the makers project brief for artists dec 2015 · 2020-02-09 · 1 !...
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Wisteria at Felbrigg, ©National Trust images
Project brief-‐ ‘The Makers’ at Felbrigg Hall We would like to select three artists for a contemporary art residency and commissions for the National Trust at Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk during 2016-‐17. Felbrigg Hall is a seventeenth century house that still retains the feeling of a family home while presenting the precious collections of some of its early residents, collected over many generations and often acquired during the family’s travels. In recent years the property has hosted a number of contemporary art projects and the National Trust in partnership with the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society, would like to continue this in 2016 and beyond. We are looking for three artists to become inspired by Felbrigg, its house and grounds, during a week long residency period from 3 to 8 October 2016 and then to work up a proposal for work or works inspired by the place. The intention is that this will lead to a proposal for a piece or pieces of work in any medium that the National Trust will commission from the artists and the resulting exhibition will be on view to visitors from April to October 2017. 1. Introduction The background to this current project is that in 2014 Felbrigg hosted a contemporary art exhibition entitled ‘The Tourists’ where three artists were commissioned to make work for an exhibition at Felbrigg inspired by the house and gardens. The resulting exhibition was on show for the summer season, 2014. The project was a partnership with the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society (NCAS), curated by Caroline Fisher and funded by the Arts Council and NCAS.
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The property has also hosted other contemporary cultural events -‐ an exhibition by Richard Wentworth in 2004 and in 2015 the theatre company Wildworks staged an outdoor performance entitled ‘Wolf’s Child’ as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.
We would now like to continue this work by giving three selected artists the opportunity to become immersed in the place by offering a week long residency followed by a short period of time to work up ideas into a proposal for work/s with a view to commissioning these three artists to make the agreed work by Aprili 2017. The collections, architecture and history of Felbrigg have fed into the previous projects and provide any artist responding to the place with inspiring source material. Artists have researched the Grand Tour paintings and objects, the birdlife of the park and garden and the Windham family members and their pursuits. The brief for this set of commissions is an open one, giving the selected artists the opportunity to think about any aspect of the house and gardens that interests them but with a focus on ‘making’ in the broadest sense. We are particularly keen to highlight the craftsmanship that exists in the buildings, the collections and the gardens, and we hope that this will emerge as a theme linking the works. However this does not necessarily mean that we are looking for ‘craft’ based works or ways of working. The main requirement is that the artists come up with a proposal for work that can be sited in the house or walled garden and that is robust enough to withstand the summer season’s exhibition, either indoors or out.
Wolf's Child, Norfolk & Norwich Festival & WildWorks. Photo: Steve Tanner
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Historical context There is much to interest contemporary artists at Felbrigg, where there has always been a tradition of commissioning work from artists and craftspeople. For example the Windham family commissioned decorative schemes for their main rooms, portraits of their family and exquisite furniture. The tradition of collecting at Felbrigg dates back to the seventeenth and eighteenth century when ‘Grand Tours’ were undertaken by the young men of the family. Several generations of the Windham family undertook these journeys, some lasting years, and brought back beautiful Boulle cabinets from France, Meissen figurines from Germany as well as Italian paintings and countless books. The Cabinet room is a very rare example of an 18th century Grand Tour room complete with paintings as originally hung by William Windham II himself.
The walled garden once grew all the vegetables and fruit to supply the house, and there is a magnificent dovecote where squabs were raised for meat. The remoteness of the estate from a big town or city meant that it had to be self sufficient, so there are signs of this everywhere. Country pursuits such as hunting, shooting and fishing
Kate MccGwire, Perihelion in the Chinese bedroom at Felbrigg Hall, ©Kate MccGwire
Meissen figurine (left) and wallpaper in the Chinese bedroom (above), Felbrigg Hall, ©National Trust
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were all important to the families who lived here but in more recent times, without the threats that this posed, the wildlife has become diverse and fascinating. The stories of the families who lived at Felbrigg are equally interesting-‐ from the family tutor who penned a love poem to a ‘local beauty’ to ‘Mad Windham’ who squandered the family wealth and finally the last squire who gave the estate to the National Trust in 1969. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/felbrigg-hall-gardens-and-estate http://www.nationaltrustimages.org.uk/search?term=Felbrigg+Hall+Norfolk&sort=1 2. The Commission/Residency project/exhibition Aims: The project aims to provide the selected artists with the opportunity to become immersed in the place, to become inspired to produce work and for the resulting work to be on show to visitors to Felbrigg during summer 2016. It also aims to engage visitors to Felbrigg Hall with contemporary art and to give a different viewpoint to visitors through the production of a number of contemporary art works.
