Call for Artists
BM125
1. Introduction
Buxton Museum has been open to visitors for 125 years. As part of a programme of
activities, the museum is celebrating with a year of exhibitions, events and artistic initiatives,
showcasing our new digital platform www.wondersofthepeak.org.uk .
BM125 offers a rare opportunity bringing together artists, an amazing museum collection
and a world-class landscape to explore the challenge in the relationship between heritage
and culture.
Who are we looking for:
We are looking to commission four emerging, contemporary artists who make work of
exceptional quality. We are open to proposals from artists who work in any medium but we
are particularly interested in artists who have an element of performance in their practice. It
is essential that you can demonstrate an ability to engage large audiences using digital
technology and we hope to be surprised and delighted by your methods!
You must be based in the UK and you must be a professional artist, either earning the
majority of your living from your art or able to demonstrate a commitment to doing so.
You will make your own new work that will connect our collection with its roots in the Peak
District landscape. You will help us shape an artist-run engagement program filling the
museum with the sound of young performers.
Together, we will engage 125,000 people from across the UK, 75% of whom will be new to
the museum.
2. Key Deliverables
We will ask seven things of you:
➢ Your work references and explores the connections between objects in the museum
collection and the Peak District landscape from where they came. You will have time to
explore the collection, rich in fossils, minerals and artefacts from the landscape. You will
be guided and supported by our curatorial team.
➢ An element of the work you make can be performed live, or exist temporarily in actual
form in the landscape. For example, a dancer might perform a new piece inspired by one
the Peak District’s many stone-circles, or a poet might perform pieces inspired by lead
mining deep inside one of the caverns.
➢ Your work can also be presented on a digital platform such as Youtube, Soundcloud or
Instagram and accessed via our webapp www.wondersofthepeak.org.uk There is an
additional budget to support you to digitize your work, or to bring in a technician such as
a photographer or a live stream expert.
➢ You will devise an activity relating to your work that can be included in our engagement
programme aimed at children and young people.
➢ You bring with you an existing digital audience who follow your work and who will be new
to the museum, and could be encouraged to participate in this commission. We will
support you to use and expand on your proven methods of engaging online audiences.
➢ You are available to be a member of a steering group to devise the exact nature of a
public engagement programme working alongside existing artist partners and up to six
children and young people (to be recruited).
You will contribute to an online marketing campaign:
❖ Working with the museum to co-ordinate online marketing and promotion activity
based on a campaign plan drawn up at the outset of the project.
❖ Contributing to monitoring and evaluating participation.
❖ Regularly uploading content about the project’s progress to the museum’s existing
social media accounts and museum blogs.
❖ Using a project hashtag.
3. Submission of Proposal
Proposals (not exceeding 2 sides of A4) are invited from emerging, contemporary artists
in which you:
Introduce your artistic practice in museums, galleries, the landscape and other
community spaces
Describe 3 projects, works of art or performances that you have produced within the
last three years, which demonstrate your ability to generate large audiences using
digital technology. Please provide digital links to these projects.
Explain how you will ensure that the relationship between you or your company, the
museum, the museum’s partners and the audience thrives, to deliver a successful
outcome to the project
Detail exactly what you are able to offer for the budget available (see Section 4). Part
of the best value assessment will include an analysis of the number of days offered
for this fee. Please detail the anticipated number of days that you will work on this
project
Introduce who is working alongside you (although you may work alone), and your
expertise to deliver areas of the work you are responsible for. In addition to your
proposal, please provide or attach a CV for each team member which demonstrates
their experience in working with a wide variety of partners
Please send your proposal, supporting documents and links via email to
info@kidologyworkshops.co.uk
Proposals must reach us no later than 5pm on Monday 28 May, 2018.
If you have any questions please email them to the above address. If your question is
complicated please telephone Richard or Amanda Johnson at Kidology Arts on 0114 267
6941.