Contemporary Art Commission  

Open Call - Beverley Treasure House 

 Expression Of Interest Pack 

      

   

    

Closing Date for applications: Friday 10th July 2020 

Commission Background  The East Riding Visual Arts Uplift is proud to announce yet another contemporary artistic commission in collaboration with Beverley Treasure House for the year 2020.  There is an all inclusive commission fee of £8,000 available to the shortlisted artist to create a piece of contemporary artwork that is site specific and fits the below artistic brief.   It is envisaged the piece will be installed on site at Beverley Treasure House in October 2020 for a two month duration with the potential for an accompanying workshop/talk from the artist.   This commission is a part of the East Riding Visual Arts Uplift’s commitment to showcasing and integrating contemporary art into the region.  **Please note that due to the current Covid-19 implications these timescales may be altered accordingly but will be done so in discussion and agreement of both the artist and the venue.**   Visual Arts Uplift  The East Riding Visual Arts Uplift is working to strengthen the contemporary art offer within the East Yorkshire region.   Working with the Humber Museums Partnership the programme is part of a larger scheme and seeks to deliver on the partnership wide aims as follows:   

1. Break down barriers to engagement with our visual art offering ensuring our programme is responsive to the needs and engages our target audience.  

2. Work with artists, creative practitioners and arts organisations to develop new visual arts programming in a meaningful and sustainable way maintaining investment in artistic and cultural programming across the Humber.  

3. Enhance and support the delivery of our successful ‘Surroundings’ Ambitions for Excellence bid, in partnership with award winning arts and science organisation, Invisible Dust. 

 Introduction to Beverley Treasure House  The treasure house is part of the original town library and art gallery. The iconic building stands tall in the heart of Beverley.   In the late 19th century, public galleries were opening across the country. The trend was growing popular as galleries provided education and a morally uplifting purpose to local residents. In 1902 Beverley, local man John Champney approached the town council and offered to fund a building to house both a public library and museum and art gallery. Another local man, William Spencer donated further funds to the venture, buying the plot of land where the Edwardian building stands today. 

 The library and a picture gallery, showcasing the proud portraits of its benefactors, opened in 1906. Four years later the museum and art gallery was formally opened. The first exhibitions included an Italian Madonna, a portrait of Archbishop Rokeby by Angelica Kauffman R.A. and works by local artist Fred Elwell. As was customary of the time, museum relics were displayed alongside the densely covered walls of art.  Seeing the popularity of the building, in 1928 Champney once again funded renovations to the building. This added a new wing, housing the reference library on the ground floor, and the second art gallery above it.  In 2007, the heritage lottery funding meant the creation of the East Riding Treasure House. This added the tower, with its spectacular views across the market town, archives and installed disabled access so everybody could enjoy the culture on display. The stores were upgraded with environmentally controlled technology, helping to preserve the collections of East Riding Museums for generations to come.   Theme/Brief We have decided not to set a restricting theme, we want artists to have free rein over the ideas they submit to us. However, we are keen that the artworks meet a brief and respond where possible to the heritage and surroundings of the local area.   The work proposed and produced must be contemporary art, that is both challenging and of a high quality. We want artists to add their own style, create something that showcases what they do as an artist to intrigue the audience and bring a taste of contemporary visual art to the East Riding.   The piece must work in the specified space (details below) . We do not have the option of flexibility to site the piece elsewhere and so you must show that you have responded to the allocated location.   The duration of the piece should remain in place for around two months to give our audience the opportunity to view and experience the offerings. This can be discussed with the artist and an agreement reached.   As mentioned above there is scope for an accompanying workshop/talk to be staged alongside the main commissioned piece, this is not an expectation of the artist; merely an extended opportunity. Though, we would be interested to work with artists who would be willing to commit to a workshop or talk relating their artistic practices. A key element of the Visual Arts Uplift aims is to break down the barrier between the public and contemporary art, providing a barrier free interaction between the creator would prove an ideal route to achieve this.    The commission has a fixed fee of £8,000 inc. all travel/accommodation expenses and materials. Beverley Treasure House expects to loan the finished piece in for the duration of the exhibition, but not to own the finished work. We would expect to use images of the work in promotional material for the exhibition and during the display itself. We would expect the artist to come to the opening of the exhibition.   

Additional fees have been retained for site logistics and installation/display needs of the piece.   We have provided an ‘inspiration board’ below to get your ideas flowing and are happy to talk through any ideas you may have in advance of submitting. These are not images of the space available, solely inspiration for artistic content.   Please Note: Your idea must be feasible, both in terms of budget and practicality.  How the commission will work: Below is an outline of how the commission will run:   April  

● Open Call is released  July 

● Selection to be staged  ● Artists to be informed of decision and successful applicant contracted  ● Successful applicant invited for a site visit with the venue to look at any logistics  

 July - September  

● Piece build ● Accompanying exhibition/workshop/talk logistics finalised  

 October 

● Piece installed on site  ● Launch of the commission  

 Inspiration Board   The below images are purely for inspiration, they do not represent solely what we are looking for.     

           

Space Images  The below images are of the intended installation space of the piece alongside any considerations that need to be factored in. At this time no site visits are permitted due to the lockdown restrictions, though once these are lifted and the venue resumes operations, artists are welcome to visit the available space at their own leisure during opening hours.  

           

                    

   Piece to be installed in front of the pillar - view from the main entrance, stair entrance and corridor. Access must be maintained to both corridors, the doors to the rear of the pillar, alarm panels next to the doors and all doors themselves.   Space dimensions can be provided upon request however, for the purpose of this application process we are interested in the artistic ideas and flexibility to make pieces work within the proposed space.   

Expression of Interest Application  

Criteria for submission:   • Your work must be safely constructed for displaying to the public.  

 • The venue is open during daylight hours. Light based installations will not be suitable.  

 • The piece is to be installed in October (Ideally the W/C 7th October), for a set duration of 

time (two months) - This may change due to current government restrictions.   

• Temporary, high quality contemporary artwork that will excite, inspire and entertain a diverse audience of all ages.   

• It is essential that you think through how your piece will be realised in terms of practicality and budget.  

• The funding available for this commission is £8,000. This is an all inclusive fee that includes the artistic fee, travel, accommodation and materials.  

 

 Application  Please complete all sections fully. 

 

Name 

Business Name (if applicable) 

Phone Number 

Email Address 

Address 

City/Town 

County  

Postcode  

  Information about your piece: 

(Please provide a brief description of your work/idea, this can be submitted as text, images, drawings, supporting material or a URL to your website/ Flickr/ Vimeo etc, no more than one A4 page) 

 

 

Is this a new or existing piece, or an idea in development? (If existing, where else has it been shown? If in development please give details of previous projects or commissions which demonstrate your ability to deliver similar work) 

  

                   How long do you anticipate the work being shown for? How long is it capable of being shown for?  

  

           How does your piece tie in with the site? In no more than 100 words 

  

        

Are there any specific technical requirements we need to be aware of?   

           Is there scope for an accompanying workshop/talk by yourself?  

          Please provide a full budget breakdown below of all costs associated with the commission to total the £8,000 allocated fee:  

                    

 

Use this page for additional information/comments relating to your application:   

                                 Please submit completed form electronically to Lauren Frost. All ideas will be treated as confidential, and will only be shared with the selection committee:  E: Lauren@mudstresscoffee.com T: 07850259678   Postal address:   Nial Adams (FAO Lauren Frost) Museums Manager, Beverley Treasure House, Champney Road,  Beverley,  HU17 8HE  Closing date for submissions is Friday 10th July 2020