Call for artists
Artist Opportunity - Visualising Policy: Anti-Racism
‘a space’ arts is looking to commission a global majority artist or illustrator to visually interpret our Anti-Racism Action plan.
As an organisation, we have been broadening our knowledge and understanding about racism and structural inequalities so that we can make a genuine and positive change in our programming and amongst the visual arts community in Southampton.
This commission is vital in enabling us to share this work in a creative and engaging way. The final outcome should be visual, accessible and informed by the artist’s perspective as a person of the global majority.
Download and read the full brief here https://aspacearts.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Visualising-Policy-Anti-Racism-Open-Call-1.pdf
The Commission
The commission could be a series of drawings, illustrations or collages, we are open all visual styles and media.
The series should include one lead image which interprets the statement and 15 accompanying artworks that relate to the each of the 15 commitments in our Anti- Racism Action Plan.
We are open minded about the medium, but artworks will need to in both online, digital and printed formats.
There is a fee of £2,000 for this commission which includes all costs and expenses.
Outcomes
The commissioned artworks will be used and shared in the following ways to promote our anti-racism work and raise awareness.
- To illustrate a PDF document which will be available to the public via our website and in our venues as a printed version.
- Shared individually across our social media channels.
- Animated, to create gifs or a series of short films captioned in a range of languages.
- This can be done in collaboration with the ‘a space’ arts team, or led by the artist. We envisage the animations being simple and minimal.
Expressions of Interest (EOI)
To submit an EOI for this commission please contact Mia Delve at mia@aspacearts.org.uk or on 02380 338778 by Monday 17th January at 9am with the following:
Your name and contact details (email address and phone number)
Up to 8 jpg images of recent work or a link to your website, or social 100 words outlining why you are interested in this commission.
Selection process
A small team of ‘a space’ staff and trustees will review EOIs and shortlist four artists.
Those four artists will receive £125 to develop one draft artwork which relates to one of the 15 commitments.
The draft artwork will be discussed and reviewed by the shortlisting team, who will then appoint one artist to complete the commission.
Access
As an organisation we actively look to reduce barriers for artists applying for our opportunities and commissions, and we are committed to being fair, accessible, transparent and inclusive.
We offer a range of access support for artists, including alternative formats for information we release and submissions we receive as well as an artist access fund; please contact us so that we can discuss your individual needs and provide appropriate support for your application or project. Please either email us on enquiries@aspacearts.org.uk or call 023 80 338 778
Anti-racism
To further our mission we are taking proactive steps to becoming an anti-racist organisation. We have pledged to deliver a number of commitments through our Anti-Racism Action Plan over the next two years along with a series of activities to bring immediate benefits to global majority artists. We feel this combination of working towards long-term change and immediate action can make a real difference to Southampton’s global majority visual artists and we plan to continue working on this dual approach.
*A note on terminology
We acknowledge language is fluid and evolving and aim to ensure our use of language remains inclusive and inoffensive.
-As an organisation we have joined the movement to reject the acronym BAME as this state- manufactured term flattens and depoliticises global solidarity between people with a lived experiences of racism.
-We acknowledge the term ‘people of global majority’ as it is factually true with over 80% of the world’s population making up the global majority of non-white peoples.
This commission is vital in enabling us to share this work in a creative and engaging way. The final outcome should be visual, accessible and informed by the artist’s perspective as a person of the global majority.
Download and read the full brief here https://aspacearts.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Visualising-Policy-Anti-Racism-Open-Call-1.pdf
The Commission
The commission could be a series of drawings, illustrations or collages, we are open all visual styles and media.
The series should include one lead image which interprets the statement and 15 accompanying artworks that relate to the each of the 15 commitments in our Anti- Racism Action Plan.
We are open minded about the medium, but artworks will need to in both online, digital and printed formats.
There is a fee of £2,000 for this commission which includes all costs and expenses.
Outcomes
The commissioned artworks will be used and shared in the following ways to promote our anti-racism work and raise awareness.
- To illustrate a PDF document which will be available to the public via our website and in our venues as a printed version.
- Shared individually across our social media channels.
- Animated, to create gifs or a series of short films captioned in a range of languages.
- This can be done in collaboration with the ‘a space’ arts team, or led by the artist. We envisage the animations being simple and minimal.
Expressions of Interest (EOI)
To submit an EOI for this commission please contact Mia Delve at mia@aspacearts.org.uk or on 02380 338778 by Monday 17th January at 9am with the following:
Your name and contact details (email address and phone number)
Up to 8 jpg images of recent work or a link to your website, or social 100 words outlining why you are interested in this commission.
Selection process
A small team of ‘a space’ staff and trustees will review EOIs and shortlist four artists.
Those four artists will receive £125 to develop one draft artwork which relates to one of the 15 commitments.
The draft artwork will be discussed and reviewed by the shortlisting team, who will then appoint one artist to complete the commission.
Access
As an organisation we actively look to reduce barriers for artists applying for our opportunities and commissions, and we are committed to being fair, accessible, transparent and inclusive.
We offer a range of access support for artists, including alternative formats for information we release and submissions we receive as well as an artist access fund; please contact us so that we can discuss your individual needs and provide appropriate support for your application or project. Please either email us on enquiries@aspacearts.org.uk or call 023 80 338 778
Anti-racism
To further our mission we are taking proactive steps to becoming an anti-racist organisation. We have pledged to deliver a number of commitments through our Anti-Racism Action Plan over the next two years along with a series of activities to bring immediate benefits to global majority artists. We feel this combination of working towards long-term change and immediate action can make a real difference to Southampton’s global majority visual artists and we plan to continue working on this dual approach.
*A note on terminology
We acknowledge language is fluid and evolving and aim to ensure our use of language remains inclusive and inoffensive.
-As an organisation we have joined the movement to reject the acronym BAME as this state- manufactured term flattens and depoliticises global solidarity between people with a lived experiences of racism.
-We acknowledge the term ‘people of global majority’ as it is factually true with over 80% of the world’s population making up the global majority of non-white peoples.