SPARK - Call for Artists

Leitrim County Council Arts Office seeks interest from artists who wish to participate in the 2017 SPARK artists’ residency programme.

SPARK is a partnership project of Leitrim County Council Arts Office and the Local Enterprise Office Leitrim supported by the Arts Council. It is aimed at artists who are interested in working in new environments and companies who are interested in collaborating with artists and promoting creativity within their organisations. Spark offers a platform for collaboration appropriate to that context, providing alternatives to the current view, and making connections and linkages where they may not have existed previously.

Previous Spark project have been based at Leitrim Organic Centre; The Bush Hotel; Leitrim Association of People with Disabilities; Cafe Lounge; The Hive; Mohill Enterprise Centre and Priors PLM Medical.

This year’s residency will be with Leitrim County Council itself, based at the local authority’s headquarters in Carrick on Shannon and it presents a particularly exciting opportunity for artists that have an interest in the work of a local authority.

ABOUT LEITRIM COUNTY COUNCIL

Leitrim County Council is the organisation responsible for a wide range of services to the citizens of County Leitrim. The Mission Statement in Leitrim County Council’s Corporate Plan is “to make Leitrim a sustainable, creative, inclusive county where individuals, family and business can flourish.”

While the traditional perception of a local authority often relates to infrastructural concerns – roads, water, waste, housing etc., over the last 20 years in particular, the role of the local authority has evolved dramatically and is involved today in a myriad of programmes and services. This complexity, diversity of purpose and common aim within one organisation is its strength and its challenge. For Leitrim, its smaller size brings with it greater familiarity among personnel and within the wider community and with that, a greater capacity to collaborate. However, the increasing complexity and range of demands in each department also diminishes the prospect of exploring new opportunities. While departments such as Housing, Environment, Roads, Water Services, Planning & Development, Fire Services, Library Services and Civil Defence remain central and crucial areas – in addition to these sits Arts Development; Local Enterprise Office; Economic Development; Sports Development, Heritage; Tourism; Public Participation Network;  Peace Programme; Comhairle na nOg; Local Community Development Committee; Broadband Development; Veterinary and Dog Control and many more smaller departments, projects and programmes that strive to work together and in partnership with local and national agencies to improve the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of the citizens of the county.

HOW TO APPLY

Artists wishing to apply for Spark should email Leitrim County Council Arts Office to declare their interest in the programme. Artists who have declared their interest are invited to a site visit where they will have the opportunity to talk with management and staff, leading to a better understanding of the programme and the company involved. While attendance at the site visit is not essential it is strongly advised that applicants do attend the site visit. The programme is divided into two stages.

STAGE 1

In the first stage, the artist is invited to spend three weeks at the company within a two-month period. During this stage, the artist is not necessarily expected to make new work, rather the objective is to engage with staff, to gain an insight and understanding of what the company does and to reflect on that from the artist’s unique perspective. At the end of this period, the artist presents the results of their research to staff and management. This could include new work, but is more likely to be documentation of the process undertaken and the learning from it, and/or smaller artistic interventions that have emerged during the period that illustrate that research and engagement.

At this point, if both the artist and company wish to develop that work further, both parties can together develop a proposal for a longer residency lasting 35 days over five months.

STAGE 2

In the second stage, the artist has the capacity to develop new work that could be relatively substantial in its ambition or undertake a much more detailed project which explores new and different creative and innovative paths, or serve as a catalyst for reflection and new thinking within the company. It is important that the entire residency, particularly the second stage, should serve to benefit both the artist and the company, and how each party hopes to gain from it should be evident in the proposal.

STAGE 1 PROPOSAL

Following the site visit, artists are invited to propose ideas and approaches for a residency with the company. This document is not a definitive proposal for the project. Rather, by identifying potential lines of enquiry of interest to the artist and processes that he or she might like to adopt, the document provides a vivid insight into the applicant’s methodology as an artist, their understanding of the company, and a demonstration of the applicant’s capacity for developing innovative projects appropriate to that context. Given that this proposal is only based on a short site visit, while it may serve as a useful starting point, it is anticipated that the residency would differ substantially, if not completely, from this proposal.

This document should be no longer than three A4 pages and can refer to concepts, lines of enquiry, processes for engagement, methodologies for collaboration - and even potential outcomes. Moreover, it should clearly indicate how the artist hopes to gain and how the company will benefit from the process.

The proposal should be accompanied by a CV and images, recordings etc. of previous work. The proposal and written elements of a CV should be saved as .pdf documents. Images should be saved as .jpg files and sound files as .mp3 or as a document with links to soundcloud or youtube.  Videos should only be submitted as links to youtube or vimeo. Proposals should be emailed using the file transfer platform www.wetransfer.com before 5pm, Friday 7^th July to ckelly@leitrimcoco.ie

STAGE 2 PROPOSAL

For the second stage the approach to developing a project proposal is largely the same as for Stage 1, however, the second stage is a joint proposal by the artist and company together and describes a mutual commitment to a programme of work. For this stage the artist and company should be more certain about the proposed direction and what potential outcomes might emerge.

This is likely given that both parties would have developed an insight into how a project would stand to benefit both artist and company. In addition, at this stage, the artist now has a comprehensive understanding of, and working relationship with, the company. Similarly management and staff at the company have developed a knowledge and understanding of the artist, their work, methodology, and how a collaboration might be shaped.

It should be noted that there is no onus on the artist or the company to proceed to Stage 2 and are instead invited to do so only if both parties wish to develop the work further.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

• The quality, innovation and artistic merit of the proposal.
• Understanding of the company and the physical, social and cultural context of the work.
• Previous work and track record (or potential) of the applicant.
• Proven understanding of and ability to collaborate successfully.

An external panel will assess the applications from which a shortlist of a maximum of three artists will be invited to meet with the company.

DATES

CONTACTS

To declare your interest in SPARK, emailckelly@leitrimcoco.ie before Wednesday 31^st May.

For further information contact:

Christine Kelly, T: 071 96 31694; E: ckelly@leitrimcoco.ie; W : www.leitrimarts.ie