In the last post on this site, I wrote about the challenges that Covid-19 presents to anyone who makes community art, but I said then, because I know many of them, ‘I have complete confidence that solutions will be found, and that they will enrich the spectrum of our work‘. And now, as if by order, here comes just such a solution, from Terrestrial, whose work I wrote about a few weeks ago. They’ve come up with something completely new (at least in my experience) and are offering paid opportunities for community artists in England to develop their local connections and explore new ways of working. Here’s the offer:
We are looking for brilliant, kind, helpful people and organisations to help us share this opportunity.
This residency programme will provide artists with paid time for research, and support them to foster links with community groups in their local area. And a we’ll work with a wider shortlist of artists to record paid interviews exploring their work, which we hope will offer a vibrant snapshot of current community arts practice. We know that across the country artists are collaborating with communities in generous, playful and enriching ways, and we want to use this moment to meet an inclusive group of these artists, learn more about their processes and their interests, and hopefully amplify their work – their skills are more essential now than ever.
The open call is now live – all the information and details of how to apply (in pdf, large print, BSL and audio formats) is on this page: https://www.terrestrial.org.uk/residencies
That’s it. If you’re up for this, follow the link and find out more. I’ll be fascinated to see what happens: I know it will be worthwhile.
I took the photo illustrating this post in 2013 at the launch of Black Country Women, a project by Multistory, who have also responded to the crisis imaginatively with Stories in Isolation, a series of small lockdown commissions for artists. Click on the links to find out more
A Selfless Art 