Poet in Residence

Coastival Commissions
Create, Scarborough
Introduction
Create is looking to commission 4 new art projects as part of our Coastival 2016 festival
programme. They will cover a mix of art forms and will take place in 2015 with the final work
being presented at Coastival 2016.
About Create and Coastival
Create is a charity with a strong track record in developing the arts in Scarborough Borough
and beyond. Create is a visionary organisation which thinks ‘out of the box’ and on a large
scale whilst making a difference on the ground. Our aims are to extend participation in, and
improve access to the arts by means of advocacy, research, event commissioning,
community arts, and through supporting the development of arts practitioners and arts
organisations.
In addition to producing Coastival, Create has experience in commissioning work, festival
management, consultancy, grass roots project delivery and a strategic programme of work
in support of festivals and voluntary arts across North Yorkshire.
Coastival - a large scale arts festival (established February 2009) is a major achievement
for Create and is one of the 4 key festivals in North Yorkshire (cited by the Arts Council of
England, North Yorkshire County Council and Welcome to Yorkshire). Coastival has
commissioned new work, produced large scale outdoor performances and brought
international work to Scarborough.
Some headline achievements for Create and Coastival in the last 5 years are:
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Total Coastival attendances = 68642
•
Total Coastival economic impact = £2,137,780
•
Total number of children participating in 3 Big Sings (including involvement with the
Olympic Torch & Tour de France events) = 4750
•
Total number of artists employed over the years by Coastival = 920
Our overall aims for Coastival are to:
•
Deliver a high quality, ambitious arts festival for Scarborough
•
Attract visitors to Scarborough in February
•
Increase access to and participation in, high quality, inspirational arts activities for
local residents
•
Develop relationships through collaborations with programming partners, artists,
venues and community organisations
•
Improve the image of Scarborough as a thriving and vibrant town
•
Put Scarborough on the national and international festival map
•
Celebrate the best in music, theatre, dance, visual arts, comedy, film, spoken word
including Rollercoastival creative activities for kids.
Coastival Commissions – ‘Exploring the Yorkshire Coast’
Create has received Arts Council funding to commission 4 new pieces of work across a
range of art forms, creating home-grown specific work for Coastival and the region. We
have not preselected the artists however we do want the commissions to cover a range of
art forms (combined arts, visual arts, theatre, music and live art). The work will take place
in 2015 with the final piece being presented at Coastival 2016. The selection process will be
open and transparent and involve a panel consisting of professionals from the creative
sector. This is to ensure that we are fair and clear in in our commissioning process. We
want to push artistic boundaries and are ambitious in our aims for excellence, creativity and
originality.
The commissions will be a creative opportunity for artists (of any art form) to create new
work in a location (not pre-determined by Create) in Scarborough that will engage with both
local residents and visitors to the town. It will be presented at Coastival 2016 and have the
potential to connect with existing audiences and attract new ones.
Commissioning Ambitions:
Our ambition is for these commissions to creatively engage with and inspire audiences, and
provide them with opportunities to participate and get involved with the arts. We are looking
for exciting, original ideas that are inspired by aspects of the Borough of Scarborough which
are out of the ordinary, quirky or respond to the non-traditional arts/performance spaces
available in Scarborough. We want high impact, unpredictable, innovative, inventive and
unusual, but accessible work.
Through these new commissions we hope to achieve:
High quality, ambitious art with strong artistic integrity that is out of the ordinary,
quirky or responds to the non-traditional arts/performance spaces available in
Scarborough
Commissions with strong connections to the Borough of Scarborough and its
communities, which also reflects the sense of place, the people, their histories, and
hopes and ambitions
Commissions which are accessible and inspire, entertain and encourage people to
participate and get involved in the arts
Commissions with strong, original artistic content and visual presence which create
excitement, anticipation and attract attention from outside of the area
Engagement with existing audiences and development of new audiences.
Engagement and collaboration with local, national and international artists, forging
new artistic partnerships and strategic alliances
A programme of temporary publically accessible, quirky, ambitious, high impact art
works/interventions/performances of distinction and quality that respond to the
Scarborough Borough context.
Delivery of a vibrant, large-scale festival with an underpinning outreach programme
Creative Specification
We're looking for professional, practising artists / companies with an aptitude for working in
community settings with a proactive, collaborative approach who can engage a wide range
of participants. The theme is ‘Exploring the Yorkshire Coast’. The successful candidate will
have:
Proven artistic ability demonstrated by previous track record / history
Experience in delivering, planning and creating tangible outputs e.g. exhibitions and
performances within short timescales
The ability to talk about their work and experiences to groups of varying sizes and
backgrounds
The capacity to act as an advocate for the value and benefits of the arts to the local /
regional community and to stakeholders
The ability to self-support administratively
An understanding of the working ethos within the Create / Coastival environment
Terms and conditions
Individual artists (of any art form) or companies are eligible to apply.
This contract is offered on a freelance basis.
The fee for the residency is £5000, including travel and all other expenses, which
will be paid against invoices.
If required the artists will be able to use Create’s office for administration work and
will be able to get access to the internet.
The commissions will run in 2015 and the work will be presented at Coastival 2016
(12th – 14th February 2016).
The artists / companies will liaise with the Director Wendy Holroyd and will give
regular updates of the commissions.
We would anticipate the artists / companies will produce 4 new commissions. The
Director will have the right to refuse any work which is deemed unsuitable.
Outputs will be agreed in consultation with the successful artists / companies. It is
expected that the artists / companies will participate in project evaluation.
Budget / Fee
Each of the 4 successful artists / companies will receive a fee of £5,000 for the
delivery of the commission and presentation of the work. This is an inclusive fee that
should cover any commission costs, artistic costs, production costs, and personal
travel costs. We will support companies to apply for further funding from other
sources if required.
The following will be provided by Create:
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Technical/logistical/event management advice/support
Administrative support
Access to venues
Marketing and promotions
Coastival tickets to the festival for the artists / companies
Applications
Applications need to be sent as hard copy only to:
Wendy Holroyd
Create Arts Development Ltd
Woodend
The Crescent
Scarborough
YO11 2PW
Deadline: Applications to be received by 5pm on 31st May 2015.
If you would like an informal conversation about the commissions then please
contact Wendy Holroyd on 01723 384545.
Your application should include:

A creative Proposal stating your idea and why you want to take part in the
Coastival commissions scheme. This should be no more than 2 sides of A4
(Please note that proposals that are longer than 2 sides of A4 will not be
considered)

An expenditure budget demonstrating that you can create and deliver your
idea with a commissioning fee of £5,000
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A CV / short biography of your company/you
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A sample of your work (photos / DVD / You tube links etc.)
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Contact details for two referees
Closing date for applications: 5pm, 31st May 2015
We expect to be able to confirm the four commissions: 30th June 2015