Objectives: To offer each of the selected artists a one week residency at Felbrigg to research areas of interest to them in October 2016. To offer the selected artists a fee for the residency and to work up a proposal for a piece of work with a view to the work being commissioned and created for exhibition during the summer period April to October 2017. The selected artists will be able to use the residency in October 2016 as a period of research and enquiry. There are estate records and many books and manuscripts at Felbrigg but also material such as family diaries at the Norfolk Archives Centre in
The Cabinet room at Felbrigg Hall, ©National Trust images
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Norwich. The walled garden includes diverse plant species, fruit and vegetables and is rich in wildlife. There are also wildlife reserves and centres locally such as the Norfolk Wildlife Trust visitor centre at Cley Marshes. The work produced can be in any material but we have a preference for sculptural objects, photography and conceptual pieces. There are limitations on showing digital/ video works in the house. Work can be made for indoor or outdoor areas of the property and there are outhouses including an orangery and glasshouses which would be possible locations for work. 3. Project Overview Felbrigg Hall received 110,000 visitors last year and so the potential audience for contemporary art at the venue is huge. Visitors range from explorer families to curious minds and include all age groups. The exhibition is seen as a way of attracting new audiences to Felbrigg, giving existing visitors something different to see and engaging them with art that they might not otherwise experience. When we put on our last contemporary art exhibition the response was really positive with over 66% of visitors giving positive or neutral comments out of a sample of 623 people. We aim to engage local communities as much as possible so we will have a number of events relating to the exhibition. The artists involved will be expected to participate in a round table talk in Norwich as well as helping to devise more hands-‐on events relating to their work at Felbrigg. The education element of the exhibition is important with the Education Officer at Felbrigg Hall being involved in devising activities for families and school groups. During the exhibition the work will be insured by the National Trust and maintained by the artist or a nominated person, for example the curator. Work will be securely located inside the house. Any work made to be outdoors will be in the walled garden which is locked at night.
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The art work produced will remain the property of the artists involved who will retain copyright. Documentation will be done by a National Trust photographer and he/she will retain copyright of the images and any reproduction of the images will credit the artist and work. 4. Timelines, Process & budget The selection process is as follows: -‐submission of application (see below) by 1 February 2016 -‐selection of artists on basis of application by 11 March 2016. There will be no formal interview but the curator/ National Trust staff may telephone shortlisted artists to discuss their application prior to final selection being made. -‐residency from 3-‐8 October 2016 for one week – this date is non-‐ negotiable so any artist applying must be available to stay at Felbrigg during this period. -‐proposal for a work to be received by the curator 3 weeks after the residency ends-‐ the exact deadline to be confirmed. -‐subject to further funding being granted the proposals will be agreed by the National Trust and curator and the artists will be asked to fabricate and complete the proposed work for exhibition commencing 22 April 2017. Installation of the work should be done on 20 and 21 April with a private view on 22 April 2017 which all three artists should attend. Fees for the residency period are £750 per artist plus travel from and to a UK location up to a maximum of £150. So total for residency of £900 It is expected that fees for the making of the work will be £3000 with £2000 for materials and £1000 for travel. Total for commission, £6000 inclusive of all fees, travel and materials but excluding VAT. The artists will also receive in kind support from the property to install, insure and maintain the work. Artists involved will be expected to participate in the education project in particular in a round table event in Norwich as well as assisting the Education Officer at Felbrigg to formulate the project’s education programme.
The dovecote at Felbrigg Hall, ©National Trust Images
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Legacy-‐ the project is expected to continue on a biannual basis so the work produced will be seen as part of a wider commitment to contemporary art by Felbrigg. There will be a fully illustrated catalogue produced. 5. Expressions of interest Open to professional artists, not students. Overseas artists may apply but will have to pay for their own travel to and from the UK. Application is by post only-‐ a CD or USB stick to be sent to the address below. The requirements are a CV, personal statement stating why you are interested in/ suited to the project, and up to 12 jpeg images of recent work. Please label your CD/ USB carefully. Please do not send original material as any such material sent cannot be returned. Address for applications: Caroline Fisher, Curator c/o General Manager’s Office Felbrigg Hall Norfolk NR11 8PR Further enquiries prior to application should be addressed by email to the curator, Caroline Fisher: [email protected]