/curator of Supercollider Contemporary Art Projects, a curatorial platform delivering contemporary art projects in Blackpool.